BUCKFIELD — The Spruce Mountain boys soccer team is looking to string a few wins together.

After defeating Wiscasset/Boothbay last Thursday, the Phoenix won their second consecutive game Tuesday, 4-2 over Buckfield.

“We are trying to get on a (winning) streak here,” Spruce Mountain forward Lucas Towers said. “We have played some tough teams so far and our schedule is looking good the rest of the year. We are starting to connect and play really well together.”

Tower paced the Phoenix (3-4) on Tuesday with a pair of goals against the Bucks.

“They came to play with heart and intensity, they certainly showed that, once we got our momentum going, by making those simple passes and playing our wings to create chances,” Spruce Mountain coach Adam Gettle said. “You miss every shot you don’t take, and we took the shots to put them in the back of the net.”

The Bucks (4-3) were coming off a 10-day quarantine, and coach Kyle Rines said the team was rusty.

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“We haven’t had a practice in 10 days, and a lot of that was being out of (game) shape and rusty,” Rines said. “I thought our effort was pretty good, but Spruce (Mountain) was faster, stronger and first to the ball. Clearly, they haven’t missed a beat the last week.”

Buckfield opened up the scoring when Hunter Driscoll beat Spruce Mountain goalie Jacob Bryant (14 saves) to the ball and put it in the net.

The Phoenix tied the game midway through the first half when Culley Johnson sent in a pass in the box to set up a goal by Kaleb Finelli.

Later in the first half, Spruce Mountain’s Owen Bryant booted a penalty shot that bounced off Buckfield goalie Gavin Charest’s (nine saves) chest, but Bryant gathered the rebound and fired the ball into the net to give the Phoenix a 2-1 lead.

“(Bryant) had a great shot, and he followed the shot, which was key,” Gettle said. “He didn’t stay flat-footed, and he was ready to put the ball into the net.”

Towers added to Spruce Mountain’s advantage when his shot deflected off a Buckfield defender into the net late in the first half.

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The Bucks started to control the game in the second half, and in the 17th minute, Driscoll’s corner kick curled toward the goal and bounced off a Spruce Mountain player and into the net.

The goal wasn’t an accident.

“(Driscoll) said to me, ‘The keeper was out a little bit further.’ So he purposely tried to score on that (corner kick). It worked out — off the (goalie’s) hands, across the (goal) line,” Rines said.

Spruce Mountain regained its two-goal advantage, 4-2,  on Towers’ second goal of the game, which was set up by Jesse Lewis with less than 20 minutes remaining.


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