Scarborough 1

Bangor 0

Two years ago, the Scarborough boys’ soccer team lost to Bangor 1-0 in double overtime of the state championship game. Saturday afternoon at McMann Field in Bath, the Red Storm returned the favor when Ian Philbrick’s shot rippled the net 1:53 into overtime to give Scarborough the Class A state title.

“I had a great ball from Nate Tolman,” Philbrick said. “I just got a piece of it just to get it on net. And it just snuck in there.”

The win in the title game caps off a perfect 18-0 season for the Storm, who won their first soccer Gold Ball since 2005.

Entering the game, Eastern Maine champion Bangor was also undefeated. It was clear from the start the game would be tight. Both teams had several corner kick chances early in the first half, but couldn’t cash in. Bangor’s best chance of the early going came 11:48 into the game with an open look that sailed over the net.

Scarborough had a great chance to take the first lead of the game in the 24th minute. The Storm got the ball inside the box to Trevor Hoxsie, who had an open look to the net. Bangor goalie Bud Angst had left the net to break up the play, but missed. Hoxsie fired on net, but Bangor’s Ryan Larochelle made a defensive save to keep the game scoreless.

To have a sure goal thwarted might have gotten to some players. But Scarborough head coach Mark Diaz said his team had discussed that and was prepared to deal with it.

“That’s one thing we talked about because Bangor is so good defensively,” he said. “They did the same thing to Brunswick keeping balls off the line. We talked to our kids the last two games. You’ll get chances, you’ll hit legs, you might hit the post, don’t think about it, just keep coming.”

That’s what Scarborough did. They managed a handful of shots in the first half, but couldn’t get any of them past Angst.

Larochelle’s stellar defensive play wasn’t the only one. In the second half, the Red Storm’s Nick Tolman made a sliding defensive save of an open net shot to keep Bangor off the board.

As time ticked away, it seemed the game might be headed for overtime. It eventually did, thanks in large part to a huge defensive play by Scarborough’s Ryan Kane. With just over three minutes to go in the second half, Bangor’s Blaine Tobin got loose on a breakaway. Kane moved over and made a game-saving tackle just before Tobin could shoot.

In the ensuing chaos, Bangor’s Mark Susi was yellow carded and the Bangor faithful thought a penalty kick was in order. But the officials decided the play was clean.

Diaz was glad Kane took a chance at stopping the play.

“You have to,” he said. “He’s walking in one-on-one with your keeper. That’s a big goal from that range. You’ve got to come back and stop the ball.”

Kane’s stop allowed the game to go to overtime and Philbrick and the Red Storm struck quickly. Tolman played the ball over the Bangor defense where Philbrick was running toward the net. Angst left the net to grab the ball before Philbrick could get there. But he was too late and Philbrick’s chip shot went home and touched off a celebration.

“(Philbrick) looked faster at the end than at the beginning,” said Diaz. “We passed it over the top and he stayed on. The keeper came out and (Philbrick) just tapped it by him. Luckily for us it went in.”

And with that goal, the Red Storm could begin to celebrate their perfect season.

“It was a dream come true,” said Scarborough keeper Adam Blanchard. “You can’t ask for anything more than the perfect season. We knew we had something special at the beginning of the season and if we worked hard we could accomplish it. Now we have the Gold Ball.”

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