Ponies tie No. 1 Ellsworth

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — On Senior Day Oct. 14, the Foxcroft Academy boys soccer team put on an amazing performance in front of a very loud and supportive crowd.

Contributed photo

THE WALL — Helping the Foxcroft Academy boys soccer team tie top-ranked Ellsworth High School, 1-1, at home on Oct. 14 was the Ponies’ defense unit known as “The Wall.” The defense includes, from left, fullback Eli Olson, sweeper Nate Church, keeper Logan Butera, sweeper Cooper Nelson and fullback Dylan Harmon-Weeks. “The Wall” and the rest of the Ponies were scheduled to conclude the regular season at Hermon on Tuesday, Oct. 21 and hope to be at home to open the playoffs later in the week.

    The Ponies were able to shut down the high-powered Ellsworth High School offense. Ellsworth came in the contest as the No. 1 ranked team in Class B East and were undefeated with an 11-0 record. The Foxcroft defense was able to hold Ellsworth to only six shots on goal in the first half, and those shots were kept outside the penalty area box.
    “We have been working to put immediate pressure on the ball and rotating our defense to mark the man in the box at practice,” coach Luis Ayala said. “It really paid off today”.
    The defense, known as “The Wall”, consists of sweepers Nate Church and Cooper Nelson, fullbacks Eli Olson, Dylan Harmon-Weeks, Kelly Erickson and goalie Logan Butera. These players kept Foxcroft in the game. “They played an amazing game today” Ayala said. “I am so proud of our defense today! They did an amazing job just keeping them in check throughout the game. They stepped up today and played a physical and aggressive game.”
    The defense did the job in the first half and kept the score at 0-0 at halftime. In the second half Foxcroft made some adjustments offensively and were able to get more shots on goal.
    “We talked at half time that our offense had to pick it up. We had to do a better job of getting the ball to our forwards in the open space away from the middle,” Ayala said.
    Finally 15 minutes into the second half Foxcroft was able to capitalized on its opportunities. Justin Diamond broke free from the left side of the field. He dribbled into the box and took a shot to the far post of the goal. Ellsworth’s goalie was able to dive and deflect the ball for a save, but Blake Arno was there to put the final touch on it to give the Ponies a 1-0 lead with 26 minutes left.
    Ellsworth was able to pick up the intensity and get more shots on goal, but “The Wall” just kept deflecting everything out.
    With 11 minutes left to play Ellsworth got a corner kick from the right side of the field. The ball went into the nearside post, it deflected of a defender back out to Ellsworth’s Jeff Weeks. He was able to cross the ball just out of the reach of the Foxcroft goalie to his teammate, Connor Maguire, for the equalizer. Both teams were not able to get any serious chances to score and as time expired, the two headed to overtime tied at 1-1.
    In overtime, Foxcroft got the only solid opportunity to score as Diamond was able to get past the defense and again he took a shot from the left side of the box and as Ellsworth’s goalie dove to his left, the ball passed him and it deflected off the post and out. This time the keeper was able to get the rebound. As both overtimes expired the game ended a draw, 1-1.
    “It was an amazing game!,” Ayala said. “Ellsworth is a quality team and for us to take them to overtime it says a lot about our team. We played our hearts out today and left everything on the field. This is the type of game that I hope we can build on and learn, and be the team that I know we are.”