Boys' soccer: Lewiston settles for scoreless tie with Bangor in opener

Joel Musese, right, of Lewiston High School controls the ball against Roland Mattsen of Bangor during the first half in Lewiston on Saturday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

LEWISTON — Bangor came to Lewiston — and its brand-new turf field — looking for a win. That mentality didn’t change when the scoreless Class A North boys’ soccer season opener went to overtime.

The Rams didn’t get the win, and neither did the Blue Devils, who are still searching for their first goal at the new Don Roux Field after settling for a 0-0 tie on Saturday.

“We knew that they were the team to play this year, and we still came down here hoping to get a victory, but against a good squad like that we thought we played well and we thought a tie’s all right,” Bangor coach Garth Berenyi said.

The Blue Devils (0-0-1) weren’t nearly as happy with the draw.

“Unfortunately, a tie away for them on this field is kind of like a win for them,” Lewiston coach Mike McGraw said. “So I think that we have to get to a point where we have to get that advantage back, and get better.”

Lewiston got a wake-up call in the first minute, but avoided a disaster when Jacob Munroe’s header off a long cross from Josh Sherwood went over the bar.

The Rams (0-0-1) couldn’t get anything on target until the final two minutes of the first half. The Blue Devils weren’t any more accurate, getting just a low roller toward the Bangor goal from Bilal Hersi 13 minutes into the game.

Lewiston earned seven corner kicks in the first half, but couldn’t take advantage of any of them, as Bangor’s defense held strong each time.

“We haven’t really got to corner kicks this year yet,” Berenyi said. “We’ve been working on other stuff, and as the season goes on we’ll spend more time with it, but I think our guys had the right mentality, which is really a cornerstone of being successful in those things.”

The goalies were tested more in the second half. Lewiston keeper Dido Lumu stopped Conor O’Brien’s re-direct of Jack Bourassa’s free kick less than nine minutes in, and Bangor’s Austin Conway made a save on Suab Nur just over 10 minutes later.

Conway made an even better save with less than eight minutes left in regulation, stopping Hersi on a slight breakaway.

“He stole a goal … in that one breakaway, a great through-ball from Lewiston,” Berenyi said. “He just came up with the big save.”

Neither team put a shot on goal in either of the two five-minute overtimes, but the Blue Devils mounted heavy pressure in the Bangor end with time winding down in the second session.

“All that showed was that that’s what we can do,” McGraw said. “We just have to be able to extend that to a whole game.”

Conway finished with five saves, and Lumu three. Lewiston held an 8-3 edge in corner kicks.

“It was a good opener,” McGraw said. “They exposed a few things that are weaknesses that we have to work on. They’re a quality team, great defensive team, and I think we showed that given an opportunity we could put some goals in, and we just have to find the net.

“If we played a team that was not very strong and we dominated, it might give us a false sense of security. But this was really good. This helped us understand where we are.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

Ahmed Hussein, second from right, of Lewiston High School stalls in traffic against Bangor High School during the first half in Lewiston on Saturday. Bangor defenders from left are: Will Hadden, Kevin Fish and Mahar Alsamsam. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)