WINDHAM – The Windham boys soccer team survived a scare on Tuesday night.
Just 59 seconds into the game, as most fans were still getting settled in their seats in the bleachers, the Marshwood Hawks caused a stir as Marshwood senior captain Jeff Graunke scored a very quick goal to grab an early 1-0 lead. But that was the high point of the game for the Hawks (6-2) as the Eagles (6-2) kept them off the scoreboard the rest of the way and rode three goals from senior Robbie Lentine to cruise to a 4-1 win at home.
“It put us on our heels right at the start giving away that early goal,” said Windham coach Colin Minte. “But luckily we were able and get our composure.”
The Eagles certainly did get their composure and fast.
Just three minutes after Graunke put the Hawks on top, Lentine scored the equalizer to tie things at 1-1 with 36:03 left to go in the first half. Minte said he was glad that his team settled in and quickly tied things up with a talented Marshwood squad. “They caught us off guard,” said Minte, who added that Lentine had a “great strike” on the first goal. “They have some talented, athletic players, they are a good team. They pressed forward a lot and they had two, athletic speedy strikers.”
Lentine put Windham in the lead for good with 13:50 to go before the end of the first half. Senior Bryan Soucy chased down a loose ball in the corner and after gaining control, he sent a long, crossing pass toward the front of the net. Slicing through the middle, Lentine cut through the Marshwood defense and knocked the ball home to make it 2-1.
“Robbie’s such a great player,” Minte said. “His movement through the midfield and up top is just fun to watch. He’s creating so much for us and doing so much for us on the field.”
The first half ended with the Eagles holding on to the 2-1 lead and it seemed that the Hawks were hanging around to knock in the tying goal.
But Lentine had other ideas.
With 13:23 remaining in regulation, Lentine scored a huge goal for the Eagles, once again scoring on a nice hustle play with some help from a teammate. Senior Robbie Hamilton got a hold of the ball in the Eagle end of the field and fed a pass to Lentine down the middle of the field and he avoided the slide of Marshwood keeper Danny Veino to drive home his third goal of the game and give the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
After letting the Hawks stay close for so long, Minte said it was a relief to get some breathing room on the scoreboard. “It was nice to get that third goal,” he said.
Just under two minutes later, with 11:40 showing on the scoreboard clock, the Eagles got another big insurance goal. This time it was Lentine setting up a teammate for the score. Taking the ball in the corner, Lentine sent a cross pass into the middle of a group of players and Soucy made a nice play to score and make it 4-1.
After the game, Minte said he had no complaints about how his team scored against the Hawks. “I’m very happy with all four of our goals,” he said. “They were probably four of the better goals we scored this year. (We had) good runs off the ball, good service in the box. All in all, four good goals.”
With the win against the Hawks now behind them, the Eagles must turn their eyes to a big challenge looming in front of them. On Saturday afternoon, as part of Windham’s homecoming weekend, the Eagles, currently ranked No. 2 in the Class A West Heal Points will take on the only team ranked higher than them, No. 1 Scarborough (6-0-2) at 5 p.m. in a battle that could be meaningful when the playoffs roll around.
To stay in the game against the powerful Red Storm, Minte said the Eagles need to avoid surrendering a potentially costly early goal like they did against the Hawks. “We’ve got to make sure we keep our composure coming out (at the start of the game),” Minte said. “Especially at home.”
Calling the game against the top-ranked team in the league “a very big game for us,” Minte said he thinks his team will rise to the occasion. “It’s a challenge, but I think we’re up for it.”
Windham’s Robbie Lentine watches a shot sail just over theSend questions/comments to the editors.
