Saturday will be an especially long day for Doug and Tara Maker.
They are the parents of Elliot and Abby Maker, who play key roles on their respective soccer teams at Cheverus High and will play in preliminary-round games Saturday at Boulos Stadium in Western Class A tournaments.
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At 11 a.m., No. 11 Marshwood (5-7-2) will play No. 6 Cheverus (9-2-3) in a girls’ prelim. At 2 p.m., No. 11 Deering (6-7-1) will play No. 5 Cheverus (10-3-1) in a boys’ prelim.
“We’re very anxious but we’re awfully proud, too,” said Doug Maker. “This doesn’t happen very often.”
This is the second year Elliot and Abby Maker have been making the 45-minute commute to Portland from their home in Naples to attend Cheverus.
Elliot Maker, a senior striker, transferred from Lake Region before the start of his junior year when sister Abby enrolled at Cheverus as a freshman.
“Lake Region just wasn’t the right fit for me,” he said.
“I still love all my friends in Naples,” Abby Maker said. “It’s my home but I really love going to Cheverus.”
Cheverus also has solid soccer programs, and the Makers are passionate about the game.
Tara Maker, who works for Apple Inc., was an All-American goalkeeper at Springfield College when it was a Division I school.
Doug Maker, who teaches eighth-grade science at Lake Region Middle School, played for Machias in the 1978 Class C state championship game.
Their older son Sam is a freshman playing for the men’s soccer team at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. While playing in 12 of 15 games for the Wildcats, he has scored two goals.
“In our house, it’s always been about soccer balls,” Elliot Maker said.
“We have a field in the back of our house and Elliot and I would play soccer every day with each other,” Abby Maker said. “He’s really helped me to become the player I am today.”
According to their coaches at Cheverus, both Makers are terrific soccer players.
“Elliot is a dynamic player,” said Bill LeBlanc, coach of the Cheverus boys’ team. “He can score in a lot of different ways. Teams are giving him a lot more attention now.”
Maker has 36 goals and 22 assists in two seasons.
Tom LaVallee, in his 10th year as coach of Cheverus’ girls’ soccer team, speaks just as highly of Abby Maker, who has 10 goals in 14 games this season.
“She is a very dynamic player and has tremendous quickness,” LaVallee said. “For her size, she is very good at shielding the ball.”
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at: pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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