Medomak Valley boys’ soccer team jumped out to a 1-0 lead over Camden Hills in the KVAC championship game in Augusta on Oct. 23, but could not hold on, falling 4-1.
“We did well to get here. We probably did better than any boys’ team in the history of Medomak Valley. I am proud of them for that,” coach Butch Taylor said.
Camden Hills “came ready to play. They deserved it. They brought a lot of energy to the field today,” Taylor commented. “Hopefully we get another shot at them,” Taylor added of the East Class B playoffs.
Both teams missed key opportunities early in the half. Dale Winchenbach was stopped on a direct kick and Marc Laliberte missed an open net. Jimmy Weferling missed two over the top and Sam Predham was stopped by Panther keeper Caleb Thompson in a wild start.
Medomak took a 1-0 lead with 16:06 to go in the half on a goal set up by Joaquin Perez. Perez pushed a little diagonal pass through to Tyler Isidro, who finished it off. Camden nearly tied the game twice on a shot that rolled across the mouth of the goal, and another shot that was stopped at the corner by Panther defender John Bartlett.
Bartlett and Brian Sweeney came up big on a Camden corner kick, before the Windjammers’ pressure paid off with 8:35 to go when Andrew Flanagan converted a cross from Weferling.
Medomak came back with a shot from Sweeney that was swallowed up by Ian Cushing in net for Camden to end the half with a 1-1 tie.
The two teams split during their regular season, and the first half looked like a classic re-match, but the second half was controlled by Camden. The Jammers scored three straight goals from Flanagan, Henry Marchetti and Predham, with Predham picking up the assist on the winning goal.
Camden held a 15-7 advantage in shots. Thompson made three saves for the Panthers, and Cushing four saves for the Jammers.
