SCARBOROUGH—There will be no perfect Storm this fall.

That’s because the visiting Deering Rams put all of their talent on display Tuesday evening at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex and in a memorable regular season finale, stymied Scarborough’s quest for an undefeated mark while in the process serving notice to the rest of the league that they’re just getting started.

The Red Storm, who have run roughshod on a very balanced Class A South region all season, took an early lead on their Senior Night when senior Will Fallona scored in the ninth minute of play, but the Rams, who have struggled finding consistency this season, roared back.

After being fouled in the box in the 14th minute, senior captain Adilson Vidal took the ensuing penalty kick and while Scarborough senior goalkeeper Nicholas Ouellette made the save, Vidal was able to score on the rebound to tie the score.

Then, with just over seven minutes to go before halftime, senior Patricio Mowa unleashed a powerful free kick from midfield that bounced off Ouellette’s hands and in to give Deering the lead.

The Rams’ defense then slammed the door from there and with 15:30 to go, senior Carlos Adriano-Muaco produced an insurance goal and Deering went on to a 3-1 victory.

The Rams finished the regular season 10-2-2, moved up the standings and in the process, dropped Scarborough to 13-1.

“We came in with the mentality that although they had an undefeated record, we could match up with them,” Vidal said. “We know we’re a great team with a bunch of good players all over the field. We just worked together and that’s how we got the win. We didn’t give up and stayed disciplined to Coach (Joel Costigan’s) game plan.”

Raising the bar

Scarborough was upset in penalty kicks in the regional quarterfinals a year ago and while those on the outside thought that the Red Storm might come back to the pack after Zander Haskell departed, in reality, the Red Storm’s depth and balance have been unmatched.

Scarborough has been consistently excellent since opening the season with a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over Portland. The Red Storm then defeated host Westbrook (8-0), visiting Windham (2-0), host Sanford (8-3) in longtime coach Mark Diaz’s 300th career win, visiting Kennebunk (2-1), host Biddeford (8-0), visiting Falmouth (2-0), host Thornton Academy (4-0), visiting Marshwood (7-0), visiting Massabesic (10-0), host Noble (15-0), host South Portland (2-0) and host Bonny Eagle (7-0).

As for Deering, for the first half of the season, the Rams were every bit as good as Scarborough, but the second half of the campaign had been a different story.

Deering started with a 2-0 victory at Biddeford, then downed visiting Sanford (6-1), Windham (3-0) and reigning Class A champion Marshwood (2-1). After a 7-1 victory at Noble, the Rams blanked visiting Bonny Eagle (3-0) and Thornton Academy (2-0) before settling for a 2-2 home draw versus rival Cheverus. After beating host Massabesic, 8-0, Deering rallied in the waning seconds to forge a 1-1 home tie against Gorham, then lost at Falmouth in overtime (3-2), dropped a 2-1 decision at Kennebunk and gave Costigan his 100th career victory, 3-1 at Westbrook.

“We went four games without winning and it took a toll on us,” Vidal said.” The guys weren’t used to that. We had to sit and talk about it.”

Last year, in the season opener, host Scarborough blanked the Rams, 2-0.

Monday, on a 58-degree evening, in the Red Storm’s first home game in two weeks, Scarborough looked to keep the good times rolling, but instead, it ran into a determined Deering squad that beat the Red Storm for the first time since Aug. 31, 2017.

Scarborough got the first chance, two minutes in, but off a corner, Fallona headed the ball just wide.

After Adriano-Muaco shot high for the Rams and junior Kilson Joao was off-target for the Red Storm, the home team got the jump in the ninth minute, when off another corner, Fallona got his head on a serve from junior Dillon MacLeod and directed the ball past Deering junior keeper Adao Lufumbo-Mbenza and in for a quick 1-0 lead.

But that would prove to be Scarborough’s highwater mark.

With 26:22 left in the first half, the Rams got their opportunity to answer, as Vidal was tripped up in the box and a penalty kick was awarded.

Vidal did the honors, shooting toward the left corner, but Ouellette dove to make the stop. He couldn’t corral the rebound, however, and Vidal settled the ball and sent it into the net to pull Deering even.

“Usually on a PK, I go one way, but today, the goalie got in my head a bit,” Vidal said. “Coach always tells us to never give up on a play. I kept my composure to take an extra touch.”

The goal was the first Scarborough had allowed since Sept. 14.

The Red Storm tried to retake the lead, but a corner kick serve glanced off the crossbar, Joao missed high on an open net, Joao redirected MacLeod’s cross on target but Lufumbo-Mbenza made the save, then MacLeod fired a free kick high.

With 7:16 left before halftime, in a seemingly innocuous play, Mowa set up to take a free kick from midfield. He sailed the ball on target, Ouellette came out to punch it out, but instead, it hit hands and deflected backwards, straight into the goal to make it 2-1 Deering.

“I was in the box and usually we have set piece plays but it was too far for that,” Vidal said. “Their goalie is good, but the ball was wet. You need luck to win games. It’s a good thing the luck was on our side. It was a great goal and it definitely put our spirits up for the rest of the game.”

“I think the weather and the lights played a part in that,” Costigan said. “Carlos being up top with a big body puts pressure on the keeper. It’s a wet night. In that moment, all the elements played a factor.”

When the second half began, Scarborough pushed hard for the equalizer, but MacLeod missed high, then an apparent Joao goal (from senior Parker Killiard) was waved off due to Joao being offsides.

After Killiard had a shot saved by Lufumbo-Mbenza, Fallona had a header saved with just over 24 minutes left and Fallona’s rebound bid was cleared by a defender.

Then, with 15:30 on the clock, Adriano-Muaco produced an insurance goal, burying a loose ball in the box, to make the score 3-1.

“The third goal was definitely one we needed,” Vidal said. “They were applying a lot of pressure to start the second half, but the third goal got us more comfortable. That helped us keep our heads cool.”

Scarborough nearly answered with 8:06 on the clock, as a shot from the side appeared to be heading in, but out of nowhere, Rams junior back Chandrel Mangele Laza cleared the ball off the line to save a goal.

“We needed that,” Vidal said. “It’s little moments like that win games. I don’t even know why he was there. It was a great save. It was probably the most important play of the game. If that went in, they would have had time to get on us and our heads might have gone down.”

“Chandrel made the right play,” Costigan said. “I don’t know if he would have made this play in another game, but everyone was on board tonight.”

The Red Storm had one more chance, with 2 minutes to play, but sophomore Matt Fallona missed just wide.

Deering managed to run out the clock from there and celebrated its 3-1 victory.

“We talked on Friday and brainstormed our tactics,” Costigan said. “We had an excellent practice yesterday and we executed amazingly today. Everyone had a positive attitude. I didn’t even touch them during warmups. They motivated themselves. They were focused. That falls to the leadership on the team. Our captains did a great job keeping guys ready to go and focused and keeping their heads in the game. We had a game plan and we stuck with it. We talked about changes at the half, but we decided to keep what’s working and perfect the things we need to perfect.”

Deering got eight saves from Lufumbo-Mbenza.

Scarborough had a 9-7 edge in shots on frame and got four saves from Ouellette, but tasted defeat for the first time.

“Deering’s a good team,” said Diaz. “Everyone knows what they bring to the table. I thought we actually played pretty well. We did a lot of good things that often results in goals, but that’s how this game goes sometimes. We’ll learn from this and we’ll get better from it. I don’t think we handled playing catch-up great. Some of that is my fault. We’ll approach that better moving forward.”

Each team took six corner kicks.

The 1 and 2

Despite Tuesday’s loss, Scarborough is the top seed in Class A South and will open the playoffs next week at home in the quarterfinals, likely against Kennebunk or Falmouth.

The road to the crown will go through the Red Storm and Scarborough will lick its wounds and will be up for the challenge.

“This didn’t change our seeding,” Diaz said. “I’m glad we learned some lessons today and not in the next couple weeks. This is good for us. I’m very proud of these guys and what they’ve accomplished. They won a really tough conference. We’ll look at the things we did wrong tonight and we’ll correct them.”

Deering projects to be the second seed in Class A South and will host a quarterfinal round game next week, possibly against crosstown rival Portland, which the Rams didn’t play in the regular season.

“Class A is unpredictable,” said Vidal. “We need to work hard in practice, stay disciplined and have the confidence to know no matter who we’re playing, we can beat. Beating Scarborough shows we have a chance. I look forward to the first game of the playoffs.”

“We’ve done this before where we’ve had really good games, then we get ahead of ourselves,” Costigan said. “Hopefully, knowing it was Scarborough, this might boost our confidence. We have a serious chance here, we just have to be on board.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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