Freeport — When a team makes it to a state final, it’s a no-brainer that some form of teamwork, a sense of cohesiveness and the attitude of “we win as a team” plays a role in that success.

But when you win or lose soccer games on how many goals you score or give up, it’s important to have a solid keeper in net.

The Freeport boys soccer team travels to Hampden Academy Saturday night to take on Presque Isle for the high school State Class B title, and a large part of that is because of the consistent play in net of goalie Atticus Patrick.

“I first met Atticus and his twin brother Owen last spring,” Freeport coach Bob Strong said. “Both hung around to make a personal connection. I knew they were going to be leaders on the team.”

Atticus started playing soccer with the Freeport Recreation program in second grade, and has played ever since. Whether it was on a Rec. team, Freeport United travel teams, middle school or all through high school, you’d find Atticus on the pitch.

He and his brother used to split time in the cage, but somewhere around seventh grade, Atticus began to play more goalie, while Owen moved further up the field. Atticus has manned the cage as the varsity starter the last two seasons.

“My dad played goalie in high school and something that got me into soccer was watching the premier league,” the keeper said. “I liked Arsenal’s goalie Petr Cech and I wanted to start playing goalie.”

Atticus continued to work on his craft with the help of goalie camps and strong coaching over the years. He even uses YouTube to hone his skills with his brother.

“I’ve done a couple of years of goalie camp with Freeport United, once in junior high and also earlier in high school,” said Atticus. “I look up techniques, and my brother and I always practice together and help each other. Coach (Shawn) Rhoda has also helped me out a lot while he was my jayvee coach, and now he’s here on the bench and it helps to have another set of eyes around.”

As Strong knew, even without seeing them on the field, he had a couple of seniors that will help mold his team. What did worry the first-year coach was that he feared Atticus may not posses an edge that he felt goalies sometimes need.

“Atticus is such a compassionate person and a kind individual. I was concerned he might not be able to step over that boundary, when actually, he was effective by not being that person or individual,” Strong said.

The Falcons went 9-3-2 during the regular season, with three more wins in the postseason. During the 17 games, Freeport has only given up 15 goals, including six games where the senior netminder did not allow a goal.

“My favorite part of goalie is making saves. I’ve always worked on decision-making and it’s a skill that I think I’m getting better and better with each game,” Atticus said. “I can judge when to come out and not to. I also know every situation is different, so I need to know when to get the ball out, not necessarily take out the player.”

Wednesday’s Class B semifinal against Cape Elizabeth was an indication that the goalie is comfortable with making those decisions.

“There were a lot of balls Wednesday night served in the air with a lot of bodies,” Strong said. “Rather than try to catch and possess or mishandle the ball, we stressed to make right decisions not to play them, as we didn’t want to take any risks.”

The gameplan of Atticus punching the ball out of danger throughout the contest paid off.

“I knew it might be harder to get to the ball, they were putting a lot of bodies in front, including when they put their big center back on me that made it hard for me to move around and actually catch it.”

Some say twins have a sixth-sense, something Strong sees between Owen and Atticus.

“The two of them have a connection. They literally finish each other’s sentences,” Strong said. “But that plays out on the field. They instinctively trust each other, they trust their defenders.”

“Having him at defense — he was a left winger before — there in front of me is awesome, obviously we’re really tight,” Atticus said. “It’s amazing to know our unit is so tight, having Owen, Damon (Butler), Sam (Larochelle) and Caleb (Arsenault) back there is a really good feeling. We actually call it ‘D-Squad.’ It’s great to know that we’re all working together.”

“It makes me feel more comfortable out there, having him right behind me,” Owen said. “It’s from years of playing soccer together. We’ve grown to understand how each other plays. Usually if there is a ball we both could go for, we just know which one is going to get it. It’s that kind of bond that we’ve built every single moment of our lives and we carry it on to the soccer field.”

The 3-2 win over Cape was a historic one, winning a regional title on the new Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field, and like many others after the game, Atticus and Owen shared a moment while looking at the jubilant crowd in the bleachers.

“Wednesday night was the perfect moment to celebrate that with him,” Atticus said. “I remember having my arm around him and being like ‘wow, we made it.’”

That bond has spread throughout the Falcons roster as they hope to cherish one more moment on the field.

The title game against B North champ Presque Isle (14-1-2) is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. Follow game updates on Twitter @SportsMidcoast.

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