The last team the Bow High School boys’ soccer team wanted to see on the pitch during a pivotal stretch of games was Pembroke Academy. The Falcons – in their first season at the Division II level – last played the first-place Spartans on Sept. 2 in a game Bow dropped, 2-1. Since that point, the Falcons have won seven of the last eight games to climb back into the playoff hunt.

Friday, however, represented the rematch between the two programs.

Damon Smith clanged in a first-half goal off assists from Hunter Boyce and Glenn Dion and Pembroke’s strong campaign continued with a 2-0 shutout over the Falcons in Suncook. Pembroke is now 12-1 on the season with four games to play, a vast improvement over its 8-7-1 record from a year ago, which ended with a loss in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

“It was pretty good for us. I thought we played pretty well,” Pembroke Coach Peter Bisson said. “They had a good surge in the second half that took us off our game a little but we bounced back.”

The shutout was the second straight for Pembroke goalie Tyler Smith, who delivered a number of key stops in the contest to keep the Spartans out in front.

Pembroke used Smith’s goal and strong play in the midfield to completely control the action in the first half. Bow finally found its footing in the second half, narrowly missing two chances for the equalizer before Dion put the game on ice for Pembroke in the final minutes with an insurance goal with four minutes left.“When we needed him, he definitely came through,” Bisson said. “He came out on a couple crosses and stopped a breakaway, which was key at that point.”

“The first half was completely dominated by (Pembroke),” Bow Coach George Pinkham said. “In the second half, we realized what it was going to take to play with the best teams in Division II.”

Bow (7-5) began the year at 0-3 after losses to Pembroke, Lebanon and Goffstown, but were riding a four-game winning streak going into Friday’a game. Pinkham said an early season discussion with his team was the spark that got them going.

“We had a chat as a team and I laid it on the line that we’re gonna go 0-16 if (we) don’t wake up,” Pinkham said. “I’m happy to be 7-5 in our first year in, but I’m a greedy coach and we can be better than that.

“Pembroke showed us today how a very good team plays and wins. We are not a very good team yet.”