(Ed. Note: For the complete Deering-Scarborough boys’ soccer, Deering-Scarborough girls’ soccer and Cheverus-Portland and Cheverus-Scarborough field hockey game stories, with photos, see theforecaster.net)

Football got a ton of attention last weekend and rightfully so (see story), but the other fall sports are compelling as well and with the postseason looming, there’s a lot of drama to come.

Here’s a glimpse at what’s transpired, what’s to come and what it all means as we hit the middle of October.

Boys’ soccer

Deering’s boys’ soccer team had its opportunity to show it was the favorite in Western Class A when it went to two-time defending state champion Scarborough last Tuesday night. The Rams weren’t able to rise to the occasion, however, as they couldn’t convert six corner kicks in the first 17 minutes and the Red Storm capitalized with a pair of first half goals. Deering couldn’t answer in the second half and fell from the unbeaten ranks with a 2-0 loss.

“We had a lot of corner kicks and we outpossessed them in the first half, but we just didn’t capitalize and Scarborough capitalized on their chances,” Rams coach Joel Costigan said. “In the second half, I think we got a little tired and started to do our own thing and got disconnected.”

Deering got back on track Thursday and improved to 9-1-1 with a 2-1 double overtime win over visiting Thornton Academy. Ahmed Adnan forced OT and Hany Ramadan had the winner. The Rams (third behind Falmouth and Scarborough in the Western Class A Heal Points standings) host Biddeford Thursday, welcome Marshwood Friday and close the regular season Tuesday at Sanford.

Cheverus is up to eighth in Western A at 5-3-3 after three ties last week: 2-2 versus visiting South Portland, 2-2 at Bonny Eagle and 0-0 at home against Portland. Brady Levesque and Mackenzie Hoglund had the goals against the Red Riots. Levesque and Andrei Vile scored versus the Scots. The Stags were home with Noble Tuesday, visit Westbrook Thursday and close at Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Portland took a 4-5-2 record (and the No. 10 spot in the Heals) into Tuesday’s home tilt versus Westbrook (see theforecaster.net for game story). Last week, the Bulldogs lost at Gorham, 2-1, and played host Cheverus to a scoreless draw. D.J. Cooper had the goal against the Rams. Portland plays at Windham Friday and closes at home versus Biddeford Tuesday of next week.

In Western C, Waynflete continues to excel. Last Monday, the Flyers beat visiting Gray-New Gloucester, 1-0, on Ahmed Mohamed’s first half goal. Milo Belleau made a clutch late save and earned his sixth shutout of the season. Waynflete then won at Sacopee Valley (4-1) and settled for a 2-2 draw at rival North Yarmouth Academy. Against the Hawks, Harry Baker-Connick had three goals, while Clancy Mitchell added one. Mohamed had both goals in the win over the Panthers. The Flyers (7-1-2 and fourth in the Heals) hosted Sacopee Valley Tuesday, welcome Traip Thursday, play at Gray-New Gloucester Saturday and close at Freeport Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, it appears all five city teams are playoff bound.

Two-time defending Class C champion Waynflete has quietly put together a solid campaign. Last week, the Flyers won at Gray-New Gloucester in overtime (2-1), tied visiting Sacopee Valley (2-2) and prevailed at home against NYA (3-0). Arianna Giguere tied the score, then beat the Patriots. Giguere and Helen Gray-Bauer scored in the tie. Isabel Canning had two goals, while Giguere had one against the Panthers. Waynflete (7-1-3 and fifth in the Heals) was at Sacopee Valley Tuesday, visits Traip Thursday and closes at home versus Freeport Monday.

In Western A, Deering dropped to eighth in the standings with a 6-4 record after losses last week to visiting Scarborough (2-0) and at Thornton Academy (2-0). Against the Red Storm, the Rams gave up a goal 35 seconds into the second half and despite 14 saves from goalkeeper Emily Mooney, fell short.

“Emily has made some big saves,” Deering coach Kevin Olson said. “She’s been great for us. Neither goal tonight was her fault, it was because of defensive mistakes by us. We kept fighting, but we couldn’t get into a rhythm.”

The Rams hoped to get back in the win column Monday when they hosted Marshwood in makeup game. After hosting McAuley Wednesday, Deering is at Biddeford Friday and closes at home versus Sanford Tuesday of next week.

Cheverus is up to ninth at 4-5-2 after 3-0 wins at South Portland and at home over Bonny Eagle. Olivia Mull had two goals and Katie Gordon one against the Scots. Cheverus went to Noble Wednesday and closes at home versus Westbrook Friday and Gorham Tuesday.

Portland dipped to 10th place with a 6-5 record after a 2-0 home loss to Gorham and a 4-3 overtime loss at McAuley. Gracie Lagrange, Ella Altidore and Maddie Bolduc scored against the Lions, but the Bulldogs couldn’t hold leads of 2-0 and 3-2. Portland went to Westbrook Wednesday, then closes at home versus Windham Saturday and Biddeford Monday.

McAuley’s win over Portland propelled it up to 11th in Western A (12 teams make the playoffs). The Lions were coming off a 13-0 home loss to Thornton Academy, but got two goals apiece from Summer Bourque and Ayla Tartre (including the winner in overtime) to upset the Bulldogs. McAuley (3-6-2) goes to Deering Wednesday, hosts Marshwood Friday and closes at Westbrook Tuesday.

Field hockey

Portland’s field hockey team earned a victory 10 years in the making last Monday. The Bulldogs traveled to Cheverus seeking to beat the Stags for the first time since 2004 and they managed to do so, but it took awhile.

After falling behind, 1-0, early, Lauren McIntyre scored twice, but the Stags tied the score in the second half and the game went to overtime and then to a second eight-minute OT. There, nearly six minutes in, Holly Hinchliffe crossed the ball to Gabby Wagabaza (who played at Cheverus her freshman and sophomore years) and Wagabaza rattled the cage for a 3-2 victory.

“You only need one chance to score and that’s what it took,” said Wagabaza. “Holly got it over. I was there and I got to capitalize. It was a great feeling. Complete emotion. It was a hard-fought game. It’s amazing to hear that sound everyone wants to hear and know we won.”

“It was worth the wait,” said Bulldogs coach Beth Arsenault. “This was a game that I don’t think we played our best, yet we managed to prevail. In many facets and for large chunks of the game, they outplayed us. We had enough experience and heart to weather the storm.”

Goalie Gianna Gaudet made 17 huge saves.

“It was hard, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Gaudet said. “My team helped me out.”

Portland wasn’t able to ride that momentum, however, as it lost, 1-0, at home to Deering and 6-0 at Gorham to fall to 8-5 and eighth in the Western A Heals. The Bulldogs closed the regular season at Marshwood Tuesday and hoped to host a preliminary round playoff game Saturday.

Cheverus got goals from Colleen Slattery and Becca Archer against Portland, but the Stags went down to defeat.

“It’s frustrating, but I have to think of it in a positive way,” Cheverus coach Amy Ashley said. “When I take a step back, I’m happy with the team that showed up today. We were like centimeters away. That’s field hockey, you can dominate and not score.”

Cheverus then lost at Sanford, 2-1, and at home to undefeated two-time defending Western A champion Scarborough, 1-0. Emily Michaud had the goal at the Spartans, but the Stags lost late. Cheverus hung tough with the Red Storm, but couldn’t generate any offense and was outshot, 17-0.

“We just couldn’t get the ball in the circle,” Ashley lamented. “I’m proud of our defense and our goalie. We knew getting (Scarborough) on grass gave us a better chance. I was hoping we’d get a little more out of our offense today, but it didn’t happen.”

The Stags (5-6-2 and 10th in Western A) closed the regular season at South Portland Tuesday (see theforecaster.net for game story).

Deering is up to ninth in Western A at 6-5-2 after sandwiching wins at Portland (1-0) and at home over Noble (1-0, in double overtime) around a 2-0 home loss to Sanford. Against the Bulldogs, Pisey Chhorn had the lone goal. Kaytlin DiBiase delivered the winner versus the Knights. The Rams closed at Scarborough Tuesday and will likely travel for a prelim Saturday.

McAuley dropped to 0-13 and 17th last week with losses to visiting Sanford (9-0), host Scarborough (10-1) and visiting South Portland (6-0). Elana Woods scored the Lions’ first goal of the season in the loss to the Red Storm. Samantha Wikowski made 17 saves versus the Red Riots. McAuley closed at Thornton Academy Tuesday.

In Western C, Waynflete began the week ranked 11th, but only 10 teams make the playoffs. Last week, the Flyers dropped a 1-0 home decision to NYA, then won at Old Orchard Beach, 4-0, to improve to 3-8-1. In the win, Allison Mills, Dana Peirce, Madison Pellow and Semhar Yehdego scored. Waynflete was at Wells Tuesday and closes at Poland Wednesday. The Flyers hope for a win or two to get into the playoffs.

The preliminary round of the playoffs will be contested Saturday. The quarterfinals are Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

Volleyball

Cheverus is running out of time to make it back to the playoffs. Last week, the Stags improved to 2-10 with a 3-0 win at Lake Region. Cheverus began the week 14th in the Class A Heals, but only 10 teams qualify. The Stags host defending Class B champion Yarmouth Tuesday and close at Kennebunk Monday. They likely need to win both matches to qualify for the postseason.

Cross country

There were plenty of home cross country meets last week.

Cheverus welcomed Gorham, Massabesic and Thornton Academy. The girls came in second behind Massabesic. Kaitlyn Dostie was the fastest Stag, finishing third in 20 minutes, 20.60 seconds. The Cheverus boys were third behind the Mustangs and Rams. Parker Montano was the top individual (sixth, 17:07.90).

Deering played host to Biddeford, Sanford and Windham. The Rams boys finished first as Yahya Hussein (16:26) and Iid Sheikh-Yusef (16:27) were first and second individually. The girls placed second behind the Eagles. Lucy Turnavicus won the race in 20:39.

McAuley was fourth behind visiting Scarborough, South Portland and Noble. Adele Werner led the Lions by placing 14th in 23:23.

Portland welcomed Bonny Eagle, Marshwood and Westbrook. The Bulldogs girls were third as Darcy Hinck placed fourth in 21:21. The boys came in fourth. Brad Ravenelle placed fifth individually (17:41).

Waynflete joined Kennebunk and Yarmouth at Sacopee Valley. The Flyers girls were second to the Clippers, even though Phoebe Colvin-Oehmig was the fastest individual in 21:52. In the boys’ race, Waynflete came in third as Wilson Moore placed third individually in 19:14.

This weekend, Waynflete competes in the Western Maine Conference meet at St. Joseph’s College, while Portland hosts Cheverus, Deering and McAuley in regular season-ending meet.

Golf

City golf teams took part in state qualifiers last Monday and none made the cut.

Cheverus missed out in cruel fashion at the Southwestern Maine Activities Association qualifier. The Stags shot a 329 which tied them with defending Class A champion Falmouth for the league’s final spot, but the Yachtsmen advanced on a tiebreaker, dropping Cheverus to seventh. The good news was that standout Chris Billings had the league’s low round of 73 and earned a chance to defend his Class A individual title Saturday at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro.

Portland (345) came ninth as a team and fell short, but qualified Phil McCallum as an individual after he shot an 80 (good for ninth).

Deering (400) was 15th.

In the Western Maine Conference, Waynflete had a score of 414, but left the Flyers 58 points behind NYA, which was the lone squad from the class to advance.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

Sidebar Elements

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Deering’s Stephen Ochan brings the ball up the field during the Rams’ 2-0 loss at Scarborough ina  battle of unbeatens last week.

Portland senior Gabby Wagabaza (back to camera) is mobbed by her teammates after scoring the winning goal in the second overtime last Monday in a 3-2 victory at Cheverus. It was the first time the Bulldogs beat the Stags in exactly 10 years.