LEWISTON — Senior Tegra Mbele’s three goals paced second-seeded Lewiston past seventh-seeded Bangor in a Class A North boys soccer quarterfinal Wednesday on Don Roux field.
“People would think it’s easy to get all those goals, but it’s not,” Mbele said with teammate Fernando Bengue translating. “It’s a long journey, and I play like this because I practice the way I play: always hard and putting effort in.”
Wednesday’s game also marked Lewiston goalkeeper Will Diamond-Stanic’s sixth consecutive shutout.
The Blue Devils (13-2-1) will host third-seeded Brunswick (12-3) in the semifinals Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Lewiston coach Dan Gish said the team executed well Wednesday, and displayed good poise while staying patient.
“We keep improving and executing like that in the playoffs, but it just keeps getting tougher,” Gish said. “But I’m really proud that they’ve bought in, you know, to the coaches, what we’ve been trying to implement. So it was good, yeah, when it’s, you know, it’s kind of like you being a teacher, you give an assignment and then they do well in the test, you feel like you’ll just keep getting harder.”
Mbele’s first goal came 10:04 into the game on a wide-open shot against Rams (6-9) goalkeeper Maddox Smith. Mbele said he used his speed to capitalize, once he saw Smith creeping out towards him.
Thirty minutes later, Mbele found the net again by weaving through the defense once.
“The play started all from the defense, from the defense out wide to him,” Bengue said for Mbele. “He took charge, and he decided to go where it was open and placed it.”
Gish said although teams may have focused on slowing Mbele, the senior excels at finding open players for scoring opportunities regardless of the level of defensive pressure he faces.
Rams coach Don Erb said the last time the two teams faced one another, a 5-1 Blue Devils win on Oct. 5, Bangor sat back and reacted. So Wednesday’s strategy was to play aggressive from the first whistle.
“I said to the guys, ‘Let’s go after them a little bit and see if we can get something, get a mistake early,’ and we were playing really well doing that,” Erb said. “We had a miscommunication on that first goal, and kind of stunk that we sort of handed them the first one. I thought we fought hard.”
Smith stopped nine of the 11 shots he faced in the first half to keep the Rams within two goals at the halftime break.
Mbele, though, scored his third goal 22 seconds into the second half, and Erb said that was the turning point in the game and marked a decline for Bangor.
Mechi Mbele, Tegra’s brother, added to Lewiston’s lead with back-to-back goals, making it 5-0.
“We knew that obviously their speed is a factor,” Erb said. “You could see it as the game went on, they had lots of guys that can finish; I mean, they’re snipers. If you give them a little bit of room, they take advantage of it better than any other team.”
Lewiston’s final two goals were scored by sophomore David Francisco with 19:41 and 8:25 remaining in the game.
“I was on the bench, and I felt like, when I go in, I’ve got to do something, and then when I in, I did what I felt,” Francisco said. “That was my two first goals of season and the playoffs. (I’m) happy, very happy.”
“David, he’s a jack of all trades,” Gish said. “He can play the wing, he’s dynamic, and he’s gaining experience and confidence. We can put him into a game off the bench, and he contributes.”
Gish added that depth has been a strength for the Blue Devils, with the reserves’ skill level not far below the starters’.
“It makes for great training sessions, because they push each other, so they can make opportunities happen in training,” Gish said. “They’re very competitive against each other, which is great. They’re not complacent.”
Francisco said the victory against Bangor felt good, but it’s only the beginning of a long road of playoffs for the Blue Devils on their quest to repeat as Class A state champions.
“(Brunswick) gets better every day, and we know that they got better,” Bengue said translating for Francisco. They beat Hampden (Academy) 6-1, so we know what we’ve gotta do.”
Lewiston won its only matchup against Brunswick this season, 4-1 on Sept. 10.
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