As the 2009 fall sports season passes the midway point, several local teams still boast unblemished records.

Waynflete soccer teams roll on

A year ago, the Waynflete girls’ soccer team won Class C for the first time, while the boys overcame a so-so regular season and made a storybook run to the state game only to suffer a painful loss to Washington Academy.

So far in 2009, both Flyers squads are sitting pretty.

The girls passed their biggest test to date last Tuesday when they hosted rival North Yarmouth Academy. Waynflete won its first four games by a combined 18-3 margin, but got a mighty scare from the Panthers. Both teams had great opportunities in regulation and the first five-minute, “sudden victory” overtime, but couldn’t convert. Then, in the second OT, senior Morgan Woodhouse finally ended it, converting a tough angle shot from the left of the box to give the Flyers a 1-0 victory.

“I knew I was close to the goal,” Woodhouse said. “I just turned and
shot it. You just want a shot in overtime. It snuck in the corner. It
feels really good. I think we showed a lot of heart out there and dug deep down. I think that’s why we pulled through.  This is definitely a marking point for us. It shows
how far we can go as a team. So far, the season’s been really good.”

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“It was an exciting win,” added first-year coach Todd Dominski. “We had so many chances. I didn’t know if we’d ever
score. They had the same thing. It was a very even game. Morgan hit it
hard and put it in the right spot. You expect your captains and senior
leaders to do stuff like that in overtime. It was a big win for us. Big
points for us as well. I think we’re progressing. Having half a new team and
a new coach, we’ve struggled a little at times, but we’ve shown we can
do it.”

Waynflete improved to 6-0 Thursday with a 4-0 win at Old Orchard Beach. The Flyers (third in the latest Western Class C Heal Points standings) were at Traip Tuesday and host Sacopee Thursday. Saturday, Waynflete faces a rematch at NYA.

On the boys’ side, the Flyers played host Lake Region to a scoreless tie back on Sept. 15, but have defeated their other five opponents. Last week, Waynflete was a 4-2 victor at NYA (junior Tucker Geoffroy scored twice), then crushed visiting Wells 9-1 to improve to 5-0-1. Against the Warriors, senior Robin Waljer and freshman Paul Runyambo both scored twice. Senior Daniel Mitchell assisted on three goals.

“We’re trying to put ourselves in a better position this year,” said longtime Flyers coach Brandon Salway. “We’re
playing well. We’re starting to finish off chances. I like the makeup
of the team. We have a good mix of youth and leadership.

The Flyers (second in Western C) hosted Traip Tuesday, go to Sacopee Thursday and visit Freeport Saturday.

“We’ve still
got some tough matches out there,” Salway said. “The higher we get, teams will circle
us as a big game. We can’t have any letdowns. We have to be ready to
play at all times. The kids didn’t want to talk about goals at the
beginning of the year. They were eager to get started. Our ultimate
goal is fairly obvious. They know getting there last year wasn’t easy
and that they’ll have to work just as hard to get back. We’d like to
have at least a couple home playoff games.”

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In other local boys’ action, Cheverus fell to 5-2 Thursday after a 5-0 home loss to Scarborough. The Stags found themselves down 2-0 just three minutes into the game and trailed 4-0 in the 22nd minute. The Red Storm added a fifth goal in the third minute of the second half and cruised. Cheverus, which won 2-1 at Noble two days prior (on senior Thomas Mourmouras’ two tallies), was at dangerous Windham Tuesday. The Stags (sixth in the latest Western A Heals) host Kennebunk Thursday.

Deering dropped a 3-2 decision at Gorham and won 4-0 over visiting Noble last week and is now 3-3-1 on the year. Against the Rams, Sam Coyne and Alex Rodriguez had goals. Against the Knights, junior standout Charlie Dupee found the net three times. The Rams (12th in Western A) hosted South Portland Tuesday, go to Biddeford Thursday and have a trip to Scarborough looming Tuesday of next week.

Portland continued its up and down play last week with a 1-1 tie at Sanford (junior Fazal Nabi scored) and a 2-0 home loss to Gorham. The Bulldogs (2-3-2 and 13th in the Heals) hosted Biddeford Tuesday and play at Westbrook in a playoff rematch Thursday.

The Cheverus girls finally fell from the ranks of the unbeaten Thursday with a 1-0 overtime loss to Scarborough. The Stags had beaten host Noble 5-3 two days prior (senior Amanda Royer scored twice) and settled for a scoreless home tie with Thornton Academy Saturday. Cheverus (5-1-2 and third in the Western A Heals) hosts Windham Wednesday, goes to Kennebunk Friday and plays host to Portland Tuesday.

Speaking of the Bulldogs, they’re 3-3-2 after tying visiting Sanford 0-0, losing 7-0 at Gorham and rallying for a 1-1 home tie with Marshwood last week. Senior Mary Moran’s pretty left-footed goal tied the game late against the Hawks.

“I’m happy for us,” said Portland coach Dave Levasseur. “Marshwood is always a tough team. It was a nice goal
by Mary. We’ve been befelled by tough luck and injury. We’ve been beset
by the injury bug: concussions and shin splints. We’ve been knocking on
the door. We hope to get healthy for October. The seniors are staying
focused and positive.”

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Levasseur announced that one of those Bulldogs seniors, Sophia Nappi, will be attending Coastal Carolina to play soccer.

Portland (seventh in Western A) goes to Biddeford Wednesday and welcomes Westbrook Friday. 

Deering continues to impress. The Rams settled for a scoreless home tie against Marshwood last Tuesday, then enjoyed a 3-1 win at Massabesic Saturday to improve to 4-2-1. Juniors Tina Merrill and Aarika Viola and sophomore Veronica Mitchell had the goals. Deering (eighth in the Heals) was at McAuley Tuesday and hosts Biddeford Friday.

McAuley is 2-4-2 on the year. The Lions lost 6-0 at home to Gorham last Tuesday, tied visiting Westbrook 1-1 two days later (McAuley’s goal came from freshman Hannah Cooke) and tied host Sanford 1-1 Saturday. The Lions (14th in Western A) were home with Deering Tuesday and play at Scarborough Friday.

Stags shine on

The Cheverus field hockey team took a 9-0 record and the top ranking in the Western Class A Heals into Monday’s home game against unbeaten Gorham (see Web site for game story). Last week, the Stags were 3-0 victors at Biddeford and Thornton Academy. Cheverus is idle until Friday when it hosts McAuley. Saturday brings a trip to Marshwood. Tuesday, the Stags are at Portland.

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Deering played two overtime games last week, falling 3-2 at Windham and 1-0 at Bonny Eagle. The Rams (10th in the Western A Heals) host Kennebunk Wednesday, go to Massabesic Friday and play host to Noble Tuesday.

McAuley is still looking to get in the win column and is 0-10 after falling 4-0 at Sanford, 3-0 at home to South Portland and 3-1 at Westbrook in recent action. The Lions (17th in the Heals) host Biddeford Wednesday, go to Cheverus Friday and play host to Gorham Tuesday.

Portland is 1-7 on the year. The Bulldogs lost 5-1 at home to Sanford and fell 2-1 in overtime at Bonny Eagle last week. Portland (15th in the Heals) was at resurgent South Portland Tuesday, hosts Westbrook Wednesday, visits Biddeford Friday and welcomes Cheverus Tuesday.

In Western C, Waynflete is 2-4-2 after beating visiting Poland 6-1 and tying visiting Sacopee (1-1) and host Freeport (0-0) last week. The Flyers (seventh in the standings) were at Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday, host defending state champion NYA Thursday, Traip Saturday and Old Orchard Beach Monday.

Catch us if you can

The Cheverus cross country teams have done nothing to change the preseason opinion that they’re the Class A teams to beat in 2009.

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The Stags won their first two league meets then took part (along with Deering, Portland and Scarborough) in a rare joint Southern Maine Activities Association/Western Maine Conference meet Friday in Falmouth. The Stags boys’ team finally came in second, but it was as a result of a tiebreaker (the sixth runner proved to be the difference) as they gave way to the Red Storm. Taylor Dundas was the top Cheverus individual, placing second in 16 minutes, 39 seconds. The Stags girls placed first. Emily Durgin was tops individually (18:49). Both teams go to Biddeford this weekend.

Both Deering teams came in fourth at Falmouth. Ella Ramonas led the girls (sixth, 20:35). Tom Dean was tops for the boys (17th, 1818:12). The Rams join Marshwood and Windham at Kennebunk this weekend.

Portland was fifth in both genders. Cole Hutchinson (ninth, 17:45) was fastest for the boys. Nyawel Lia came in 15th on the girls’ side (22:18). The Bulldogs go to Westbrook Friday.

McAuley took part in the Manchester (N.H.) Invitational. The Lions finished 18th of 21 teams in the small school division. Lauren Fecteau led the way with a 10th place finish (21:08). McAuley joins Gorham and Massabesic at Thornton Academy Friday.

Waynflete (along with Gray-New Gloucester, Lake Region, Merriconeag and Poland) ran at Windham last weekend. Both teams came in third. The Flyers join Cape Elizabeth, Fryeburg, NYA and York at Greely Friday.

Champs win golf showdown

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The defending Class A golf champion Deering Rams lost at Cheverus early in the season, but got a measure of revenge Thursday with a 9.5-4.5 home victory over the Stags to improve to 7-1 while dropping Cheverus to 6-2. The Rams were at Scarborough Tuesday and close the regular season at home versus Portland (0-8) Thursday.

Waynflete never won a match prior to this season, but has won twice this fall. Friday, the Flyers improved to 2-5 with a 6-1 victory over Freeport. Waynflete finishes its regular season Friday at home against Old Orchard Beach.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net

 

 

 

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P-sportsrecap1-093009.jpgWaynflete senior goalkeeper Julia Pope stymied the scoring bid of NYA senior Courtney Dumont during the Flyers’ 1-0 overtime victory over the Panthers last week.
P-sportsrecap2-093009.JPGPortland’s Nyawel Lia finished 15th at a meet Friday in Falmouth, which also included Cheverus, Deering and Scarborough.
P-sportsrecap3-093009.JPGDeering’s Tom Dean was 17th at Friday’s meet in Falmouth. The Rams came in fourth as a team.


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