We are down to the final eight teams in both the boys and girls high school soccer seasons, with regional finals set to take place today and Wednesday.
In Eastern Maine Class A girls, Sam Chard’s Mt. Ararat Eagles, the No. 2 seed, head to Bangor to take on the top-seeded and 15-1 Rams, who bested No. 4 Brunswick on Saturday, 1-0, in the Eastern A semis. Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
“I can’t describe the way this season has gone, a feeling of success with the team doing a real good job of going above and beyond their expectations,” said Chard. “When you have a young team, you are really playing for the future, onetwo years ahead. But, these kids have made a huge impact.
“They have worked hard all season, with a lot of young players filling key positions. These girls have refused to be denied and really showed their talent all season.”
“I knew we were young, but one thing that I didn’t know was how talented my young teammates are,” said senior striker Nicole Ross, who set up a key goal in the Eagles’ win on Saturday over the Broncos.
With a young team, leadership has been important for the Eagles. Senior captains Ross, Connie Dodge, Sierra Gilley, Libby Davis and Dani Krause have mixed well with the young, talented starters that include freshman goaltender Kate Guerin, defenders Anna Manuel and Lauren Labbay, and forwards/midfielders Erin Tome, Torri Pelletier and Nikki Bradstreet. Also on defense, Priscilla ‘Percy’ Whitney, Katelyn Cox, Natalie Burch and Krause have been key to the Eagles’ success.
A chance for the youngsters to fold came in the second half on Saturday when Hampden tied the game early in the frame. The Broncos kept coming, but Mt. Ararat dug deep to get the go-ahead goal and held on for the win.
“When Hampden tied the game, our leadership really came through and the girls just wouldn’t be denied,” said Chard after watching junior Libby Ouellette score the game-winning goal just four minutes after the Broncos had tied it. “With a young team, you need that leadership on the field, and that has certainly been a key for us this season.”
Mt. Ararat has outscored its opponents 41-10. After allowing six goals in the first six games while splitting the goaltender duties with classmate Lauren Williams, Guerin has permitted just four goals in the past nine contests, three coming in a 3- 2 loss to Brunswick on Oct. 22. The Eagles have nine shutouts.
Leading scores for Mt. Ararat are Ouellette with 11 goals, Pelletier with nine and Bradstreet with eight. Gilley and Ross have a handful of assists each, along with Bradstreet.
Meanwhile, Bangor holds a 60-10 scoring edge over its opponent. The Rams’ lone loss was a 1-0 setback against Edward Little on Oct. 5. Bangor downed Mt. Blue, 4-0, in the Eastern A quarterfinals before scoring late in regulation in the victory over Brunswick.
“It will be another battle and you never know. Home field really doesn’t matter these days, and when you get to this point, it will be two good teams going at it in what I think will be a barnburner,” said Chard.
Richmond girls
This was to be the year that three-time defending State Class D champion Richmond took a step back and the rest of the East-West Conference made a move.
Things certainly didn’t go that way as the Bobcats went 13-1 before rolling past No. 4 Searsport, 6-1 on Friday in the Western D semifinals.
Richmond (14-1) hosts a familiar rival on Wednesday in third-seeded Buckfield (10- 4-2), which upset No. 2 Greenville 1-0 on Friday.
“I am not surprised that Buckfield won that game after they tied them twice, 0-0, during the regular season,” said Richmond coach Troy Kendrick. “They have some talented strikers that gave us some trouble when we played at Buckfield earlier in the season.”
In that Sept. 19 game, the Bobcats led 3-0 in the second half before the Bucks rallied to close to 3-2. Richmond held on for the win, and in the rematch on Oct. 3, the Bobcats again jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Bobcats learned from the first go-around, shutting down Buckfield the rest of the way.
“We let them back into the game the first time, and we really focused on that in the second game,” said Kendrick, who realizes it can be a tough task to defeat a rival three times in a season. “The girls were nervous to play Searsport, a team we hadn’t seen before. But, I thought it was kind of nice not knowing them intimately. It can be a double-edged sword knowing teams too well. We will have to minimize our weaknesses and exploit theirs. It will be a tough game.”
Amber Loon and Kelsea Anair lead the Bobcats with 23 goals each, with Meranda Martin chipping in 14. Martin leads the Bobcats in assists with 12, while Anair has chipped in 10 along with Camryn Hurley. Other solid offensive contributors for Richmond are Cassidy Harriman (six goals, three assists) and Autumn Acord (five goals, two assists). Defensively, look for Haley Murphy, Nicole Blake, Kayla Beaulieu, Kalah Patterson and Chika Obi to contribute.
In goal, Kelsi Obi has eight shutouts, with Richmond holding a 93-10 scoring advantage.
Richmond boys
Joe Scribellito’s Bobcats are back in the Western D final and will host fourthseeded Greenville (12-3-1) on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Lakers won a thriller against top-seeded Pine Tree Academy on Monday, taking a 4-3 overtime decision over the Breakers at Freeport.
Leading the scoresheet for Richmond is the Tribbett brothers. Nate has 15 goals and six assists, while Cody has chipped in 10 goals and seven helpers. Brendan Emmons (eight goals, two assists), Tyler Soucy (five goals, one assist) and Cameron Emmons (three goals, three assists) have contributed from their midfield positions, and goaltender Dustin Sullivan has 10 shutouts and has permitted just 12 goals as Richmond holds a 48-12 scoring advantage.
After starting 4-2-1, Scribellito changed his team’s formation, a move that sparked an 8-0-1 finish and a 12-2-2 overall mark.
“These are pretty adaptable youngsters playing in key roles,” said Scribellito of his Bobcats. “The older and younger kids have mixed together well.”
This year’s postseason meeting makes it six straight years that the Lakers and Bobcats have met in the Western D playoffs. Greenville ended Richmond’s season the past two years, taking a 1-0 decision in the Western D final in 2011 and holding on for a 3-2 win at Richmond in last year’s semifinals. In 2008, ’09 and ’10, the Bobcats got the better of the Lakers in the postseason on their way to the State Class D title games.
So, Wednesday’s encounter makes it the 18th meeting in the past six years between the clubs.
In 2008 and 2009, the Bobcats owned a 5-1 edge in the series. Fans may remember the physicality of those matchups. However, the last few meetings, according to Scribellito, has featured the two squads playing the game of soccer while staying away from the chippy play. And, the results have been tight, with the series standing at 4-4-3 since 2010.
“Jeff Richards is a great coach, and our rivalry has transformed from who can beat each other down into who can play the best soccer,” said Scribellito, whose squad downed the Lakers 3-0 on Sept. 9 but played to a 0-0 stalemate at Greenville in the rematch on Oct. 11. “That second game was wonderful soccer to watch, and I expect the same kind of game this time around. It will be two quality programs playing soccer on Wednesday.
“We are familiar, no doubt, but their is a mutual respect between the programs, and I expect this year’s game to be just like all the others … a battle!”
Regional Soccer Finals
Eastern Maine Class A Girls
No. 2 Mt. Ararat (14-2) at
No. 1 Bangor (15-1), 5 p.m. today
Western Maine Class D Girls
No. 3 Buckfield (10-4-2) at No. 1
Richmond (14-1), 2 p.m., Wednesday
Western Maine Class D Boys
No. 4 Greenville (12-3-1) at
No. 1 Richmond (12-2-2),
2 p.m., Wednesday
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