WINDHAM—Portland’s boys’ soccer team has won its share of dramatic games this fall.

But those came in overtime.

Saturday afternoon, the fourth-ranked Bulldogs didn’t need extra time, just a late goal from an unlikely source to advance against top-seeded Windham in a Class A South semifinal that was as good as advertised.

Portland, which lost its regular season meeting at the Eagles, struck first, just five minutes in, as junior Baptista Muanda set up senior Paulo Joao for a goal.

Not surprisingly, Windham answered back, as with 5:51 remaining on the first half clock, senior standout Luke Cuniffe headed home junior Jack Henry’s corner kick to make it 1-1 at the half.

It would stay that way for quite awhile, as the Eagles hit the crossbar and the Bulldogs hit the post.

But with overtime looming, Portland got the break it needed with 6:41 left, as Joao set up junior Pedro Bunga, playing his first game up top all season, for the decisive tally.

The Bulldogs held Windham at bay from there and prevailed, 2-1.

Portland improved to 13-2-1, ended Windham’s solid campaign at 12-2-2 and in the process, advanced to battle No. 3 Scarborough (14-1-1) in the Class A South Final Tuesday at 4 p.m., at Massabesic High School in Waterboro.

“It wasn’t easy,” said longtime Bulldogs coach Rocco Frenzilli. “Credit to Windham. They were number one for a reason. I’m just so proud of these young men for what they’ve been able to accomplish. Words can’t describe it. We knew coming in it would be difficult with the team they have. They didn’t go through the season with one loss for no reason. We respected them, but no fear. That’s what we do with every team we play.”

Pulling out all the stops

In a season where Class A South appeared to be wide, wide open, the top four seeds wound up getting through to the semifinals.

It wasn’t easy, however, for either Windham or Portland.

The Eagles, who tied Falmouth and Gorham and lost by a goal in overtime to Scarborough while beating everyone else in the regular season, were three-plus minutes away from being upset by No. 9 South Portland Wednesday in the quarterfinals, but they managed to tie the score to force overtime and there, prevailed on Cunniffe’s penalty kick, 2-1, to advance.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, who lost only to Gorham and Windham by a goal apiece and tied Scarborough during the regular year, had to go to overtime, then into penalty kicks to survive fifth-ranked Gorham in their quarterfinal Wednesday. Thanks to conversions from Muanda, senior Osvaldo Silva and senior Silvo Mbayi, Portland won on PKs, 3-1, and took the game, 2-1.

In the teams’ regular season meeting Oct. 11, senior Ronan Mas scored for the Bulldogs, but senior Sam Rogers scored a pair of goals to lead the Eagles to a 2-1 victory.

Entering play Saturday, the teams had split four prior playoff meetings. The most recent was last year, in the same round, where Portland prevailed on PKs (7-4), to win, 1-0.

Saturday, on a windy and chilly afternoon (47 degrees at kickoff), overtime or PKs weren’t necessary for the Bulldogs to spring the upset again.

The Eagles earned a free kick in the game’s third minute, but Mas headed out the serve of senior Connor Gallant.

Portland then struck first, at the five-minute mark, as Muanda got the ball to Joao up top and Joao one-timed a shot past Windham senior goalkeeper Lukas Hammond for a 1-0 lead.

The good news was that the Bulldogs struck quickly.

The bad was that they still had 75 minutes to protect the lead, something they couldn’t do.

Portland nearly doubled its lead on a couple of occasions, but Joao couldn’t get to a deflection off a corner, senior Isaac Rodrigues-Nkanza had a shot saved by Hartwell, then Hartwell came out to rob Rodrigues-Nkanza.

After Bulldogs senior goalkeeper Marco Cifuentes Robles beat Rogers to a long feed from Cunniffe, Windham earned a corner kick and with 5:51 on the clock, Henry served the ball in and Cunniffe soared and headed it into the net to make it 1-1.

Each team had a chance before halftime, but junior Daniel Hancock missed wide for the Eagles and Bulldogs senior David Mawangu took a cross from Mas, but missed high with Hammond out of position.

The second half would see both teams frustrated until Portland finally went in front to stay.

Just seconds into the half, Hammond beat Mawangu to a pass from junior Khalifa Mbabo.

The Bulldogs tried again and this time, Hammond got to a feed from Rodrigues-Nkanza before Mbabo could get there.

With 37:44 left in regulation, Windham came within inches of the lead, as Rogers dribbled to his left through the defense, had an initial shot blocked by Portland sophomore back Walter Hettenbach, then he got to the rebound and fired a promising shot that Cifuentes Robles had no chance to save, but fortunately for Portland, the ball struck the crossbar.

Cifuentes Robles then saved a shot from Cunniffe, Cunniffe had a free kick blocked and Cifuentes Robles beat Rogers to a cross.

At the other end, Mas missed just wide and with 16:58 remaining, Bunga’s first chance to play the hero resulted in a shot that skimmed off the top of the crossbar.

With 14:45 showing, a Rodrigues-Nkanza took a cross from Joao, but headed it just wide.

With 12 minutes to go, Hammond saved a shot from Mawangu, but Bunga had a lot of net to shoot at on the rebound, only to send the ball off the left post.

Bunga wouldn’t be denied on his next chance.

With 6:41 remaining, Joao sent the ball ahead to Bunga, who was ruled to be onside, then Bunga fired the ball past Hammond and in for a 2-1 advantage.

“When I got it, I just put it again,” said Bunga, through his interpreter, senior Mateta Antonio. “I was very happy.”

A change in strategy played huge dividends for the Bulldogs.

“That was all coach’s work right there,” said Bunga, through Antonio. “I was happy when I got moved to offense. I was waiting for this moment.”

“Walter has stepped up the past few games big-time at left back and that allowed us to move other guys places where honestly, it’s probably more natural for them to play,” Mas said. “Pedro on that wing can dribble like he likes to and he’s so dangerous on attack. We just had to connect the pieces on attack to get balls through. We knew if we played them through, we have some amazing players who can put the ball in the net.”

“All summer long, (Pedro) was playing up top and then, during preseason, we started playing him in the back and he was incredible,” Frenzilli added. “With Walter stepping up, we decided this week to give Pedro a run up top. It made all the difference in the world. We’re a different team with him up there. He and Isaac are a scary combination.”

Windham tried desperately to rally, but freshman Sean LeBel sent a header wide, Mas headed away a flip throw from senior Carter Engelman, sophomore Caleb Hayman missed wide and Mas and Hettenbach cleared the ball from harm’s way.

Hammond did make a terrific play just beyond midfield, breaking up a potential Rodrigues-Nkanza breakaway and game-sealing goal, but Portland got the ball back and managed to run out the clock.

At 3:02 p.m., the final horn sounded and the Bulldogs celebrated their 2-1 victory.

“We had to put in a lot of work together,” Bunga said, through Antonio. “It was a group effort. We were all tired, but there was a lot of dedication and we just had to keep going.”

“Their goal woke us up and we knew we just had to play our game,” said Mas. “I told everyone at halftime that we’ve worked too hard to be here and not win and I didn’t want to go penalties.”

“When Luke got that header, I knew we were in a game,” Frenzilli added. “We just had to do a couple things differently in the second half. I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t anxious coming up here because Windham’s excellent. At the end, we dropped Ronan back and played more defensively. I screamed to the kids to get back and help us out and to just push the ball forward. Marco came up big.

“It’s another step, another chapter.”

The Bulldogs ended with an 8-3 advantage in shots on frame, got two saves from Cifuentes Robles and took five corner kicks to the Eagles’ three.

Hammond made six saves for Windham, but its season ended in agony yet again.

“We settled in and a lot of seniors stepped up,” said Eagles coach Jeff Neal. “We had them on their heels quite a bit. One thing we pride ourselves on is winning first or second balls.

“I feel badly for the seniors. They’ve done so much and accomplished so much the past four years. Goals allowed, goals scored. I’m not much for tracking stats, but their numbers are really impressive. There’s a lot of emotion and heavy hearts right now, but there’s nothing I can say. I’m very proud of how the guys have carried themselves respectfully. They dug in and showed sportsmanship all the way through.

“Next year’s next-man-up. It’s always that mentality here. We hope to have that moving forward.”

Creeping closer

Portland got to the regional final last year before meeting its match in a 1-0 loss to rival Deering.

This time around, the Bulldogs are bound and determined to advance.

On Sept. 28, Portland and host Scarborough settled for a 1-1 tie.

The Bulldogs are just 3-4 all-time versus the Red Storm in the playoffs despite last year’s 1-0 double-overtime win in the quarterfinals.

“We’ll try to keep putting all the pieces together,” said Mas. “I think this game was the closest to the complete puzzle and I think next game, we can build off that.”

“We just have to keep working together, show up to practice and do what we’re supposed to do,” Bunga said, through Antonio.

“The guys come in every day ready to play, ready to work and they’re looking forward to practice Monday,” added Frenzilli. “Hopefully, we’ll generate more than we did last year (against Deering). Scarborough will try to stop us from generating. It’s going to be a great chess match and I’m just happy we’re going to be there.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. 

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