The short and sweet 2020 fall sports season produced its first champions last weekend, part of a week that saw local athletes turn heads.

Here’s a glimpse:

Golf

After an abbreviated regular season, city golfers took part at the team and individual state meets Friday and Saturday at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro.

Waynflete’s George Fahey stole the show at the Class C match, shooting an 18-hole round of 74 to edge Kents Hill’s T.J. Folsom by a stroke to capture the title.

“I didn’t really drive the ball that great, but I got it in play when I needed to,” said Fahey, who was helped by four birdies, including three in a row on the fourth, fifth and sixth holes. “I was putting really well. I knew if I played well, I’d definitely have a pretty good chance, but I didn’t want to come in expecting to win.”

Teammate Ed Cox shot an 83 and tied for seventh.

At the Class A match, Portland’s Bennett Berg tied Scarborough’s Peter Malia for second individually with a round of 79, which left him two strokes shy of champion Andrew Klein of Greely. Deering’s Nick McGonagle (81) tied Colin Merritt of Edward Little and Parker Bate of Mt. Ararat for sixth place. Portland’s Cooper Bay (86) tied for 21st, while Cheverus’ Liam Allen (89) tied for 34th, Anthony Cloutier (92) tied for 42nd, Sam Clark (97) tied for 57th and teammate Nick Giancotti (108) came in 64th.

Boys’ soccer

On the pitch, two-time Class C champion Waynflete’s boys’ soccer team improved to 4-0 last Tuesday with a 4-0 home win over Cheverus. The game was scoreless at halftime, but the Flyers got second half goals from Henry Hart, Joey Ansel-Mullen, Aidan Kieffer and Owen Anderson as they beat the Stags in the teams’ first-ever countable meeting.

“It’s fun to play different teams,” said Ansel-Mullen. “It’s a new challenge. I wish we could go for a third (straight title), but these teams are down the road from us and they’re Class A and we can prove we’re not just a small C school, but that we’re a competitor that can play against any team on any day and get a result.”

“We were persistent and came out stronger for the second half,” Hart said. “We knew the goals would come eventually.”

“I knew (Cheverus would) be well-coached and organized,” added Waynflete coach Brandon Salway. “It was more about doing scouting during the game, rather than before the game. We figure out what the opponent does well and try to take it away from them. They made us earn it today.”

The Flyers aren’t scheduled to return to action until Monday of next week when they host Portland.

“Every game means a lot,” added Salway, who has 296 victories with the Flyers. “It’s great to compete and have a nice schedule and playing against tough teams makes it interesting.”

Cheverus was in the game at halftime, but just couldn’t find a way to generate any offense.

“Waynflete’s a good team and we’re a notch below them,” said Stags coach Bill LeBlanc. “They play hard and they’re well-coached, but I think we held our own. If we could have gotten a goal in the first half, it would have helped us. One mistake cost us, then they had the PK and it went downhill. It was a competitive game. It was good to play a different team.”

Cheverus then went to Deering last Thursday and fell to 1-3 after a 5-1 loss. The Stags went on top late in the first half on a penalty kick from Brady Cormier, but surrendered five second half goals.

“We played really well in the first half, but we’re just not mentally tough enough right now to play 80 minutes,” LeBlanc said. “We thought we were good, but they played better in the second half. They upped the intensity a little bit and we couldn’t handle it. We had some mental errors in the back and couldn’t handle it. We’re still trying to figure out in a short season how to play. We played a different formation and did it well for awhile, but we need to be better.”

Cheverus returns to action Saturday at home versus South Portland.

Deering, meanwhile, improved to 2-1 with its 5-1 home win over Cheverus. The Rams got things going when Carlos Adriano-Muaco tied it up, then did an inspirational flip in celebration.

“I was excited for the game,” said Adriano-Muaco, through his interpreter, sophomore Adilson Vidal. “I got the goal and that’s my signature celebration.”

Carlo DeMucci then scored consecutive goals to give Deering the lead and after Adriano-Muaco scored again, Muntasir Ahmed (who had three assists) tickled the twine as well to finish it off.

“We just need to have more communication in the back and all the way up the field,” said DeMucci. “We did a great job of that tonight.”

“A big problem our last few games has been energy,” said Rams coach Joel Costigan. “We’ve been on our heels. We’ve had great training sessions all week, so I just reminded the guys (at halftime) of that progress we’d made. They needed to motivate themselves and they did it. The captains rallied the guys and that translated in a big way. That’s one of our biggest wins in my 10 years, I think.”

Deering visited Portland Tuesday and welcomes Westbrook Friday, then goes to Westbrook Monday.

“We have some big games to come against some really good teams,” Costigan said. “We’ll use this momentum going forward. That will be important.”

Portland took a 2-1 mark into Tuesday’s home game against Deering after last week’s 2-0 victory at South Portland. Ben Hornstrega and Gabriel Panzo had the goals. The Bulldogs travel to Waynflete Monday of next week.

Girls’ soccer

Portland’s girls’ soccer team improved to 3-0 after a 4-1 home win over South Portland last Wednesday. Toni Stevenson scored two goals, while Ella Reagan and Eliza Stein added a goal apiece.

The Bulldogs were at Deering Monday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and go to Gorham Friday.

Deering took an 0-2-1 mark into Monday’s home game versus Portland. The Rams play at Westbrook Friday, then go to Cheverus Tuesday of next week.

Cheverus improved to 2-1 last week with a 3-0 home win over Waynflete. Olivia Bradford had two goals and Julia Kratzer scored the other. The Stags’ game at Gorham Friday was cancelled. They return to action Friday at South Portland.

Waynflete fell to 2-2-1 after its 3-0 home loss to Cheverus last week. The Flyers are back in action Oct. 23 at home versus North Yarmouth Academy.

Field hockey

Cheverus’ field hockey team blanked visiting Falmouth, 5-0, last Tuesday, then fell to 3-1 after a 1-0 setback at Gorham last Thursday. In the victory, Lucia Pompeo had two goals, while Lily Johnson, Taylor Krieger and Taylor Tory each scored once. The Stags welcome Scarborough Wednesday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and visit Westbrook Tuesday of next week.

Portland/Deering lost at home to Westbrook (5-0) and at Cape Elizabeth (8-0) last week to fall to 0-3. Elle Burdin made 26 saves against the Blue Blazes. Portland/Deering sought its first victory Tuesday at South Portland, then visits Scarborough Friday and plays host to Falmouth Tuesday of next week.

Cross country

Last week’s cross country action saw Cheverus’ girls edge Portland in a close two-team meet. The Stags had the top individual in Annabelle Brooks (20 minutes, 5.7 seconds), while the Bulldogs were paced by runner-up Alyssa Sigfridson (21:10.90). Portland’s boys defeated Cheverus, as Daniel Niles (18:12.50) came in first. The top Stags’ runner was Anthony Zerillo (third, 19:10).

Deering’s boys beat Falmouth, as Alexey Seredin came in first individually (17:59). In the girls’ meet, the Rams also came in first, as Megan Cunningham was the fastest individual (21:07).

Morning Sentinel staff writer Drew Bonifant contributed to this story.

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

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