Back in the summer, the Scarborough boys’ soccer team set out on a quest. It was the same quest they go on every fall, to capture a Class A state championship. On Saturday at McMann Field in Bath, the Red Storm completed the journey. It was the third state title for the program since 1999. But there was something different this time. The Red Storm finished a perfect 18-0-0.

“It’s hard to do 18-0 in soccer,” said head coach Mark Diaz. “You can get ties pretty easy in soccer. Those guys deserve the credit; they were focused all year. Even (Saturday) with the weather and this field; they just weren’t going to be stopped.”

No team was able to stop the Red Storm all year. It was rare that they were tested. After opening the season with a 4-0 win over Kennebunk, the hunt was on. The Storm ran off seven straight shutout wins to start the season. It wasn’t until their eighth game, a 6-1 win over Westbrook, they were scored upon.

“This year we definitely had one of the best years we ever had,” said senior Ian Philbrick who hit the game winner in the state final. “We had a great group of guys and great team play all around. We had so many good players off the bench. It feels good to finish it off. We’ve been so close for so long, it feels good to get it done.”

Scarborough has been close for a while. Since their last state title in 2005, the Storm lost to Bangor in the championship game in 2006 and lost to Greely in the semifinals in 2007. This year the team exorcised those demons in a big way.

“It just makes it so mean more to everyone,” said goalkeeper Adam Blanchard. “Losing to Greely last year, we wanted that game. We lost to Bangor two years ago. That made this one that much better. And Cape’s a great team and to beat them sets it in that we came to play and we’re here for a reason.”

“We had a tough bracket with Cape, Greely and Gorham,” Diaz said. “We played everyone; Cape, Greely, everyone in our conference, Bangor was undefeated. We talked about it before we got in the playoffs. I said to the guys ‘if we’re going to go 18-0, let’s play Cape, Greely and Bangor; all the teams that we haven’t played yet.’ It wouldn’t mean as much if we didn’t beat really good teams like that. And this team did that.”

Following their game with Westbrook, the Storm gave up just three more goals the rest of the regular season. They allowed one to Cheverus in a 3-1 win and two to Portland after grabbing a 5-0 lead in a 5-2 win.

In the playoffs the Storm beat Gorham in the quarterfinals, 4-0, and followed that up with a 2-0 win over Cape Elizabeth and back to back 1-0 wins over Greely and Bangor.

“We played all the best teams,” Philbrick said. “We feel we’re the best team in the state because we beat all the best teams.”

The team steamrolled their way through much of the season and was able to adapt their play whenever the situation called for it. In Saturday’s final, the game was played in a drizzle with the field becoming a muddy mess. But they were able to adapt and overcome all that to bring home the Gold Ball.

“I have to say a lot of that comes down to coaching,” Blanchard said. “We have a great (coaching staff), they read those things and make adjustments. That’s what it comes down to; who makes the best adjustments and puts the ball in the net.”

“This team can play any kind of style, that’s what I like about it,” Diaz said. “Everyone was concerned about the field. We knew it would be muddy and slippery. We couldn’t play to feet like we like. This field isn’t as wide as ours. But these guys don’t care. We can play ugly or we can play pretty.”

For Blanchard and the rest of the seniors, this year’s result couldn’t be better.

“It was a dream come true,” Blanchard said. “You can’t ask for anything more than the perfect season. We knew we had something special at the beginning of the season and if we worked hard we could accomplish it. Now we have the Gold Ball.”

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