Faced with a free kick and 15 seconds remaining in the second overtime Thursday night, Deering senior Nick Simon Mboumba knew that penalty kicks were likely to decide the Class A South boys’ soccer semifinal if the Rams failed to convert.
Mboumba wanted to avoid that scenario.
“I was kind of scared to go to penalties,” he said.
He told his teammates he would put a shot on goal, so they should be ready for a rebound. As it turned out, there was no rebound.
Instead, from a distance of roughly 25 yards and angled to the left of the goal, Mboumba booted a ball that curled its way toward the upper near corner. Falmouth keeper Caden Berry, who had teamed with a stalwart defense to keep Deering scoreless for 109 minutes, leaped and got a hand on the ball, which then hit the crossbar and fell across the line for the only goal of the evening.
“It was magic,” Mboumba said, “a moment I will never forget.”
The 1-0 victory sent No. 3 Deering to the Class A South final, where the Rams (11-3-2) will play crosstown rival Portland, the No. 4 seed, which toppled No. 1 Windham in a scoreless game that was decided by penalty kicks. The regional championship is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Kennebunk High.
Seventh-seeded Falmouth (10-5-2) nearly pulled off the upset three minutes earlier on a free kick of similar distance from junior Evan Mayo that Deering keeper Adao Lufumbo-Mbenza knocked down near the goal line. A teammate quickly cleared the ball away from the goal mouth as some Falmouth players raised their arms, believing Mayo had scored.
“My only thought was to get it on frame,” Mayo said. “He bobbled it. I couldn’t really see the ball because of the (defensive) wall.”
Deering held a decided edge in possession for much of regulation and overtime but never found a way past Falmouth’s back line of Wyatt Carlson, Hayden Davis, Alex Findlay, Elijay St. Louis and Griffin Parr. They repeatedly fended off Deering’s forays, and Berry took care of the rest with eight saves in regulation and five more in overtime.
“They have a really good defense,” Mboumba said. “They always have that one guy (Parr) standing back, in behind, and four guys in front. So even if you pass two of them, there’s going to be a third player that’s going to come by.”
The teams played to a 1-1 tie in their season opener in late August. Since moving up to Class A in 2014, Falmouth had never lost to Deering. The Navigators didn’t have many scoring chances, but their best in regulation came midway through the second half when Mikey Christman headed a chipped free kick from Findlay. Only lightning-quick reactions from Lufumbo-Mbenza prevented a goal.
“We didn’t win the game, but the defense gave us a chance,” said Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan. “I’m so proud of these guys. They didn’t win a championship, but they played like champions.”
Deering Coach Joel Costigan, in his 13th year, is heading to the regional final for the first time.
“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “I thought the boys played so well. Obviously, fatigue set in and allowed them to counterattack a lot in transition. But amazing feeling all around. What a great way to end with that free kick.”
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