BETHEL – Max Meader used his head before he used his foot.

It was very tempting for Meader to make a run at an incoming Gavin Parker free kick, but the Telstar senior knew better. He had the taller Matt Zinchuk nearby. He would let his teammate handle the air ball and hope for his leftovers.

“We were both going for the ball, but I could see he’s better in the air than I am,” said Meader. “So I knew if I went to the spot, he was going to put it there. That’s what he did.”

Meader got the redirection, faced a charging Dirigo keeper and managed to quickly slip the ball by him. That game-winner with 1:14 left in regulation Saturday lifted the Rebels to a 2-1 win over the Cougars.

“Matt had said ‘Play off me,'” said Meader. “So I was ready for him to put it right on my foot. That’s exactly what he did. He made a great pass off his head.”

Telstar (10-0-1) remained unbeaten, while it was a tough loss for the Cougars, which tied Telstar 1-1 earlier in the year. Dirigo had overcome a 1-0 deficit and roared back with a strong second half. The Cougars tied the game and were pressing for more only to watch Parker’s dead ball at midfield lead to defeat.

“We have to play 80 minutes, and we played 38 and a half,” said Dirigo coach Dennis Hanson. “That’s what we did at Mountain Valley the other night.

“We were down 1-0 at the half, and we came through and scored three goals on them. We’ve scored most of our goals this year in the second half, but I’ve told the guys ‘We’re going to the playoffs for the first time in four or five years. We can’t wait until the second half.'”

Telstar dominated the opening half, outshooting the Cougars, 15-3. The Rebels lone goal came with 26:54 left in the half when Louis Thornton stole the ball from a defender and snuck it past Dirigo’s goalie Josh Saphier.

The Cougars were a different team in the second half. Dirigo went with three forwards up front to spark the offense and got strong play in the midfield from Brett Staples.

“It was frustrating,” said Telstar coach Tim Remington. “Take nothing away from them, they came out with a plan in the second half and executed it. It kind of caught us on our heels. We were caught back and acted surprised. Once they came out and took momentum, it’s tough to take it back.”

The Rebels were also down two starters. Frankie Delduca was moved to the back while Tim Fifield stepped in from the JV team to help in the midfield.

“We need this type of game going into the playoffs,” said Remington, whose team is ranked second in Western C.

“That was a playoff-type game. We need those types of games and that type of atmosphere.”

Dirigo (8-4-2) tied the game with 16:13 left when Larry Briggs put a low shot inside the left post. Despite outshooting Telstar 8-5 in the second half, Dirigo couldn’t produce another goal.

“We just knew we had to keep our heads up,” said Meader. “There was still time left. We had to keep playing hard. We didn’t let them get in our heads. We had to keep playing our game. We didn’t play our best today, but we were still able to pull it out.”