SANFORD — Chris Coleman remembers the impassive faces and doubting eyes.
The 22-year-old first-year high school soccer coach was addressing his Sanford High girls’ soccer team in the preseason. Coleman, a native of Liverpool, England, and a professional soccer coach with Global Premier Soccer, was telling the Spartans they would not only make the Class A South playoff but would earn a first-round bye.
Sanford returned nine starters from a team that won four games and failed to make the playoffs in 2014. That group had won two games the year before.
“I could see they weren’t sure,” Coleman said. “But we didn’t play any easy scrimmages. We played against Cape Elizabeth and played against Greely and getting those tough games helped us get that mindset.”
Now these Spartans believe in Coleman.
Sanford did earn a bye, finishing fourth in the Class A South Heal point standings with a 10-2-2 record. That slate includes a tie against perennial power Scarborough and a 3-1 win against two-time defending state champion Windham, which snapped the Eagles’ 46-game unbeaten streak.
“He’s very positive-minded and I think his confidence in our team has helped us,” said junior tri-captain and midfielder Sydney Littlefield. “We don’t go into a game thinking it’s going to be really hard to win. It’s just, play our game and we’ll get the result.”
Tuesday night at Cobb Stadium, the Spartans will host No. 5 Marshwood (11-3), another team that has excelled with a youthful first-year coach.
The Hawks are led by 23-year-old Chelsea Watson, a former Marshwood goalie, who took over a program that was on the rise under former coach Luke Edgar and reached the regional semifinal in 2014 with an overall 12-3-1 record. Marshwood beat Sanford in South Berwick 3-1 on Oct. 5, in a game where emotions ran high.
After the loss to Marshwood (and a similar setback at eventual No. 3 Gorham), the Spartans were still searching for a signature victory.
They got that by beating Windham, which entered the game on a 44-0-2 streak. Vanessa Hodge scored all three Sanford goals.
In that game, Coleman had his team play a different shape to help control the midfield, and the onus was on converting what he expected would be rare counterattacks.
Again, Coleman saw some doubt when he explained his plan.
“I looked at some of their faces and they were like, ‘We can’t learn a new shape,'” Coleman said. “And for that to click and for us to get the result, showed how far these girls have come.”
“We really had to buy in to what Coach was saying and the whole confidence that we can win games,” said Hodge, another tri-captain. “When everyone kind of bought in to what he was telling us that we are capable of doing you saw it in the way we play and the way our wins progressed.”
Hodge scored 22 goals this season and is also an embodiment of the Spartans’ style: fast, athletic and feisty.
Covering Hodge is a tough assignment for defenders. In person, she comes across as pleasant, humble and surprisingly petite. She is 5-foot-2 and 103 pounds.
“Everyone says that I look bigger on the field but I’m not,” Hodge said.
On the field, she is a nonstop irritant. Hodge puts in loads of work making runs up, down and across the field, usually started with a subtle push or prod. She enhances her difficult-to-contain quickness by purposely getting as close as possible to the person assigned to mark her.
“I am very well aware that I get under people’s skin but I just keep playing my game,” Hodge said.
Hodge’s take-no-guff approach runs through the whole team, according to junior tri-captain Summer Camire.
In past seasons the Spartans “just kind of took it from other teams,” Camire said. “Now we’re known for playing aggressive. Really, I just think that’s how teams are taking it because we’re fighting back now.”
The Spartans are balancing tougher play on the ball with higher levels of technical skills, another change players attribute to Coleman.
Sanford is comfortable playing multiple formations but the philosophy of building offense through possession doesn’t change, Littlefield said.
Gone is the kick-and-run approach, Hodge said.
“We’ve just settled the ball down and tried to play through the midfield and me getting the ball has become a lot easier,” Hodge said. “A big part of my goals is just through the team effort.”
The addition of two key freshmen has also helped. Megan O’Connell has been a sturdy outside back with a strong throw-in. Julia Allen brings top-end speed to the attack. Lone senior starter Kyla Bragg is a confident, vocal goalie.
Nine of the 10 juniors, eight of whom start, made the varsity team as freshmen, so experience is also a factor in the team’s improvement.
“It’s mostly just mentality,” Littlefield said. “Losing isn’t as acceptable in our own personal expectations this year.”
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.