If the game story of G-NG vs. visiting Kennebunk on Tuesday evening, Sept. 13, belongs to anybody, it’s got to be keepers, John Henry Villanueva for the Patriots and William Kenneway for the Rams. Neither one faced any particularly blistering, head-on shots, but both did turn away a handful of near-misses as their teammates scrapped it out for 90 full minutes only to agree to disagree in the end: 0-0 the final after double-OT.

“They’re a good team,” G-NG head coach Andy Higgins said of the opposition. “Greg (Cavanaugh, Kennebunk head coach) is over there, he’s doing a great job with them. He’s a great coach; he’s got them organized, they defend very well – it was really hard for us to break them down. Overall, we were fortunate to get out of that with a draw.”

Play seesawed up and down the pitch all evening, often hanging at midfield for a stretch before tipping toward one team’s end or the other. G-NG might’ve possessed the ball more, but if so, it wasn’t by much.

Of course, the two keepers’ defenders deserve props too, for squashing into mediocrity any quality chances the opposition’s attackers might’ve set up. On the G-NG side, Jake Kackmeister, Tristan Fogg and others held the line out front of Villanueva admirably.

“The guys have got to defend together,” Higgins said. “They know they’ve got to defend in groups, they know they’ve got to get behind the ball and make things difficult for the opposing team. No clean looks.”

Higgins took a moment to praise Villanueva. “It helps having John Henry in the back. He was an all-regional goalkeeper last year for a reason. Fortunately, the guys in front of him – he makes great saves, and they help him out, because they defend really well.”

On the attack, the Patriots looked determined; they simply faced a defense they couldn’t quite figure out. Veterans Nathaniel Brindley on the left, Bryce Hayman in the center and Nick McCann on the right frequently combined to push forward, but the Rams did a fine job eliminating routes up middle, forcing play to the outsides then preventing it from collapsing inwards again.

“Like I said, I think [Kennebunk] was very organized,” said Higgins. “They took away our strength up the middle and kind of forced us to go out wide. We were able to get wide, and then it was just kind of linking up between the midfield third and the final third was troublesome. But if that’s the area we have trouble, we’ll take it.”

The Patriots suffered a temporary setback when McCann checked out with what appeared to be a leg injury. McCann, though, walked it off and returned to the field six minutes later, looking, if a little tender, as energized as ever.

In the end, however, both teams walked away only half-satisfied, at least Heal-Points-wise. Higgins took positives from his boys’ effort and what it says about their work to date: “That’s three games in a row this season we haven’t given up a goal,” he said. The Patriots bested York 1-0 in their schedule-opener, and then Wells 2-0 three days later.

“We didn’t put our best game out there today,” said Higgins. “Overall, at times they outplayed us. We had spurts where we settled down and played it and knocked it around but they took us out of our game and we’ve got to learn to respond, because that’s going to happen as we go in. This conference, it’s a tough game every night.”

The result bumped the Patriots to 2-0-1 on the season. The team travels to Poland on Thursday the 15th, then visits NYA on Saturday.

Patriot John Phillips grabs a header out of midair; Kennebunker Thomas Zub waits for Phillips to descend again.

G-NG defender Jake Kackmeister helped save the team’s goalie, John Henry Villanueva, from facing any particularly tough shots on Tuesday night.

G-NGer Bryce Hayman takes a touch.

G-NG’s Nathaniel Brindley clashes with a Kennebunk opponent in pursuit of the ball.

G-NG’s John Martin charges up the right side versus Kennebunk on Tuesday.

Kennebunk’s Maxwell Murray pushes forward; G-NG’s Nick Chandler pursues closely.

Bryce Hayman settles a ball near midfield for the Patriots.

G-NG’s Nathaniel Brindley cuts away from Kennebunk coverage.

Michael Sawyer fires a cross from low in the Kennebunk corner on Tuesday.

Patriot Matt Gurney wrestles a Kennebunk opponent in the midfield.

Patriot Nick Chandler vies for control near midfield.

G-NG’s Josiah Carter drives forward, Kennebunk’s Thomas Madden at his heels.

Patriot Cam Usher charges upfield with the ball.

Patriot Nick McCann pushes forward on the attack as Kennebunker Eli Richardson dashes in.

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