GORHAM – On a warm, late summer morning, the Gorham High School girls soccer traveled to the Greely Invitational in Cumberland in one of their final trials of the preseason last Saturday. And, although the Rams weren’t exactly challenged – they faced, of all things, a Falmouth junior varsity squad, and dominated the feckless Yachtsmen 4-0 – Gorham acquired valuable live practice experience on their road to their season opener hosting Cheverus on Sept. 3.

“They were pretty good,” said senior defenseman Sam Peters, speaking about Falmouth. “They have some good speed up top, and some good movement up there too. I think we needed to take control a few more times than we did.”

As one might expect when a varsity squad takes on a junior varsity team, the Rams were overpowering, pressuring the Yachtsmen constantly. Falmouth trips onto the Gorham half of the field were both infrequent and short-lived, as the Rams players made a habit of beating their opponents to loose balls, and driving back down into hostile territory.

Gorham was up 2-0 at the half, and slammed two more goals home during the second 40 minutes of play. Despite this show, several of the Gorham upperclassmen walked away from the game feeling like they had a lot left to improve upon.

“We need to improve on winning the air balls and just like making the easy passes,” said senior outside mid Alexandra Tracy. “When we get possession, we’re trying to do too much with the ball, and we wind up holding onto to it for too long. There are just a lot of simple things that we need to improve upon.”

At the end of 2008, the Rams offloaded a number of talented seniors, and while many returning players stated that they felt 2009 had been a rebuilding year, all were disappointed by the way it ended. Gorham reached the Western Maine finals last fall, but was shocked by upstart Thornton Academy. The Trojans ended the Rams’ season in Thornton Academy’s first trip to the playoffs.

“I was very disappointed how last year ended,” said senior striker Shelbi Guimond. “That was definitely not the team that I have been playing with for three years. We have a lot to prove this season.”

According to Tracy, practice has been going well so far, and the Rams feel like they are ready for Cheverus this Friday.

“We’ve been doing a lot of conditioning,” she said. “That’s a big part of getting ready for the season – just making sure that we’re able to run up and down the field and set the pace during games.”

And setting the pace is what the Rams will look to do against the Stags. Gorham opened 2009 against Cheverus, and despite a performance that Guimond described as dominant, the result was a 1-1 tie.

“It’s a big game,” said Peters. “We need to improve on our one and two touch passing, because it’s just huge in soccer, and will allow us to speed up play, and control the game. If we can beat Cheverus, I think it will kind of help us set the tone for the rest of the season, and give us some idea of where we stand.”

Tracy argued that last year’s end result, combined with the loss of a few key players have left the Rams as distinct underdogs this fall.

“We’re really underestimated – which is good for us,” she said. “I think it’s going to cause us to come out fighting.”

Gorham’s Kiersten Turner takes to the air to score a goal against Falmouth in a preseason game Saturday.
Staff photo by Emory Rounds

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