The high school girls soccer playoffs are slated to begin on Saturday for area teams with preliminary round action, with quarterfinals and semifinals slated for next week.
Regional finals come the following week, with state championship play set for Nov. 5. Classes A and D head to Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, while B and C are at Hampden Academy.
The Bobcats, the defending Class D State champs, will have some time to kill. With seven teams making the field, Richmond has a bye all the way into the semifinals against the quarterfinal survivor between No. 5 Vinalhaven/North Haven and No. 4 Rangeley. The Bobcats outscored those two teams in four meetings this year by a combined 37-1 count.
The biggest challenge for coach Troy Kendrick is to keep his team battle ready.
“I think we’re in a good place, with a team that is young with several sophomores and freshmen,” said the Richmond coach. “I try to get us a scrimmage, and we will face Monmouth Academy, the top team in Class C, which will be good for us. I will give the girls a couple days off and focus on conditioning in practice.”
Richmond faced a couple stiff challenges outside of the East-West Conference this year, defeating St. Dom’s and losing a tough 2-1 overtime battle with Sacopee Valley. For Kendrick, it has been about developing his team.
“We wanted to develop a strong bench, and I think we did that,” said the coach.
Buckfield is seeded second and will host No. 7 Greater Portland Christian in the quarterfinals. The other quarterfinal matchup pits No. 3 Greenville at home against No. 6 Searsport.
Class A North
On Saturday, Sam Chard’s Mt. Ararat Eagles, the No. 9 seed in Class A North, hit the road for a preliminary battle with No. 8 Brewer (3 p.m.). It has been a tough season for the Eagles, who enter the postseason with a 6-8 mark.
However, Mt. Ararat closed the regular season with a solid 1-0 victory over Mt. Blue.
The Eagles hosted Brewer on Sept. 27, falling in a tough 1-0 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference matchup.
Mt. Ararat has proven to be a tough out in the playoffs. Last year, the Eagles, the No. 5 seed, won at Oakland against Messalonskee in the quarterfinals, 4-2, before falling to top-seeded Camden Hills in the semifinals, 3-0.
The Mt. Ararat-Brewer winner takes on top-seeded and undefeated Bangor (14-0) in the quarterfinals.
In the other Class A North prelim, No. 10 Lawrence visits No. 7 Hampden Academy, with the winner drawing No. 2 Camden Hills.
Brunswick is in an all too familiar spot this year. Last season, the Dragons went 11- 2-1 and claimed the No. 3 seed, but were stunned at home by sixth-seeded Hampden Academy, 4-1, in the quarterfinals.
Once again, Martyn Davison’s charges are seeded third after a solid 11-3 campaign, and the Dragons are riding a six-game winning streak.
This time around, No. 6 Messalonskee comes to Brunswick for a quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday (5 p.m.). In the only meeting between the squads this year, Brunswick rolled to a 5- 0 KVAC win at home.
Rivals Edward Little, the No. 4 seed, and Lewiston, seeded fifth, meet in a quarterfinal next week.
Class B South
There are 12 teams in the playoff field in Class B South, and the field is stacked.
Southern powerhouses Yarmouth, Greely, York and Cape Elizabeth claimed spots 1-4, respectively, but don’t discount No. 5 Morse, which begins the postseason with a 12-2 record and on a six-game winning streak.
The Shipbuilders closed their regular season with a 2-0 victory over Lincoln Academy and will once again entertain the Eagles on Saturday (4 p.m.). Morse swept the two games with Lincoln Academy, the No. 12 seed.
Steve Boyce’s Shipbuilders face a possible quarterfinal rematch as well. A win sends Morse to Cape Elizabeth next week. The Capers won last year’s matchup.
Freeport claimed the No. 7 seed and is scheduled to host No. 10 Maranacook on Saturday at 2 p.m. for a prelim.
The Falcons finished 7-5-2 during the regular season and returns to the postseason for the first time since 2013.
Freeport did not face the Black Bears, who play in the KVAC.
A Falcons win sends Freeport to No. 2 Greely for a quarterfinal.
Other prelim matchups in the region sees No. 11 Fryeburg Academy visiting Oak Hill, and No. 9 Gray-New Gloucester traveling to Rumford to face eighth-seeded Mountain Valley.
Class C South
It has been a solid first season for Lisbon coach Brian Dube, who directed the Greyhounds to a 6-4-4 mark and a quarterfinal home matchup with fifth-seeded Waynflete on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Scoring has been a struggle for No. 4 Lisbon, which will be looking for its first goal in four games come Wednesday after three straight shutouts.
The Greyhounds and Flyers didn’t meet this year, with Waynflete entering the game with an 8-4-2 record while playing in the tough Western Maine Conference.
In former coach Jake Gentle’s final season last year, Lisbon downed Carrabec in a prelim before falling to Madison, 3-1, in the quarterfinals.
Wiscasset makes a return to the postseason for the first time since 2013, finishing with a 6-6-2 record, good for the No. 8 seed.
The Wolverines will host No. 9 Hall-Dale on Saturday (5 p.m.) in a rematch of their Sept. 10 contest in Farminghale, a 3-2 Wiscasset victory.
Duane Goud’s team is playing well, entering the playoffs on a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) after a five-game losing skid nearly ended the Wolverines’ playoff hopes.
Monmouth and Madison are the top two seeds in the region, both with 13-1 records. Sacopee Valley is in at No. 3 and will host No. 6 Old Orchard Beach in a quarterfinal. No. 10 Boothbay, which defeated Lisbon 4-0 in its regular season finale to make the postseason, visits seventh-seeded Mt. Abram in a prelim on Saturday.
Cross country
The Cross Country Regionals are set for Saturday, with Class A North teams, including Brunswick and Mt. Ararat, at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, and Class B and C South squads at Twin Brook in Cumberland.
The Brunswick girls are coming off a KVAC title last weekend at Cony High School in Augusta and will be looking for a similar result in Belfast, while Mt. Ararat and runner Katherine Leckbee, who won the KVAC title last week, will be in action.
Class A North boys run at 1:20 p.m., with the girls to follow at 1:55 p.m.
Morse and Freeport will meet in Class B South competition. The Falcon boys are the defending Class B South regional champions.
The Shipbuilders and Falcons will run first at Twin Brook, with the boys at 11 a.m., followed by the girls at 11:35 a.m.
Lisbon and Wiscasset will run in the Class C South competitions.
The Greyhounds and Wolverines will be on the course at 12:30 p.m. (boys) and 1:05 p.m. (girls).
The State Cross Country Championships will be held at Belfast on Oct. 29.
Field hockey
Lisbon has shown that it is a tough playoff out, having defeated North Yarmouth Academy in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, 3-1.
Now, the fourth-seeded Greyhounds will be looking for some revenge, visiting top-seeded Oak Hill Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for a semifinal.
Lisbon has had a tough time with the Raiders this year, falling 3-0 at Oak Hill and 5-0 at home. Since defeating the Raiders in the 2015 regular-season finale, Oak Hill, which defeated No. 8 Mountain Valley in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, 4-0, has outscored the Greyhounds 11-0 over the past three meetings, including a 3-0 victory in the 2015 Class C South regional final at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.
The winner of today’s contest moves on to face the survivor of the Traip Academy St. Dom’s semifinal next week at Massabesic High School. That game, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been moved to Wednesday due to the forecast of rain today and Saturday.
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