Back to the final

Friday, November 11, 2011

Joe Marchilena photo Bedford's Erik Martel tries to get around Goffstown's Conor House-Myers during Monday's Division II boys soccer semifinal.

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Joe Marchilena photo Bedford's Bryan Ducharme watches as Casey Schehl, left, and Sullivan Holt celebrate an own-goal by Goffstown in Monday's Division II boys soccer semifinal.

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Joe Marchilena photo Bedford's Erik Martel tries to get around Goffstown's Conor House-Myers during Monday's Division II boys soccer semifinal.

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It wasn’t the goal the Bedford High School boys soccer team had in mind, but the Bulldogs will certainly take it.

Bedford’s Casey Schehl lined up for a corner kick with a little more than 15 minutes left in Monday’s Division II semifinal against Goffstown, but his kick was so far off the mark, Schehl muttered “oh no” after striking the ball.

But that feeling didn’t last long, as Goffstown’s Kyran Oasan missed his clearing attempt and the ball grazed off his leg and into the Grizzlies’ goal. The Bulldogs celebrated and held on for a 1-0 win that sent them back to the championship game for the second straight year.

No. 1 Bedford (18-0-1) will take on No. 2 Lebanon (17-1-1), which defeated No. 4 Hollis/Brookline 4-2 in the other semifinal, in the title game, which was scheduled to be played on Wednesday.

While Bedford coach Stuart Pepper felt his team deserved to be going back to the final, he wasn’t thrilled with the way the Bulldogs got there.

“I do feel sorry for the Goffstown lads to go out in that manner,” he said. “I hope they can come back and be a challenger next year. We’ve got great sympathy for Goffstown, but getting the ball in the right area and mistakes can happen.

“They were tough to break down. They were so well organized and they’re a very strong outfit. We had to be patient. I thought our passing meant that they’d be tired and that we’d get opportunities in the end. Not that those opportunities got the goal we were expecting, but I thought with the possession that we had and the quality of play we had, we were deserved winners.”