NORTH YARMOUTH—Jacob Chadbourne – just a freshman – put up Lake Region’s lone notch when the Lakers dropped in to fend for their soccer lives at NYA on Saturday morning, Oct. 19. The Panthers, though, managed two goals in the outing, upending LRHS and effectively quashing their hopes of earning a playoffs berth.

“We definitely did not play to our standards today,” Lake Region head coach Ryan Harlow said. “We’ve been playing really well all year.”

Following the defeat, No. 12 Lake Region had one game remaining on their regular-season schedule: a makeup bout at Fryeburg. Alas, the Lakers fell to the Raiders 2-1; that matchup took place at Fryeburg on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

LRHS thus concludes their 2019 at 2-8-4.

A 2-8-4 record may not appear to reflect Harlow’s statement that his boys have played well this autumn – but Lake Region sports a fairly young roster, and the program is still relatively early in its quest to break out of a multi-year slump.

Harlow reflected on the Lakers’ season. “This is definitely, by far, the best season we’ve had in over 10 years. We have two wins, seven losses and four ties. We’re getting there. A lot of those ties, we actually came from behind. In years past, we’ve never been able to do that.”

Chadbourne ushered LRHS out front early vs. the Panthers, scoring on a low laser.

“[Jacob] brought it down the right side and shot it, right outside the 18, and put it in,” Harlow said. “Good shot. We talked about it, before the game, that it looked like their goalie was struggling to stay low, and [Jacob] went low. And got it.”

As the first half wore on, though, NYA seized control of the action and began to weigh heavily on the Lakers’ holy ground. Around 20 minutes, Chas Rohde fed a right-to-left cross ball for John Byrne; Rohde’s pass flew a bit too high for Byrne to get a head on, but the Panthers clearly were not fooling around.

NYA earned back-to-back-back sideline possessions deep in Lake Region’s zone with 10 minutes to go, but the Lakers defense stood stalwart. Christian Atwood looked sharp for LRHS in the melee, rising above the crowd multiple times to header the ball away.

Lake Region stabbed upfield for a quick attack with roughly seven minutes remaining before the break; Jason Harlow pulled the trigger on a shot for the team, but Harlow’s ball proved an easy grab for NYA netminder Alex Saul.

With 5:52 to go, the Panthers recorded their initial strike. A throw-in by the team at the left side flopped around briefly before Rohde got a toe on it to tuck it past LRHS keeper Logan Davis.

1-1 at intermission.

Just about five and a half minutes into the downhill half, NYA inched ahead. Rohde won a tangled footrace with Lakers defender Thomas Kolofsky, then somehow tumbled behind Davis as Davis jumped out to confront him. Rohde needed only tap home the ball (which he did).

Lake Region pushed back as the minutes elapsed, generating better offensive pressure for longer stretches. Primarily, desperation drove them.

“We didn’t really make any adjustments,” Coach Harlow said, asked what changed about his boys’ play from one half to the next. “Basically, this is our playoff lives right now. We had to make that push in order to make playoffs. This is the game we had to win.”

Unfortunately, the Lakers couldn’t find the back of the NYA net a second time. Chadbourne came, perhaps, closest to scoring for LRHS – he came within spitting distance of scoring his second of the day. With six minutes left, Chadbourne powered toward Saul, wanting to capitalize on an incoming feed. The timing of the pass was just a skosh off, however, and Saul arrived first at the ball.

In the end, the Lakers failed to churn up enough such opportunities, or to convert on those they did create.

“We weren’t passing,” Harlow said, asked what his boys needed to do as the clock wound down and their soccer lives hung in the balance. “That’s a struggle we’ve been dealing with all year, is one guy trying to beat 11 guys. Can’t do that.”

2-1 the final.

“Christian Attwood, he played excellent today,” Harlow said, asked who played well. “Thomas Kolofsky did really well, was winning balls.”

Like Atwood, Kolofsky primarily defends. “Our defense is definitely our strongest,” Harlow said.

Logan Parsons and Giovani Lopez were also notable presences for the Lakers. Parsons defends, while Lopez mans the midfield.

 

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