HAMPDEN, Maine — John Bapst High School senior outside midfielder Laken Walker said head coach Jason Pangburn told them before Wednesday’s Class B North soccer quarterfinal against Presque Isle that the first five minutes were the most important of the game.
The top-seeded Crusaders heeded their coach’s advice, scoring twice in the first 5:07 en route to a 6-1 victory over the eighth-seeded Wildcats at a misty Hampden Academy field.
The Crusaders, 14-1 and winners of 10 straight, will now host fifth seed Ellsworth, 12-3, in Saturday’s 7 p.m. semifinal at Bangor’s Cameron Stadium.
Presque Isle finished up at 9-7.
The teams split one-goal games during the regular season with each winning at home.
“We had to come out strong, score some goals and show a lot of energy and we did that,” said Walker, who opened the scoring just 3:46 after the opening whistle off a rebound to give the defending two-time B North titlists the lead for good.
“Oscar (Martinez) had a great shot, the goalie (Dyllan Maple) made a good save, there was a rebound and I made a good run. I was in the right place at the right time and got it in the corner,” said Walker, who placed it inside the near post from 15 yards out.
Senior left wing Cooper Lewis scored the next two goals before sophomore Rafa Rentosa made it 4-0 just 14:43 into the game.
Senior striker Martinez scored his 50th career goal in the second half and sophomore Kasper Hansen scored the other John Bapst goal.
Junior midfielder Garrett White notched a late second-half goal for the Wildcats.
Lewis made it 2-0 when a cross skipped through the penalty box and he was able to get a piece of it with his right foot and put it toward the net.
One Wildcat cleared it before it crossed the goal line but his clearance hit a teammate and rolled over the line.
He scored his next goal directly off his own in-swinging corner kick.
“That could have gone inside the back post but the goalie punched it and it went inside the near post,” said Lewis, who is now up to 10 goals on the season.
“I was pretty lucky (on both),” said Lewis.
Rentosa expanded the lead when his perfectly-placed corner kick sailed over Maple’s hands and nestled into the far side corner.
“That was amazing,” said Lewis.
Martinez scored his 15th of the season and 50th of his career midway through the second half off a perfect feed by Moritz Mueller which left him with an easy tap-in finish.
He said reaching the 50-goal milestone is “great.
“I made it a goal of mine this season once the numbers started to add up,” said the talented Martinez. “I’m really glad I was able to achieve it, especially in such an important game like this. This was a really big win. We’re moving on to the semifinals.”
White ruined the shutout bid with a well-placed header off a Brent Greenlaw corner kick before Hansen made a scintillating 40–yard dash down the middle of the field, evading defenders and then slotting the ball into the corner.
“Those guys are very skilled,” said Presque Isle head coach Jonah Hudson. “They’ve been hot lately and all season. They punched us in the mouth early. They’re a good team.”
“We got off to a great start,” said Pangburn. “We came out ready to play. We played real fast in the beginning, we were electric and we created some good scoring opportunities that popped into the net.”
Senior goalkeeper Connor Messervey made five saves in 21 shot attempts by Presque Isle. Sophomore back-up goalkeeper Bode Phillips came on late in the game and gave up the goal.
Senior Maple and junior Griffin Berry shared the goalkeeper for the Wildcats. They combined for 13 saves on 34 shot attempts. Maple surrendered four goals and Berry allowed two.
