BRUNSWICK

It was a long shot.

Figure, the fifth-seeded Mt. Ararat High School girls soccer team returned to the place where last year’s surprising run ended at the hands of the Bangor Rams, 2-1 in overtime.

One year later, here were the Eagles, again on Bangor’s field against a Rams team that hadn’t tasted defeat since falling to Windham in last season’s State Class A title game.

Not only did Mt. Ararat take revenge, the Eagles applied it in spades, rolling to a 5-0 win and a second consecutive trip to the Eastern A regional final.

“Getting back to any final is always hard because everyone targets you and uses that game to gauge their season,” said Mt. Ararat coach Sam Chard. “We outplayed most teams this season but had little to show for it on the board, until recently. The girls have worked hard on finishing drills and now know that they can score. They have more confidence and are having fun.”

This time around, the 10-4-2 Eagles will visit No. 2 Edward Little (12-1-3) today at 1:30 p.m. in Auburn.

The teams met on Sept. 16 in Auburn, playing to a 2-2 deadlock. The Red Eddies downed fourthseeded Brunswick, 3-1 on Saturday in an Eastern A semifinal.

“EL is going to be a tough game,” said Chard. “They are big and physical and have a good goalie, Craig (Latuscha) is a great coach and he’ll have those girls fired up for us. The first time we played them, we did okay in the first half with a 1-0 lead but then shut right down in the second half and allowed them to score two quick goals. We had to crawl back for the tie. If we’re on, we’ll give EL a battle.”

Brunswick boys

The Dragons are seeded second and visit No. 1 and unbeaten Lewiston (15-0-1) today at 5 p.m.

Brunswick came from 2-0 down at the half to tie the Blue Devils, 2- 2, on Oct. 2, and Dragons coach Mark Roma feels his team had Lewiston on its heels, with a chance for the win.

“We had them,” said the coach, whose team comes in riding a 14- game unbeaten streak (12-0-2) of its own for a 12-2-2 overall mark.

On Saturday in the wind and the rain, Brunswick steamrolled past No. 3 Hampden Academy, 4-1, and earlier took a 3-0 decision against seventh-seeded Messalonskee.

“Saturday was the most complete performance we have put together all year,” said Roma. ”Everything clicked. The keeper and backs were disciplined, rolled up their sleeves and did the dirty work all game. The midfield was on every loose ball and continuously looked to penetrate. The forwards made run after run. We talk all the time that you score on that 20th run, but you can’t do that until you make the 19 hard ones beforehand. Everybody did their jobs, unselfish.”

Meanwhile, Lewiston, after besting No. 8 Mt. Blue, 6-0, had trouble with third-seeded Bangor in Friday’s semifinal matchup, but the Blue Devils still came away with a 1-0 win over the Rams.

“They are a very good team that can score within seconds from any spot on the field,” said Roma of the Blue Devils. ”They have depth and Mike (McGraw) does a great job getting them ready to play. In order for us to get a result, we need to match their incredible team speed and skill with discipline and intensity. We have to absorb the constant pressure and look for opportunities to counter and when we do get an opportunity we need to finish. You are not going to shut out a team like Lewiston so you had better scores some goals.

Richmond boys

Peter Gardner has been to this point of the season many times in his illustrious coaching career, but this season is the first with the Bobcats for the coach, with Richmond slated to host East-West Conference rival Buckfield, the No. 2 seed, today at McMann Field in Bath at 4:30 p.m.

The Bobcats were unscathed through the regular season (14-0). After a hard-fought Western D 3-1 quarterfinal win over rival Greenville, Richmond rolled to an 8-2 semifinal victory over Greater Portland Christian, the No. 4 seed.

Richmond and Buckfield (13-3) met twice during the season, with the Bobcats taking a pair of 2-1 wins, including the regular-season finale at Buckfield on Oct. 21. The Bucks defeated Searsport in the other Western D semifinal.

“They are a mirror-image of us,” said Gardner. “Buckfield is very well-coached and they do a lot of good things. They have two or three nice players in the middle of the field.

“For us, it is about going back to what we do … play solid defense and look for our opportunities to score. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will be the team that wins.”

Win or lose, Gardner is pleased with the progress his team has made this season.

“They have achieved everything this year, and I am proud of them,” said the coach.

Richmond girls

The beat went on this season for Troy Kendrick’s Bobcats, who compiled a dominating 14-0 regular season.

Things certainly didn’t come as easy for Richmond in the Western D semifinals. With just six teams making the postseason in Western D, the Bobcats had to wait it out, not playing a countable game for 10 days.

Then came Rangeley, the No. 5 seed, a squad Richmond handled to the tune of a combined 13-1 scoring total in two EWC contests.

The Lakers battled hard, and if not for a point-blank shot from Meranda Martin on a great pass from Kelsea Anair, Rangeley might have been able to pull off the upset of the season.

Instead, Richmond will host No. 2 Searsport (10-3-2) today at McMann Field at 2 p.m.

Searsport downed Greenville in the semifinals.