Bow High boys soccer had five different goal scorers and jumped in the final Division II standings on the final matchday. The Falcons might be the real deal headed into the playoffs.
Friday’s 5-2 home thrashing of Hollis-Brookline was the saving grace of the final stretch of the regular season for the Falcons (10-4-2).
The win propelled Bow from sixth to fifth and was nearly enough to get into fourth for a home seed through the early playoffs, but Oyster River got its job done against Milford to secure that last top-four spot.
Still, Bow’s efforts were enough to earn them a higher seed and a first-round bye in the 11-team postseason. The Falcons go into the playoffs with full confidence in their abilities.
“We switched everything around like three or four games ago, and we’ve been able to generate more chances and like just defend well enough to keep teams at bay,” said Bow coach Josh Smith.
The Cavaliers drew even seven minutes before half against Bow, in what was a much closer encounter through the early going than the score would suggest. Senior Blake Crowell put the Falcons up early, but H-B equalized on a counterattack.
Bow could have sunk. Instead, it surged.
Senior Carter Hall didn’t waste much time in the second half to put his boys back in front as a ball fell quite nicely to his right from a cross into the penalty area. Hall buried the chance with a shot across goal into the back left of the net, away from the outstretched hands of the Hollis-Brookline goalie.
“It’s huge. We needed this win, and we got it,” said Hall.
The Falcons’ offense reignited and the game was never really in danger after that. In the ensuing 30 minutes, junior Isaac Roz, sophomore Dzevad Muminovic and senior Milo Cocola all scored from cutting runs forward, finishing one-on-one or one-on-two to run up the goal tally.
Cocola’s goal was perhaps the most impressive. Time and time again, he had come close to chipping the keeper in the box. On his last run, he carried the ball left and got wide open on goal. Once past the keeper, he cut back to his right foot and finished emphatically to seal the game.
Crowell assisted both Roz and Hall on their goals, while Roz, Muminovic and Cocola all assisted other goals on the night.
That offensive versatility was something Bow had been lacking for a few years now, Cocola and Smith both said. They hadn’t found ways to put it all together until this year.
Bow lost to Lebanon in the first round last year, 2-1, at home.
“I think it’s just trusting each other. Last season, I think a lot of us were frustrated with how the end of the season went, and it would be easy for it to be like that again this season,” Cocola said. “But just trusting our players, trusting our passes, trusting our finishing going into this playoff game.”
The Falcons kept their composure throughout the Hollis-Brookline game despite some chippy play and tough fouls in each direction.
The Falcons will kick off their postseason in the D-II quarterfinals at Oyster River on Friday at 4 p.m. The two met earlier in the season, when the Bobcats shut down Bow, 3-0.
Bow will need some of that firepower to carry over if it wants to advance.