The captains of the Greely girls’ soccer team receive the Class B South runner-up plaque after losing, 3-1, to Yarmouth last week.
Greely’s girls’ soccer team had no peer in 2015.
But this fall, there was one squad better than the Rangers and that team, eventual state champion Yarmouth (see story), proved to be too tough in last week’s Class B South Final.
Greely lost some of last year’s key contributors to graduation, but remained very competitive this season, winning 10 times in 14 games to finish second in the region.
The Rangers advanced by defeating No. 7 Freeport, 3-1, in the quarterfinals and No. 3 York, 4-0, in the semifinals.
Greely had lost both regular season meetings against Yarmouth, falling at home, 4-1, Oct. 1 and 1-0 on the road Oct. 17.
The Rangers won the lone prior playoff encounter, a 2-1 decision in last year’s semifinals.
This time around, Cory Langenbach scored on rebound to give the Clippers an early 1-0 lead and Katie Clemmer headed home a Langenbach corner kick to double the lead before halftime.
Greely did get on the board late in the half when Courtney Sullivan scored on a rebound, but Yarmouth got some breathing room in the second half on Langenbach’s second goal and went on to a 3-1 victory.
“There’s no doubt they were the better team and deserved to win,” said Rangers coach Josh Muscadin. “I think we had some nerves. They jumped on us early and my defense went to sleep in the first half.”
Greely finished the season 12-5 after reaching the regional final for the fourth straight year (the program record is five straight appearances between 1990-94).
“Overall, it was a very good season,” Muscadin said. “Going to the regional final four years in a row says a lot about the program. The girls give me everything they have. I’m proud of each and every one of them.”
The program will graduate Ellie Schad, Jennie Smith and Riley Soule, but everyone else is due to return and that means that the 2017 Rangers will probably make another deep postseason run.
“We learned a lot this season and it’s back to the drawing board,” said Muscadin. “We had a lot of freshmen play a lot and they learned a lot. That will help us immensely. Before you win, sometimes you have to taste sour grapes. I have no doubt we’ll be back.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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