The Bangor High School girls soccer team suffered its first loss to Brewer since 1992 in a 1-0 shutout nine days ago in Brewer.
It wasn’t about to lose another one to its archrival on Monday night in Bangor.
The Rams received a first-half goal from sophomore attacking midfielder Teaghan Atherley and a second-half score from junior forward Lily Chandler to highlight a dominant performance in a 2-1 victory at Cameron Stadium.
Brewer made things interesting by scoring against the run of play with 12 minutes left when senior midfielder Jordan Doak redirected a thigh-high pass from Lauren Vanidestine behind Bangor goalie Emma McNeil.
The Rams had a lopsided edge in possession and they controlled the game from the opening whistle.
The Witches defended valiantly in front of standout goalkeeper Bella Tanis but rarely had the ball in the attacking third as the tenacious Rams won virtually all the 50-50 balls.
Tanis turned in a superb performance, making several terrific diving saves among the 13 she finished with to keep her team within striking distance.
Bangor had 33 shot attempts to Brewer’s 13. McNeil had one save.
Brewer played better in the second half and had a few scoring chances but Bangor defended well after the Brewer goal to nail down the valuable victory.
Bangor improved to 5-1-4 with its third straight win while the Witches fell to 7-3-1 and had its winless streak expanded to three games (0-2-1).
Atherley opened the scoring with 16:15 left in the first half by converting a neat little pass from Emmie Streams, who slid the ball over to the sprinting Atherley in the middle of the penalty area.
Atherley cleverly directed the ball with the inside of her right foot past the onrushing Tanis.
Pivotal play: Chandler gave the Rams some valuable breathing room and scored what turned out to be the game-winner with 26:29 remaining.
Oliva Scott gave her a perfect diagonal through ball as Chandler scampered down the left wing, got behind the Brewer defense, and broke in alone on Tanis before tucking it into the far corner.
Big takeaway: Bangor is starting to play up to its potential after a five-game winless streak (0-1-4). Anna Connors, Streams, Scott, Atherley and Chandler are dangerous on the attack and have also been tracking back to help out on the defensive side of the ball.
Tanis is a top-notch goalkeeper who will give the Witches the opportunity to beat anyone. The back line is well-organized but the Witches need to generate more offense if they are going to make a deep playoff run.
Up next: Bangor hosts Edward Little of Auburn on Tuesday at 6 or 7 p.m. while Brewer entertains undefeated Brunswick at 6:30 p.m.