HOPE — In a most exciting and dramatic game on a beautifully sunny day fifth-seeded Lincolnville eleven defeated fourth-seeded Hope Hawks 2-0 in the Busline League co-ed middle school soccer quarterfinals at Hope on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

It was a well-fought match by both sides, so much so that it really was a shame that there had to be a winner.

The Lynx came out very aggressively at the start of the game and dominated the first ten minutes or so, but the Hawks rallied and the rest of the half played more evenly with Lincolnville owning a slight edge in possession.

There was one extremely threatening try by Hope — the most dangerous moment for either side in the first half — when Lynx keeper Aiden Aselton made a fine diving deflection of a powerful Hawks’ shot with the bouncing ball just cleared out of the box in time by the Lynx defense while Aselton scrambled to his feet.

Despite the best efforts of each side, they headed into halftime still locked in a scoreless tie.

The Lynx took the field in the second half and established dominance almost immediately. That is not to say that the Hawks did not remain dangerous; they fired an excellent free kick after a hands ball from just outside of the top of the Lincolnville box that barely skimmed over the crossbar and followed that soon thereafter with a corner that looked to be curling into the goal but instead landed on the roof of the net.

Both sides were moving the ball well and aggressively containing each other’s offense, but something had to give.

And so it did with 51:58 played when midfielder Jaden Johnson sent a pass up to defensive midfielder Mason Clark about five yards past center field near the right sideline. Clark skillfully drove the sideline before crossing the ball into midfielder Griffin Dubrow who had established himself in open space in the middle of the Hawks’ box. Dubrow smoothly redirected the shot for the score causing pandemonium on the Lincolnville bench.

The Lynx picked up an insurance goal two minutes and 25 seconds later on a free kick from just off the corner of the Hawks’s box. Clark teed the ball up and then calmly fired his kick over the crowd and placed it perfectly in the back half of the Hope net.

A fired up Lincolnville eleven continued to keep up the pressure on the Hope defense, but the Hawks continued to push to get even as time ran down.

However, the Lincolnville defensive unit of Roo Boetsch, Avery Luft, Lincoln Outerbridge, and Liliana Palise — reinforced by defensive midfielders Bailey Curtis and Clark and backed up by keeper Aselton — stood firm as they had all game.

Meanwhile, midfielders Kara Andrews and Johnson along with Dubrow and striker Jordan Peasley continued to exert pressure in the Hope end until the final whistle.

It was a well-deserved win for the Lincolnville booters, who will advance to the semifinals Thursday, Oct. 18 against the winner of the Camden 7th versus Nobleboro game.

Ben Edes is the head coach of the Lincolnville Lynx. 

Reach the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.