Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

October 25, 2012

Boys' soccer: Finishing at the start makes it easy

Waynflete scores twice in the first 10 minutes and heads to a Western Class C boys' soccer semifinal.

By Paul Betit pbetit@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND - Waynflete Coach Brandon Salway has been placing a lot of emphasis in practice on finishing.

It shows.

Seven players scored Wednesday as the third-seeded Flyers rolled to a 7-1 victory against sixth-ranked North Yarmouth Academy in a Western Class C boys' soccer quarterfinal at Fore River Fields.

"Recently we haven't done as good a job finishing and we've spent a lot of time on it lately, and it paid off today," said Salway after the defending state champions moved into a regional semifinal Saturday against second-seeded St. Dominic at Auburn. "There were some really good goals."

Every Waynflete goal belonged on a highlight reel.

"What was great about today is I've seen us get those chances a lot of times before and today we put them away," goalie Zander Majercik said.

"It says we're deep and we're not selfish," midfielder Paul Runyambo said. "I like our chances with everyone here scoring."

"Everyone on our team can finish and everyone on our team does finish," said Majercik, who made nine saves.

The Flyers (11-2-2) led 2-0 after less than 10 minutes when Muhammed Suja and Clancy Mitchell converted long throw-ins by Runyambo.

"It's like a corner (kick)," Runyambo said. "You just throw it as far as you can. Just dump it into the middle and hope something happens out there."

Elyse Bayizere made it 3-0 in the 23rd minute off a throw-in by Harry Cleaves.

"We've gotten a lot of chances off (throw-ins)," Salway said. "The guys have gotten better and better at flicking them on or finishing them off. For us it's a very dangerous play."

A little more than a minute later, Cleaves put in the rebound of his own shot.

With less than seven minutes left in the half, Majercik was credited with an assist, a rarity for a goalie, when Peabo Knoth got control of his long punt and bounced a shot in from point-blank range after winning a battle with three defenders.

"I saw Peabo running (upfield) and kind of motioning me to kick it, so I decided to let one go," Majercik said. "Peabo has a tendency of pulling off those amazing plays."

In the second half, Kevin Kanakan and freshman Abel Alemayo sandwiched goals around a score by Jacob Scammon of NYA to complete the scoring for Waynflete.

"We wanted to play 80 minutes, no matter what," Salway said. "We spent a lot of time on finishing lately so I think the early goals make a huge difference. You're able to relax."

It was the third time the Flyers beat the Panthers (8-6-1) this year.

"Waynflete is better than us this season but it's cyclical," NYA Coach Martyn Keen said. "We've got a very nice team coming back next year. The core of my best players are returning and we have some good eighth-graders. I'm excited.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com Twitter: PaulBetitPPH

 

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