THORNDIKE — All the things that have defined Maranacook soccer’s success over the past decade were on full display Saturday.
Physicality. Relentlessness. Winning 50-50 balls. Aerial prowess. Scoring opportunities from wide areas. The only problem for the Black Bears was that it was Mount View providing all of those elements in a key Class C crossover contest.
The Mustangs got three goals in a dominant two-way effort from senior midfielder Elijah Allen and handed Maranacook a 5-2 loss in a game between two of the leaders in their respective regions. With the win Mount View jumped to the top of the Class C North standings, while the Black Bears remained third in Class C South.
Simply put, Mount View (9-1-0) beat Maranacook at its own game in a way most teams over the last several seasons have not.
“We just played our game. We didn’t let them push us around,” Allen said. “We just did our thing, and we played as a team. I think that was the best thing for us.”
The five goals conceded by Maranacook (8-2-0) marked the most allowed by a Black Bear side in 17 years under head coach Don Beckwith. The team had never allowed more than three previously.
“We got beat. Simple as that,” Beckwith said. “They were the better team.”
“We’ve talked about it the last couple of weeks. Everything’s got to be quicker, you’ve got to be physical and you’ve got to be strong on the ball,” Mount View coach Jeremy Von Oesen said. “You have to get to it first or second and be on top of everything. If you give them time, they’re going to pick you apart.
“It all trickles down to how tight you can play and how long you can sustain that for.”
Maranacook got a pair of goals from Tim Worster, including the game’s opener in the eighth minute. The teams combined for three goals inside a frenzied opening 14 minutes — Allen drawing the Mustangs level in the 12th minute and Noah Jacobs handing them the lead two minutes later — but nothing else until after halftime.
There were 20 fouls whistled in all in the first 40 minutes, 10 to each team, and scoring chances were as hard to find as was space in which to operate.
Not much changed after the break, but the Mustangs did begin to break the Black Bears down.
Allen’s most influential piece of work didn’t come on a goal of his own, but instead on one he set up beautifully in the 51st minute.
Winning the ball in the middle of the park and pushing forward with intent, Allen drew three Maranacook defenders to him at the top of the 18-yard box. Choosing against forcing his way through for a low percentage opportunity, he expertly laid the ball off on the left side for Atlas Hubbard — and Hubbard finished neatly inside the far post for a 3-1 lead.
“He’s relentless. He is a different animal,” Von Oesen said of Allen. “There’s no quit in him. He’s a different level from everybody.”
Worster pulled one back with his second three minutes later and had a chance to equalize when he hit the post from 20 yards out in the 62nd minute, but Allen finished off his hat trick with goals in the 65th and 80th minutes against a Maranacook squad without senior center back Carter McPhedran (mononucleosis) and two starting outside backs.
“It’s just experience at this point,” said Allen, who took the brunt of the physical abuse while being marked by as many as three men on occasion. “You’ve got to know where they’re going to be and how they’re going to play against you. It took me a little bit to figure that out, but I think I’ve finally gotten the hang of it.”
Was the final result a statement win for the Mustangs?
Said Allen: “Of course.”
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