LEWISTON — Momentum can be lost in an instant. For Mt. Abram, it was.
The Roadrunners scored the first goal to take the game’s first lead early in the second half, then lost it 24 seconds later. Waynflete took a lead of its own just over two minutes later, extended it, then held on for a 3-2 victory in the Class C South boys soccer regional final Tuesday at Lewiston High School’s Don Roux Field.
“It’s rough,” Mt. Abram senior Cam Walters said. “We were in a euphoria of celebrating, and we weren’t focused for a split-second and they capitalized and took the wind out of our sails. But I think we handled it well, we recovered and then we scored again late in the second half.”
Nils Burton-Johanson scored the second-seeded Flyers’ (13-2-2) first two goals.
“Nils really sort of took over the game,” Waynflete coach Brandon Salway said. “It was a team effort, but Nils stepped in today. He normally comes off the bench. He stepped in and started today, and I thought he played a great game.”
First, Burton-Johanson tied the gam after Henry Hart’s shot was stopped by a Roadrunners defender and redirected to Burton-Johanson, who beat a helpless Mt. Abram goalie Ian Allen.
The go-ahead goal came off a long send-in that went into a crowded the box, and the ball found its way to the feet of Burton-Johanson, who blasted it high into the net.
Burton-Johanson was shaken up on the play.
So too, was top-seeded Mt. Abram (14-1-2).
The Roadrunners, who were held without a shot on goal in the first half, went up 1-0 when Cam Walters’ 25-yard curling free kick found the head of Trevor Phelps, who redirected it into the left side of the goal just over five minutes into the second half.
“He’s a beast in the air, he’s tall,” Walters said of Phelps. “And he’s been practicing all year on attacking the ball, so I knew that if I put it on his head, he would score the goal.”
Andrew Rogers made it 3-1 Waynflete with 26:40 left in regulation, burying a shot from outside of the box into the top-right corner of the goal.
“It was like a 10-minute, 15-minute span where we kind of lost it and they scored three quick ones,” Mt. Abram coach Darren Allen said.
Walters cut the deficit to 3-2 with a little more than four minutes left. His long free kick went over the crowd in the box and past Waynflete second-half goalie Nico Kirby’s save attempt.
“I had no idea it went in,” Walters said. “I was looking for Trevor’s head again. I knew I had to get it in the box, so I launched it in the box and I hoped for the best, and luck was on my side.”
Mt. Abram got the ball into the Waynflete box often early in the first half, but no shots on goal materialized.
“We came out, we played with them, we had some chances,” Allen said.
The Flyers began to take more control of the attacking chances after the midway point of the first half, including the only corner kick of the frame. Allen was able to stop Liam Slocomb’s shot that led to the corner, then the Mt. Abram defense eventually cleared the ball out of the box off the Flyers’ kick from the right corner.
“Mt. Abram’s really good,” Salway said. “Darren’s done an amazing job there, and they were a formidable opponent who put us on our heels a little bit early, I thought.”
Waynflete had a couple shots out of the box go just wide of the goal in the final 10 minutes before halftime.
Allen finished with five saves for Mt. Abram. Waynflete’s starter, Lincoln Smith, didn’t need to stop any shots on goal. Kirby made one save.
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