Penbay U-14 boys Results

The Broncos Travel Soccer club hosted the Penbay boys in the North division U-14 final match of the tournament hosted by Hampden at the Reeds Brook field on Saturday. The fog burned off so the noon game was played on a dry pitch under ideal weather conditions. This match was part of a tournament started last weekend. Hampden had two wins and no losses entering the game, while Penbay was 1-1. For Penbay to advance to the state finals would require a 3 goal victory.

Hampden is one of the premier teams in the state and the squad draws players from as far away as Mount Desert island and Ellsworth. Many of these players are part of the Seacoast United Blackbear team, and have exceptional skills and discipline as players.

Penbay opened up with a 4-4-2 formation with the plan of kicking the ball into the Hamden offensive end in an effort to draw the Broncos defense to midfield. The strategy did work in keeping the ball  away from the Penbay net for the first few minutes. Eventually, Hampden started dominating possession and kept the ball on the Penbay end. However, the Penbay Keeper, Connor Davis, was up to the challenge and made many sterling saves.

Twenty-five minutes into the contest Carson Atherley took a pass from Tyler Welch and put the ball into the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. That is how the half ended. Davis made 4 saves on 12 shots by the Broncos. Penbay was held to two shots on goal.

In the second half the Penbay strategy was implemented with better results. The speedy forwards for Penbay, Kieran Lydon and Zac Collins started making long runs assisted by passes from Max Pushaw and Morgan Mercier. The Bronco defense and goalies were diligent and aggressive preventing the forwards from gaining control of the ball and delivering hard shots.

Eight minutes into the half Atherley passed across the goal mouth and Welch shot low and hard by the keeper for a 2-0 Bronco lead.

At the 20 minutes mark Atherly converted a corner kick pass from Welch to give the Broncos a three goal lead.

At this point the Penbay coach, Richard Gross, moved Richard Vokey to striker, and found the spark the Penbay boys needed.
Vokey and Lydon started pressuring the Broncos goalie and the quality of the shots improved. At the 30 minute mark Vokey was tackled from behind in the box resulting in a penalty kick. The goalie dove left and Vokey calmly deposited the ball low to the right to put Penbay on the board.

Four minutes later Vokey crossed the ball to Lydon who used his body to settle the ball and nudge it across the line to bring Penbay within one. However, the Broncos managed  to finish the match without allowing another score.

Maddison Jordan, the keeper for Penbay in the second half, made 10 saves on 17 shots by the Broncos. The Penbay team managed 16 shots against the Broncos in a wide-open offensive affair in the second half.

Leading the defensive and midfield effort for the Penbay boys was Zach Davis, Max Pushaw and Morgan Ford.

The Broncos move on to the State final four tournament next weekend for the U-14 boys, and the Penbay team congratulates the Broncos for a great season, and wishes them success in the tournament.

Alex Arau
Penbay U-14 team manager