FARMINGTON – As the clock ticked down on the second overtime in Tuesday’s game, those Mt. Blue boys’ soccer players who weren’t on the field started making some noise. When the final whistle blew, the Cougars celebrated like they had just won a playoff game.

The scoreboard read 0-0, but taking on second-ranked Bangor and playing the Rams to a stalemate was a victory of sorts for Mt. Blue (6-3-3). The Cougars, ranked No. 9 in the Eastern Class A Heal Points for a second straight week, are likely to get a nice boost in the standings from their effort against Bangor (10-1-1).

Both teams engaged in a physical game that one would expect during the playoffs. Bangor held a decided advantage in shots (12-4), but the Rams were snakebitten by some missed scoring opportunities that went wide of the goal or over the crossbar.

The aggressive goaltending of Cougars netminder Joe Whalen and timely clears by Mt. Blue’s veteran fullbacks also did plenty to stymie the Rams attack. Whalen left his spot along the goal line to snare crossing passes and long lobs from down field, and challenged Bangor’s shooters on breakaways to earn the shutout.

Whalen made some of his best saves when they mattered most, running out to cut down the angle on a partial breakaway by Tony Martinez with eight minutes remaining in regulation by smothering Martinez’s shot at point-blank range. He made another clutch stop minutes later on another breakaway by Nick George, lunging out and kicking the ball out of harm’s way.

“I had 10 other people playing in front of me, doing their best, so I needed to back them up 100 percent,” Whalen said.

Mt. Blue also received a lift in the first half from sophomore Zac Conlogue, who headed away a sure goal by Ross Allen on a hard shot that got past Whalen.

“That was just a spectacular play,” Whalen said.

Conlogue had the best scoring chance for the Cougars after Rams keeper Aaron Taft attempted a clear the ball away from Devin Ferreira. Taft’s pass went out in front of the net to Conlogue, but the ball came out awkwardly off the outside of the sophomore forward’s foot and tailed harmlessly away from the open net.

Although neither team recorded a shot in the extra sessions, Mt. Blue had some of its best sustained offense after regulation. The Cougar midfield moved the ball effectively and challenged Bangor more aggressively. Mt. Blue’s forwards penetrated deeper into the zone and held onto the ball longer on the attack.

“I think it says a lot about Bangor and the respect that we had for them that we were a little hesitant at the start of the game,” said Mt. Blue coach Joel Smith. “Later in the game, we started to believe in ourselves a little more and play to our strengths.”

Although the Rams had to settle for their first tie, the playoff-like intensity couldn’t have come at a better time for Bangor coach Adam Leach.

“Our next game is against Hampden, and they are the only team that has beaten us. It was great that we played Mt. Blue right now, because it was so physical out there,” said Leach. “We haven’t played another team that has worked as hard against us and that has made us work as hard as Mt. Blue did.”