GORHAM – Wyatt Omsberg put in a penalty kick 32 seconds into overtime to lift Scarborough to a 2-1 victory against Gorham in an SMAA boys’ soccer game Thursday night.
It was the seventh straight win for the defending Class A state champion.
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“This is big because (Gorham has) won some big games and they’re going to win more big games,” Scarborough Coach Mark Diaz said. “To win this on the road was important for my club. We’re not extremely experienced and I was proud of my guys tonight.”
The penalty kick was awarded after an attacker was tripped inside the penalty area on the Red Storm’s first foray into Gorham’s end in overtime.
What was Omsberg thinking as he stood 14 yards in front, preparing to take the first penalty kick of the season for Scarborough?
“I’m just thinking of picking a spot and putting it there,” he said. “If the goalie guesses the right way, he guesses the right way. If you put it in the right spot, it’s going to go in.”
Omsberg’s kick caressed the back of the left post as he slammed it across the goal line.
“We battled hard,” Gorham Coach Tim King said. “We were probably hanging on there in the second half and it’s just an unfortunate way to have the game end.”
The score was 1-1 at halftime.
Charlie Mader opened the scoring for the Red Storm less than three minutes into the game when he headed in Max Omstein’s cross from the right corner.
Austin Bell tied it by slamming a low shot past goalie Pat Stanton from just inside the 18 with less than six minutes left in the half.
“I was proud of my guys,” King said. “It’s tough to take a shot like in the first five minutes of the game, but we battled back and snuck (a goal) in there. I thought the first half was even.”
Scarborough held a 7-4 edge in shots in the first half, but neither team was able to possess the ball for long as play moved up and down the field.
Stanton came off his line twice in the first half to break up promising runs by Corey Nadeau and Cody Elliot into his end of the field.
The Red Storm (8-1) held a 15-4 edge in shots over the Rams (7-2) in the second half, but many of them came from well outside the penalty area.
“They carried the play against us a little bit but I thought we defended hard. We defended well. Most of their shots were from deep. They didn’t have a lot of quality chances. I was happy with my defense but obviously I’d rather not play that much defense,” Omsberg said.
“We had a ton of chances on some shots from out deep but we didn’t test the goalie well enough.”
Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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