SCARBOROUGH — As South Portland boys’ soccer coach Bryan Hoy has learned over the years, the Scarborough Red Storm have a knack for taking advantage of good fortune.
Saturday morning at Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex, the undefeated Red Storm and vastly improved South Portland were locked in a scoreless game until the 72nd minute, when a clearing attempt by the Red Riots bounced right to Scarborough standout Zander Haskell in the box.
Haskell buried the shot, and the Red Storm defense did the rest as Scarborough, the No. 1 team in the Varsity Maine boys’ soccer poll, improved to 5-0 with a 1-0 victory.
“That’s what happens every time we play (Scarborough),” lamented Hoy. “It’s the same song; when you make a mistake, they score. They capitalize on every mistake because that’s how good they are.”
The Red Riots (3-2) had some chances in the first half. A low shot by dangerous midfielder Joey Perron was saved by Red Storm goalkeeper Nicholas Ouellette (four saves). Standout striker Divin Mpinga had one shot stopped, another just miss the mark and several other rushes into the box broken up by Scarborough’s solid back line.
“(Mpinga’s) very dangerous,” said Red Storm Coach Mark Diaz. “I thought (Noah) Flagg and (Nicholas) Connolly and Parker (Killiard) and (Reid) Deniso did really well on him. I’m really happy with my backs. They cleaned stuff up and made good plays.”
Scarborough had first-half chances, too, including four corner kicks, but South Portland keeper Thomas Caouette (12 saves) denied a couple bids from Haskell and a booming blast from Connolly.
The Red Storm then had the majority of possession in the second half. A header from Kilson Joao was punched away by Caouette, a Haskell free kick from just outside the box was blocked, and Caouette made a brilliant save on a shot from Jack Moreau at the far post.
After a South Portland free kick was cleared, Scarborough transitioned to offense and finally broke through with 8:43 left.
The goal was set up by Joao, who crossed the ball into the box. A defender tried to clear it, but instead it went right to Haskell.
“The ball just bounced off someone and I was there to finish it,” Haskell said. “I was obviously trying to get the ball as far away from the goalie as possible.
“It took awhile, but I was confident we’d score.”
South Portland pushed hard for the equalizer, but Perron had a shot blocked, Mpinga was wide on a long blast, and in the final minute, a long shot from Perron went just wide.
“We take a lot of pride in our defensive unit,” Flagg said. “We’re tight. We work together really hard. Our chemistry in the back is really good.”
The Red Riots are hoping for a playoff rematch.
“We’ll probably see (Scarborough) again this year at some point,” Hoy said. “I think we learn from every game. We’re not at a point in our program where this is a confidence boost anymore. We expect to beat these teams.”
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