ELLSWORTH — The Ellsworth Eagles dominated play, but managed to find the goal with only one of their 26 shots as they eked out a 1-0 season-opening soccer win over the Bucksport Golden Bucks.
The Eagles set the tone early, lining a shot off the crossbar, another off the corner post and missing a third goal by about 6 inches in the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Ellsworth offense kept almost constant pressure on sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Grindle of the Bucks, with the Golden Buck defense packing the area in front of the goal to minimize Ellsworth’s penetration.
“It’s tough when the other team is backed up like that,” said Ellsworth coach Brian Higgins. “Anything can happen.”
The Ellsworth defense limited Bucksport to just three shots on goal for the entire game.
The Eagles finally took the lead on a shot from about 30 yards out by senior Mike Curtis with just 12:33 to go in the second half.
Grindle finished with 15 saves for the Golden Bucks, a couple of them of the spectacular variety, and senior goalkeeper Thomas Sawyer had just two saves for Ellsworth.
For more sports news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.
Hugh Bowden
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