(Ed. Note: For the complete Waynflete-Carrabec and Waynflete-Sacopee Valley boys’ soccer game stories, with photos, see theforecaster.net)

The soccer playoffs brought a little bit of everything to Forecaster Country last week and the football postseason is kicking into gear as well.

Here’s a glimpse of what transpired last week and what’s on tap:

Boys’ soccer

Waynflete’s boys’ soccer team had quite a journey to the Class C South Final.

The Flyers, ranked second in the region, hosted No. 7 Carrabec in the quarterfinals last Tuesday and couldn’t score in 80 minutes of regulation or 30 minutes of overtime, so the game had to be decided in penalty kicks, where teams alternate five kickers with the squad producing more successful kicks advancing.

Unless they’re still tied, in which case five more shooters step to the line.

The Cobras almost won it, taking a 2-0 lead, but Waynflete rallied thanks to successful shots from Jack Weston and Christian Brooks to force a second round. There, Cooper Chap, Ilyas Abdi and Christian Kabongo converted to give the Flyers a 5-3 lead, but Carrabec rallied to make it 5-5 and force a third round.

Instead of a third round, however, the officials decided to go to “sudden victory,” where each team gets one chance until one team survives.

Weston went first and converted.

“I was just doing my routine,” Weston said. “I felt like I had the routine down and I was comfortable. I struck it well.”

Carrabec then shot high and Waynflete had the victory, 6-5, in PKs.

“We’re still alive,” Flyers goalkeeper Milo Belleau said. “As much as teams want to count us out, we’re still in it and we’ve put ourselves in a position to win and that’s what it comes down to. This has got to be the craziest game I’ve played in, scenario-wise. We needed another chance and we got several chances and it finally ended. Obviously there’s nothing better than winning a close one like this.”

“We put a lot of time into penalty kicks the past month,” said Waynflete coach Brandon Salway. “You can’t replicate the pressure we faced here today.”

Then, things got wacky, as the Maine Principals’ Association ruled Wednesday that the third round of PKs should have been treated like the first two and that four additional kicks per side had to played out Thursday afternoon.

Thursday, Carrabec made the 100 mile bus ride to Fore River Fields and with Waynflete up, 6-5, in PKs, the teams completed the third round.

And would finally, once and for all, determine a winner.

Abdi went first and buried his kick, but the Cobras made theirs as well. Willy Burdick converted for Waynflete and Belleau made a huge save. Mohamed opened the door for the Cobras by kicking the ball off the crossbar and Carrabec took advantage, scoring to pull within one. Abel Alemayo then stepped to the line with a chance to win it and he made sure he brought the whole frustrating chapter to a close by tickling the twine to give Waynflete a 0-0 (9-7 PK) victory, one which took nearly 48 hours to become official.

“All I said Thursday was, ‘Just make four kicks and it’s over, or make three kicks and Milo will save one,’” Salway said. “The guys stepped up and were confident. Someone told me the whole thing took just under six minutes. I felt like all the pressure was on us. It was a good learning experience for everybody. It was a bit of a relief.”

Saturday, in much more conventional fashion, the Flyers took care of No. 6 Sacopee Valley in the semifinals, winning, 2-0, behind a first half goal from Abdi and a second half tally from Silk.

“We shut them down,” Salway said. “Milo only had to make three saves. It was nice to not have to worry about OT or PKs.”

Waynflete hosts No. 4 Monmouth Academy (13-3) in the regional final Wednesday afternoon (see theforecaster.net for game story). The teams don’t play in the regular season and have never squared off in the Class C playoffs. The squads did meet four times in five years between 1996 and 2000 in Class D, with the Mustangs winning three of the games.

“Monmouth’s a competitive bunch,” Salway said. They overcame adversity and came back from a two-goal deficit against NYA (in the quarterfinals). That should have our attention. We hope to take care of business. The guys are excited to be playing again. They want to extend their season.”

The winner of the regional final will face either Washington Academy (16-0) or Central (15-1) in Saturday’s Class C state final in Presque Isle.

In Class A South, Cheverus is up to its old tricks.

As they were a year ago prior to their unexpected and stirring run to the state championship, the Stags earned the No. 7 seed for the playoffs and after advancing past No. 10 Marshwood, 4-0, in the preliminary round, Cheverus went to second-ranked Gorham and sprung a 2-1 upset in the quarterfinals behind goals from Alex Nason and Brady Levesque. Saturday, as they did a year ago, the Stags won a semifinal round at No. 6 South Portland. Last fall, Cheverus had to go to PKs to survive the Red Riots, but this time, Mackenzie Hoglund’s goal late in the first half stood up in a 1-0 victory.

As they did last autumn, the Stags (10-3-4) will visit perennial powerhouse and top seed Scarborough (14-0-2) in the regional final Wednesday at 6 p.m. Cheverus lost, 4-2, at the Red Storm Sept. 29 and won the only prior playoff meeting, 3-2, in double overtime, a year ago.

The Cheverus-Scarborough winner will face either Lewiston (16-0) or Hampden Academy (13-3) in the Class A Final Saturday at 12:30 p.m., at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. The Stags beat the Blue Devils, 2-1, in last year’s state game and are 2-3 all-time against Lewiston in the playoffs. Cheverus and Hampden Academy have no postseason history.

Portland hoped for a deep run as well, but after blanking No. 12 Sanford, 3-0, in the preliminary round, the fifth seeded Bulldogs met their match in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, losing, 1-0, in overtime at No. 4 Falmouth to finish the season 8-3-1.

Girls’ soccer

Waynflete’s girls’ soccer team has also advanced to the regional final round, while Deering wasn’t as fortunate.

The Flyers went into the playoffs as the number six team after a 10-4 campaign, but have excelled when it matters most. After a 7-0 blanking of No. 11 Boothbay in the preliminary round, Waynflete won, 5-0, at third-ranked St. Dom’s last Tuesday and 4-1 at No. 2 seed Madison in Friday’s semifinals. Against the Saints, Ava Farrar had three goals, while Lydia Giguere scored twice.

“Ava is an amazing player,” Giguere said. “She’s been huge for us this year. Big finisher.”

Arianna Giguere had three goals and Beata Vest one in the win over the Bulldogs.

Waynflete advanced to play at No. 4 Monmouth Academy (12-2-2) in Wednesday’s regional final. The teams don’t play during the regular season, but did meet three previous times in the playoffs. The Flyers won the 1997 Western D Final, 2-1, in overtime and the 1998 semifinals (1-0), while the Mustangs took the 2000 regional final, 1-0.

The Waynflete-Monmouth Academy will face either Orono (14-1-1) or Bucksport (7-6-4) in the Class C state final Saturday in Presque Isle.

As for Deering, which was ranked seventh in Class A South after a strong 8-5-1 regular season, it enjoyed a 3-0 win over No. 10 Bonny Eagle in the preliminary round, but was ousted by second-seeded Scarborough by the same score in Wednesday’s quarterfinals as its season ended at 9-6-1.

Football

Cheverus was the lone city football team to play in last weekend’s quarterfinals. All three squads will be busy this coming weekend in the semifinals.

The Stags earned the third seed in Class A North and hosted No. 6 Lewiston Saturday afternoon. Cheverus pounded the Blue Devils by a 68-16 margin in the regular season and won both prior playoff meetings.

After freshman Tre Fletcher scored two rushing touchdowns in the first period, the Stags went up 29-0 at halftime behind a Justin Johnston TD run and a long interception return for a score by Isaac Dunn. Fletcher had a third scoring run in the third period and a TD from Rylan Benedict slammed the door on a 42-0 victory.

Cheverus (6-3) goes to No. 2 Windham (6-2) for the semifinals Friday night. The teams just met in the regular season finale Oct. 23, a 19-15 Eagles’ victory in a game which saw the Stags fumble four times in the second half. Cheverus and Windham have played three previous times in the playoffs with the Eagles winning in the 2009 regional final (7-6) and last year’s regional final (21-20, in overtime) and the Stags taking the 2010 quarterfinals (34-27).

Portland is the top seed in Class A North and earned a bye into the semifinals after an 8-0 season. The Bulldogs will host No. 5 Bangor (3-6 after beating No. 4 Edward Little in the quarterfinals) Friday evening in the semis. On Oct. 16, Portland went to Bangor and romped, 59-0. The teams’ only previous playoff meeting came in the 2001 Class A Final (a 20-14 Rams’ victory).

In Class A South, Deering earned the second seed and a bye after a 6-2 season. The Rams will host No. 3 Bonny Eagle (6-3 after a decisive quarterfinal round win over No. 6 South Portland) Friday in the semifinals. On Oct. 2, the Scots erupted in the second half for a 42-7 win at Deering. The teams have played six previous times in the playoffs and each won three. The most recent was a 35-28 overtime triumph for the Rams in the 2011 quarterfinals.

The regional finals are Saturday, Nov. 14, on the field of the higher remaining seeds. The Class A state game is Saturday, Nov. 21 at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

Sun Journal staff writer Wil Kramlich contributed to this story.

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

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Waynflete’s Jack Weston heads the ball during last week’s Class C quarterfinal win over Carrabec.

Waynflete senior goalkeeper Milo Belleau dives to make a save during the penalty kick phase of the Flyers’ quarterfinal round win over Carrabec last week. 

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