WINSLOW — The Maine Central Institute boys soccer team dreaded the annual trip to Winslow for more years than anybody can remember.
The games were often one-sided affairs, with the Black Raiders rolling to victories as the Huskies — by their own admission — did little more than go through the motions on the pitch.
Things changed Thursday afternoon.
T.J. Stewart scored his third and final goal late in the second half as the Huskies stunned Winslow, 4-3, in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B game at Kennebec Savings Bank Field.
MCI (4-3-0) twice surrendered one-goal leads and was trailing late when senior Ethan Varney pulled it even before classmate Stewart buried the game-winner about two minutes later.
For a team clinging to one of the final few playoff spots in Class B North, the victory over the fourth-ranked Black Raiders should jump MCI safely into the middle of the pack to begin the second half of the season.
Maine Central Institute’s Gavin Rogers, right, battles for the ball with Winslow defender Landen Gillis during a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B game Thursday at Kennebec Savings Field in Winslow. Morning Sentinel photo by Michael G. Seamans
“Our momentum increased, and we just built off of that,” Stewart said. “We needed something to build off of. Without anything, we just sort of sulk and go through the motions. We’ve lost to them by six goals, seven goals. Even before I was here, we’d just get dominated. To come out here and beat them is huge. It’s big for us.”
“Even when I was little, I remember ball-boying for the high school team and we’d play Winslow and we could never get that win,” Varney said. “They always just seemed to be a little bit ahead of us for some reason; they always played better. We could just never get into the games. This is huge, for sure.”
Freshman Andrew Poulin accounted for all three goals for Winslow (4-2-1).
MCI coach Scott Varney, who returned to the program six years ago, said it’s been awhile since MCI won here.
“Definitely not since I’ve been back,” he said. “It doesn’t happen very often. This is a big deal for us.”
What MCI did in the first half paid dividends in the second.
Stewart opened his account just 10 minutes in to give the Huskies the first of two early leads. Poulin scored in the 31st and 40th minutes to make it a 2-2 game at the break, Winslow would go ahead for the first time less than six minutes into the second period.
Still, MCI didn’t relent.
That determination paid off with Varney’s conviction to crash straight onto goal and equalize at 3-3 in the 73rd minute.
“It was definitely an up-and-down game, and there was definitely a shift in momentum there,” Ethan Varney said.
With the momentum, Stewart made the decision to have a crack at the goal straight on from less than 25 yards out, curling a perfect bid over the leaping J.J. Carey (four saves) and under the crossbar in the 75th minute. It completed his hat trick and provided the game-winning goal.
“I usually distribute the ball instead of score, but today I had to step it up,” Stewart said. “I looked up and I saw the goalie, and I just said, ‘I’ve got to take this.’ Sometimes, you’ve just got to take those chances.”
“They finished the chances they had and we didn’t,” Winslow coach Aaron Wolfe added. “On their first goal, the ball was just kind of bouncing around and they got to it. We had two or three of our own (chances) that were similar, we had a couple of shots over, and a couple of the shots they had were right on. You’ve got to finish your chances. That’s the difference in the game.”
Twice MCI keeper Jakub Smid (four saves) needed help behind him keeping his goal clean. In the 24th minute, Winslow striker Landen Gillis’ hard skipper along the ground was cleared out by MCI back Trenton Basford, and in the 69th minute — while trailing by a goal — center back Kaden Braley booted clear a ball off the foot of Poulin which would have been the rookie’s fourth of the day.
Armed with the lead for the final eight-plus minutes, the Huskies looked as good as they had at any point in the afternoon. And against a Winslow team playing for the second time in as many days, and without injured seniors Chris Phair and Austin Soucy, it was the type of win MCI had tried to find for years against the Black Raiders.
“We stand a chance as long as we believe,” Varney said. “We have a chance in any match if we just come out and play hard. We’re not one of those teams that have 25 great players. We fight and scrap for anything we get, and that’s what we’ve done year-in and year-out. I’m super-proud of these guys. They stayed into it right until the end.”
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