BRUNSWICK

The time has arrived as the Maine Principals’ Association high school playoffs have arrived, with preliminary contests set to begin today.

A battle of area squads heats things up in Western Maine Class C girls action as 13th-seeded Lisbon (6- 8) heads to No. 4 Wiscasset (11-2-1) tonight at 6 p.m. The teams met Oct. 3, with the host Wolverines holding on for a 2-1 victory.

The Wolverines and Greyhounds had quite different endings to the regular season. Wiscasset won its final nine games and outscored opponents by combined 39-3 during the streak. On the other hand, Lisbon lost five of its final six, including a 2-1 setback to Oak Hill in its regular-season finale.

“It has been a great year for us, especially once we settled in,” said Wiscasset coach Duane Goud, whose Wolverines advanced to the Western C quarterfinals last season before falling to Waynflete. “I feel, against Lisbon, that we just need to come out and play our game. We need to make our passes, hit on our crosses and just come ready to play.”

As far as expectations, Goud said, “I’ve told the girls to look at the trophy case in the high school. I think we are capable of getting on a roll and adding a trophy this season.”

“We want to keep possession, and when we have an opportunity to score, we have to put the ball in the net,” said Lisbon coach Jake Gentle. “Wiscasset is very good at overlapping runs, with their outside middies and attack always going hard to the goal. In our loss to them, both of their goals were set plays when they crashed the net.

“The girls are excited to be in the playoffs, and they realize that everyone is 0-0 and it’s a new season.”

Western C boys

In Western C boys prelim action on Saturday, No. 10 Wiscasset (8-4-2) visits No. 7 Carrabec (7-5-2) in a rematch of a season-opening 0-0 Mountain Valley Conference tie at North Anson. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m.

Also in Western C action, No. 11 Lisbon (6-6-2) visits No. 6 Waynflete on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Portland. The teams didn’t meet during the regular season, but Greyhounds coach Dan Sylvester feels his team has grown since a difficult 0-3-1 start.

“We will go down there with a game plan against a traditionally good Waynflete team and see what happens,” said Sylvester.

And, in Western B play, No. 9 Freeport (4-8-2) heads to No. 8 Fryeburg Academy(4-7-3)fora1p.m.prelim battle Saturday. The Raiders and Falcons played to a 1-1 deadlock Sept. 20.

“It think it is good for us to have a familiar opponent in Fryeburg, a very tough team that we had a good battle with this year,” said Freeport coach Joe Heathco. “We need to find a new level of intensity and desire to have success. We tend to play too nice and not have that drive to win. However, we have shown that we have the capability to be a good team, and I am hoping that is what shows up on Friday.”

Girl quarterfinals

In Eastern A girls play on Tuesday, No. 5 Oxford Hills (8-4-2) visits fourth-seeded Brunswick (9-4-1) at 3 p.m., while No. 2 Mt. Ararat (12-2) plays host to No. 7 Cony (7-6-1) at 6 p.m.

The Dragons defeated the Vikings, 2-0, on Oct. 8, part of a 7-1-1 finish to the regular season.

“The team has been playing well all season in my opinion and not always getting the results we deserved,” said Brunswick coach Martyn Davison. “I think the level of play has improved as you would expect as the season has progressed, but I think it’s always a case of moving a few players around and getting the right balance in the team, and the balance as of late has been right.

“I am looking for continued progress from the group. The win yesterday (Tuesday’s 3-2 Brunswick win over rival Mt. Ararat) should give us huge confidence to express ourselves more on the field.”

Sam Chard’s Mt. Ararat Eagles ran off a pair of six-game winning streaks during the regular season and downed Cony 1-0 at Augusta on Sept. 24. That loss was the first for the Rams after a 4-0 start, and Cony stumbled down the stretch.

As noted throughout the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference season, the Eagles are young, with several freshmen and sophomore filling key roles. Chard has seen his team grow.

“I didn’t expect to have this type of success this year, but the kids get along well, have great chemistry and confidence in each other, plus they are very skilled,” said Chard, who feels Cony can give his team some difficulties. “This is a rivalry game for us. They have good players. My kids have stepped up all year, fighting through the nerves. I can tell them to relax, but I think they will take care of that for themselves.”

The third-seeded Morse girls finished 9-3-2 and will host No. 6 York (5-6-3) in a Western B quarterfinal on Tuesday (5 p.m.), while No. 5 Freeport (9-5) heads to Western Maine Conference rival Yarmouth (8-3-3) Tuesday.

The Shipbuilders of the KVAC did not face the Wildcats of the Western Maine Conference, and finished 4-2-2 on their new McMann Field Complex turf, which will host its first playoff tilt.

Meanwhile, Elayna Girardin’s Falcons suffered a 1-0 setback at Yarmouth on Sept. 16. Freeport is looking forward to the rematch.

“This is my fifth season coaching here and the girls now have expectations of how well they should do,” said Girardin. “The season was great, our first winning season since 2004. Playing Yarmouth is nice because we know them well. We know what we’re getting in to. On the other hand, there is a history there, and we need to break that as a team. Yarmouth has been successful against us, so the girls need to believe that they can win and realize that everyone in the playoffs is starting from zero. Anything can happen.”

The top-seeded and three-time defending State Class D champion Richmond Bobcats have a bye into the Western D semifinals and will play host to the winner of No. 5 Rangeley (5-6-3) and No. Searsport (7- 3-4) on Nov. 1 (3 p.m. start). The Bobcats defeated the Lakers twice during the East-West Conference season, 3-0 at home on Sept. 17 and 2-1 in overtime at Rangeley. Richmond did not face Western D newcomer Searsport.

In other possible quarterfinal matchups, the winner of the Lisbon/ Wiscasset contest meets the survivor of the No. 12 Mt. Abram (5- 8-1)/No. 5 Waynflete (11-2-1) prelim.

Boys

Rick Renaud’s defending Eastern A champion Mt. Ararat Eagles hope to make it back-to-back trips to the State Class A title game.

The Eagles, who finished 9-3-2 after a 2-1 victory over Brunswick on Tuesday to take the No. 4 seed, play host to No. 5 Edward Little (8-3-3) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The teams played to a 0-0 double-overtime deadlock on Sept. 17 at Auburn.

“They are very good defensively, have a really good keeper (Llewellyn Jensen) and are well-coached,” said Mt. Ararat coach Rick Renaud of the Red Eddies, who hopes his team will not feel the nerves of the playoffs after last year’s success. “I think they will not be as nervous as some teams, but we are a totally different team.”

After a 3-2-1 start, a big 2-1 win over Bangor on Sept. 27 began a solid stretch run for the Eagles.

“In the Bangor game, they worked hard and finally found that success,” said Renaud. “They put it together and realized they could compete by playing hard and practicing hard.”

The loss to Mt. Ararat dropped Brunswick (8-6) to the No. 6 seed and forces the Dragons to hit the road to face third-seeded Bangor (11-3) on Wednesday. The Dragons hosted the Rams Sept. 21 and dropped a hardfought 1-0 decision.

Mark Roma’s team has been up and down throughout the regular season, and the coach hopes his team can find some consistency against a tough opponent. Plus, Brunswick recently lost a few players due to disciplinary reasons.

“When you take someone from the program, it hurts, but these kids have bought into our system and they push each other in practice to get better,” said Roma, who feels Eastern A is wide open. “It is the nature of this conference this year that whoever shows up on a given day is going to come out on top. It wouldn’t surprise me if the eighthseeded team won Eastern A. It is that close.”

In Western D, Joe Scribellito’s Richmond squad wound up with a 10-2-2 mark. The Bobcats finished strong, closing the regular season on a 6-0-2 run to claim the No. 2 seed and a quarterfinal home date with Vinalhaven on Wednesday (2 p.m.).

“Our home field is an advantage for us, with the space to play on, a rarity in our league,” said Scribellito, whose team downed Vinalhaven 8-0 on Sept. 7 and 6-0 on Oct. 5. “It is helpful knowing Vinalhaven, but it is tough in our league to defeat a team three times in a season, which we will have to do to move on.”

Scribellito was pleased with his team’s progress this season.

“With our schedule, winning 10 games was a stretch for us this year, especially considering we had young players playing significant minutes for us this season,” said Scribellito. “Our kids work hard in practice, and that has shown in the games and our success this year.”

If Wiscasset is victorious on the road against Carrabec on Saturday, the Wolverines will meet up with second-seeded Maranacook (12-0-2) in the Western C quarterfinals, while a Lisbon upset over Waynflete sends the Greyhounds to No. 3 North Yarmouth Academy (14-0).

In Western B, the winner between Freeport and Fryeburg Academy takes on No. 1 Yarmouth (11-0-3). If Freeport wins, a Tuesday doubleheader will be held, with the Falcon- Clipper girls meeting at 4 p.m. followed by the boys at 6 p.m.