Boys soccer: Gabe Corey helps Winthrop get past Mountain Valley

RUMFORD — Gabe Corey was the point man for Winthrop in its win over Mountain Valley on Thursday night.

The junior scored two goals and assisted on another as the Ramblers earned a 4-0 Mountain Valley Conference boys soccer victory at Hosmer Field.

The victory is Winthrop’s first in nearly two weeks. The Ramblers last win was over Buckfield 2-1 on Sept. 16.

“It was really important for us; we needed a win,” Corey said.

The Falcons, meanwhile, let another one slip away.

“It’s the story of the season, it seems like we get a goal or we get behind a goal, and then we throw (the game) away,” Mountain Valley coach Dylan Cayer said.

Corey launched a shot from 20 yards out that bounced at the goal line then hit the top of the netting to give Winthrop a 1-0 lead with 13:43 remaining in the first half.

Up to that point, both teams had trouble getting the ball in the 18-yard box. Falcons goalie Zach New stifled any other opportunities Winthrop had in the 25-plus minutes before Corey’s first goal.

New finished with four saves in the first half, then stopped five more shots in the second.

“We were trying to feel each other out in the first half,” Winthrop coach John Baehr said. “Being on a bigger field is always great — we have a smaller field at home. Gabe did hit a great strike in the first half.”

The Ramblers (4-4) got their offense going early in the second half. First, a shot went wide of the net. A minute later, Corey scored from inside the box to push the lead to 2-0.

“I think when we got the first (goal), it fired us up for the second one,” Corey said,

Corey continued to be the catalyst for Winthrop’s offense, making a pass into the box to set up Tyler Shumway, who beat New with a low shot.

“We were trying to find their open gaps, switching the ball,” Baehr said. “We did a good job of switching the ball in the first half but not switching properly and feeding back to take those shots.”

The two early second-half goals were scored about four minutes apart.

“I think the team went (into halftime) — it was only a one(-goal) deficit, but the game has two halves, and you have to finish both of them out,” Cayer said. “If you are behind one in the first half, if you think playing like that is fine, you are going to get beat. You have to raise your performance when you are down.”

Mountain Valley’s (1-5-1) found a spark after falling behind 3-0, and fired three shots against Ramblers goalie Jaxon August (five saves), including a Ben DeSalle free kick from 15 yards out.

New kept the Falcons in the game, stopping back-to-back point-blank shots with 25 minutes remaining in the second half.

Mountain Valley kept attacking and had a nice scoring chance when Owen Sevigny’s cross nearly curled into the goal with about 15 minutes remaining.

The Falcons tried to break through the Ramblers’ defense with long passes and volleys in the second half, but Winthrop’s defenders were usually the first ones on the ball.

Iker Penniman capped the scoring by stretching the Ramblers’ lead to 4-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the second half.

“We played together as a team; that’s one thing I am proud of the boys for, that it was a team effort,” Baehr said. “They played well together; the (defenders) and Jaxon (August) did a great job getting the shutout.”