WINDHAM — The Windham Eagles are undefeated and brimming with confidence. Wednesday evening, they dispelled any lingering doubts about their status as one of the state’s best boys’ soccer teams.
Playing in front of a raucous crowd, the Eagles were pushed for more than 80 minutes by perennial powerhouse Falmouth but came away with their biggest victory to date when Tyler Johnsen’s overtime goal gave Windham a 2-1 win.
“We stuck through good and bad times and knew that the team was going to have to play great as a whole,” said Johnsen. “We made it all the way to overtime. We pushed through it, and it it’s amazing to be 7-0.”
The Eagles got a couple huge early stops from Colby Connolly (six saves), then took a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute after Luke Cunniffe was taken down in the box. A penalty kick was awarded and Connor Langstaff finished, beating Justin Mayo (five saves) with a low blast to the keeper’s left.
Falmouth (6-1-1) answered five minutes into the second half. Charlie Adams got to a deflected ball in the box and booted it home.
The goal was just the second Windham has allowed this season.
The Eagles nearly retook the lead on a cross from Sam Gilcos that hit the crossbar and bounced out to Johnsen, who missed wide.
Late in regulation, Mayo robbed Gilcos, and then Mason Farr just missed for the Navigators.
Windham won it overtime, shortly after a cross from Langstaff got over Mayo but rolled just wide. Langstaff made another cross, and with 2:15 left in the first of two possible five-minute extra sessions, Johnsen one-timed the ball into the net.
“I just saw the ball come over and I just wanted to get my right foot on it and see where it goes,” said Johnsen. “It felt great.”
“It would have been so easy for us to put our heads down when (Falmouth) got the equalizer, but we didn’t,” said Eagles Coach Ben Schulz. “For the past seven, eight years, this is a program that didn’t score goals, especially against (top teams), but on a given night, we have five or six kids who can score, and that makes us dangerous.”
Falmouth’s longtime coach, Dave Halligan, thought his team let too many good scoring opportunities slip away.
“You have to bury your chances,” Halligan said. “We had four quality chances in the first half and five in the second, and you have to put those away.
“Windham’s a much better team than they’ve been in the past. They have good players with a lot of grit.”
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