READFIELD — Mt. Abram boys soccer coach Darren Allen didn’t mind the rainstorm Friday, because it forced Saturday’s marquee MVC matchup with Monmouth Academy to a neutral field as the Mustangs’ home field became unplayable after the heavy rain.
The conference’s top two teams met at the turf field at Kents Hill on Saturday afternoon, with the Roadrunners coming away with a 2-0 victory.
“I don’t care who you are, Monmouth is a tough place to play and I think they have only lost one game since (2016 at home),” Allen said. “I was kind of pleased it was on turf today because we do a lot of preseason stuff on turf.”
Monmouth (10-2-1), meanwhile, admits its not a turf team. Head coach Joe Fletcher said the Mustangs lost three playoff home games on turf in the past few years — two at Kents Hill and one at Thomas College.
“We aren’t accustomed to playing on turf,” Monmouth coach Joe Fletcher said. “I will get on my (soapbox): The town of Monmouth needs to do something for us (in regards to a turf field).”
It’s the second meeting between the teams in an eight-day span. Mt. Abram (12-1) also defeated Monmouth 2-1 on Oct. 7. They will meet for a third time after the regular season ends in the MVC championship game.
Mt. Abram’s Morgan Thibodeau had the first scoring chance six minutes into the first half when he chased down the ball as Monmouth goalie Hunter Frost (10 saves) came out to challenge, but Thibodeau’s shot to the open net went wide.
Both teams had chances in the middle of the first half, which each went wide of the goal. Kyle Palleschi and Sam Calder had shots go wide for the Mustangs. Sam Cockerham put a shot toward the goal for Mt. Abram.
Monmouth’s best scoring attempt of the opening half came with eight minutes remaining when Pat Strout’s shot sailed over the crossbar.
Thibodeau broke the deadlock in the final minute of the first half when Trey Pease sent the ball into the box and Charlie Pye headed it to Thibodeau, who knocked the ball into the goal with his head.
“It was the final minute in the first half and there was a lot of emotion going into (the game),” Thibodeau said. “I just put myself in the right spot and Charlie did a great job playing (the ball) back into the middle of (the 18-yard box).”
It was Thibodeau’s 20th goal of the season.
“Our play started with Trey Pease on the right side; he crossed it to Charlie Pye, who just headed it back in front of the goal,” Allen said. “Morgan was right there and Charlie has been nursing a lot of injuries this year, but any time he has stepped on the pitch, he’s good for an assist. … Morgan, what more can you say; he has been playing at a really high level the past week and a half.”
Fletcher said Monmouth played well for 39 minutes of the opening half.
“The message at halftime was: ‘We just played them to a standstill and we had opportunities for 39 minutes; we allowed them to score a goal. Now our backs are against the wall,'” Fletcher said. “I did tell my boys if we are to score — we couldn’t let them score again — I felt if we could tie it up, we would have found a way to win.”
Mt. Abram stretched the lead to 2-0 off a throw-in on the offensive side of the field. The ball bounced around in the box and went in the net with 25 minutes remaining in the second half. Bear Rollins touched the ball last for the Roadrunners to receive credit for the goal.
“The long throw, we tend to do the same thing; it creates a lot of chaos in front of the goal, (it creates) mismatches,” Fletcher said. “It’s a game of luck on long throws, to a certain degree.”
Monmouth had two straight corners in the second half but couldn’t get a solid scoring chance off of them.
Mt. Abram goalie Trey Reed (two saves) didn’t have much action in the game, but he stopped a shot from Strout while laying on the ground and one minute later stopped a free kick from 30 yards out.
“Patrick Strout is a fantastic player; he’s exciting and dangerous,” Allen said. “That was a good play but our defense, they are unbelievable. They work really hard.”
Thibodeau had another scoring chance miss wide of the net with about eight minutes remaining in the second half.
“The keeper was coming out; I saw him coming out,” Thibodeau said. “I just had to take (a shot at the first opportunity). Unfortunately, I just missed it wide.”
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