CUMBERLAND — One top scoring threat is great to have. Get two on the same soccer field and you have something really special.
When those two mesh together into a high-energy tandem like Greely seniors Jocelyn Mitiguy and Izzy Hutnak? Where each makes the other better with seemingly telepathic passes and overlaps?
Well that make defenders dizzy and their own coach smile.
Oh, a dynamic scoring duo is a wonderful thing.
“It makes it a lot easier because they understand each other,” said Greely Coach Josh Muscadin. “They read each other’s thoughts. If one is on top the other knows where to put it. Playing together for awhile helps tremendously, especially when you live in Maine and you have to put a mouth guard in and you can’t talk much. These two, there are little signals.”
As juniors, Mitiguy and Hutnak guided Greely to the Western B regional title game, where the Rangers lost to Cape Elizabeth on penalty kicks.
The Rangers are far from a two-girl team. In fact, there are eight seniors who will likely start on a deep and talented team. But the top reason why the Greely girls are considered a threat to win their first state championship since 2002 (when the Rangers were in Class A) is Mitiguy and Hutnak, whose names – like their games – are often linked as one.
York Coach Wally Caldwell jokingly said he wished “the Mitiguy girl and the Izzy girl” would go to another sport “because of how good they are.”
“They are truly solid players who have to be watched and marked every time they are on the field and that is most of the game,” Caldwell said.
And that’s the real problem for opponents.
Both players have to be marked and chances are in a game of two-on-two, Greely’s duo is going to trump the other team’s pair.
“I’m anticipating Jocelyn’s run as soon as the ball’s coming to me, before it gets to my feet,” Hutnak said. “I can hit it once it’s touched and know where Jocelyn is going to be.”
Often flip-flopping positions as central midfielder or striker, Mitiguy scored 18 goals with 12 assists and was named to the Maine Sunday Telegram All-State team. Hutnak had nine goals and nine assists. Both were selected to the Western Maine State all-star team by the Maine Soccer Coaches Association.
In 2014 Thornton Academy Coach Chris Kohl had a similar tandem in since-graduated strikers Tori Daigle and Haley DaGraca, who combined for 43 goals.
“It’s just a deadly combination,” Kohl said of having a dynamic duo. “You can pass it into space and know the other one knows to be there.”
Plus, a team is less likely to be stymied by one tough, physical or athletic marking back.
“And they can problem solve on the field. That’s another advantage,” Kohl said. “When you have two kids who have played a lot together, they’ll figure it out. ‘We’ve seen this before.'”
Camden Hills hopes it can make a strong statement in its first year in Class A after going 12-4-1 and reaching the Eastern B semifinal behind its tandem of senior forward Emma Gutheinz (20 goals, 14 assists in 2014) and junior midfielder Charlotte Messer (14 goals, 8 assists).
“They’re both risk-takers and aggressive,” said Camden Hills Coach (and Charlotte’s mother) Meredith Messer. “They’ve played two seasons together and they’re used to playing together.”
While more subtle than an offensive pairing, Sacopee Valley’s Jade Jordan and Helen Ruhlin form a defensive duo that is entering its third season together. The pair was critical in Sacopee Valley’s run to the Class C title and combine to control play from the back
“A big part of it is having that physical time together on premier teams, playing with each other,” said Sacopee Coach Kevin Murphy.
Mitiguy and Hutnak have played on the same team since they were 5 suiting up in the blue uniforms of Cumberland Soccer Club. Twelve years later, through town, premier and high school, they are still together as teammates and good friends.
On a misty afternoon 10 days before Friday’s season opener against visiting Fryeburg Academy, Mitiguy and Hutnak are talking about soccer, Greely’s chances and their friendship.
“Izzy and I, we’re pretty bonded so it also helps connect everyone else, too,” said Mitiguy. “We’re a very close-knit team. We’re a very bonded team which actually leads to a lot of our success.”
Greely teammates Maggie Reed, Susannah Jacobson, Allison Coon, and goalie Maddie Cyr are on the same Seacoast United Soccer Club team as Hutnak and Mitiguy. Fellow seniors Lannie Kropp and Kelsey Otley formerly played club soccer with their six classmates.
“There’s also like seven of us who are starters who have played together since Jocie and I started playing together,” Hutnak said. “Even though the two of us play in the middle together, I think we’re all really, really close-knit.”
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