The ripple of emotion of Messalonskee’s return to the soccer pitch on Tuesday afternoon reached all the way to Bangor on Tuesday night, where the Messalonskee boys played one of the top teams in Eastern A to a 2-2 tie.
The Eagles were in Oakland to support the girls team as it hosted Bangor in its first game since the death of junior midfielder Cassidy Charette in a hayride accident Saturday in Mechanic Falls. Then they boarded a bus for their own game against a strong Bangor boys team.
The Rams, who lost former coach David Patterson to lung cancer over the summer, showed their support for their guests by presenting them with “Messalonskee Strong” T-shirts prior to the game. Then the Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Elija Tuell and Dylan Jones.
“They came out and played hard. They definitely were playing for our community and for Cassidy’s family, especially her younger brother Colby, who is on our JV team,” Messalonskee coach Tom Sheridan said. “I was impressed with the leadership our juniors and seniors showed.”
As the adrenaline and emotion subsided for the Eagles, the Rams rallied to tie the game.
“We had some kids coming off of injury. We’re not a very experienced team, with a lot of freshmen and sophomores in the mix. And with Bangor being a bigger, stronger and older team, they may have worn us down a little,” Sheridan said.
The tie provided some valuable Heal points for the Eagles. It boosted them out of the 8-9 spots in Eastern A to No. 7, which would mean a bye to the quarterfinals if they can maintain or improve upon that seeding. A loss two weeks ago to Mt. Blue, their closest pursuer in the Heals, still stings. But considering Tuell, the team’s leading scorer, and starting goalkeeper Jonah Webb both missed time during the season, Sheridan said he was pleased with where his team stood as it approached the final two games of the regular season.
The Eagles hosted undefeated Lewiston on Thursday and conclude the regular season on Tuesday at Lawrence.
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Nokomis girls coach Gary Sinclair knew at least part of what lay in store for his Warriors as soon as 11 seniors on last year’s team hung up their soccer jerseys for good.
“We knew we had a lot of young kids who were going to make mistakes, and they have,” Sinclair said.
But Sinclair’s Warriors have also virtually assured themselves a spot in the Eastern B playoffs and shown flashes of excellence, such as hanging around with unbeaten Waterville in twin 4-0 losses.
“I think we’ve played Waterville tougher than anybody they played. Both games we played them, it was 0-0 10 minutes into the second half,” Sinclair said. “We’ve played Winslow tough, which would be our preliminary if the season ended today.”
Versatile junior forward Audrey Davis and sophomore midfielder Austin Taylor have been keys to the Warriors’ success, as has sophomore defender Elasah MacDonald, Sinclair said.
Nokomis (6-6-0) still has plenty of room to improve, particularly in front of the net. The Warriors have been shut out in all six of their losses.
“We can’t finish,” Sinclair said. “Right now, it’s probably because we’re so young. The ball is in the right spot. There’s just no one there to put it in the net, and the teams with more experience are beating us to it.”
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The Erskine girls have needed every sliver of the considerable depth they brought into the season.
The Eagles have lost five players, including four starters, either for the season or a large chunk of the schedule due to various injuries. The maladies have taken their toll, as the Eagles are 3-2-3 since their 4-0 start.
Yet, they still find themselves in solid position for a home preliminary game because they not only have strength in numbers but flexibility.
“One thing I’ve been blessed with is depth. And I have a lot of soccer players this year,” Nored said. “When I’ve had to plug kids into new positions, it’s like half a practice and they’ve got it. Even more impressive is their willingness to do it.”
The injury bug has bitten the Eagles virtually everywhere on the field, including promising freshman midfielder Kayla Hubbard, junior midfielder Celina Nadeau, and backup goalkeeper Danessia Ewen. But the loss that may have most impacted the team was that of senior defender Stephanie Doe, who injured her knee in a Sept. 26 tie with Morse.
“Before she got hurt, we were 6-1 and had given up four goals all year — three against Camden Hills and one penalty kick to Medomak,” Nored said. “We’ve given up two every game since Doe went down (until Tuesday).”
The return of junior stopper Megan Dunn in Tuesday’s 7-0 win over Medomak Valley should bolster the defense. Nored also expects further reinforcements to be ready once the playoffs start next week.
No matter the impact those reinforcements have, Nored said his team has already proven itself this season.
“I’m not surprised they’ve battled through this,” he said. “My girls are fighters. They’re not going to quit on anything.”
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The Oak Hill girls ended their season Wednesday with a 3-1 win over Boothbay but without attaining its goal of securing a playoff spot in Western B. This despite posting a 6-7-1 record that is better than many of the teams who are headed to the playoffs will be sporting.
One of the reasons the Raiders are on the outside looking in is they are the only Class B team in the Mountain Valley Conference. Victories over their Class C conference foes are worth less Heal points than the other teams in Western B, which play in the Western Maine and Kennebec Valley Athletic conferences, typically receive in their wins against Class B-laden leagues. Last year, the Raiders missed out on the playoffs despite an 8-5-1 record.
But Oak Hill coach Nicole Camire is also kicking herself for not acting earlier on some defensive adjustments that were key to it going to 4-0-1 in its last five games, starting with a 2-2 tie with Wiscasset.
“We brought our goal-scoring forward, Hannah Nadeau, to defense. We moved Toni Hart from sweeper to stopper and Brooke Depuy to sweeper,” Camire said. “It gave us more speed and, with Hannah, a lot better ball control and anticipation. And Brooke was a rock, just communicating and seeing the field a lot better.”
Camire hopes the adjustments and the confidence deriving from a strong finish could pay next year. Hart is a senior, one of four the Raiders will graduate. But Depuy is a junior and Nadeau a sophomore, part of a big nucleus of underclassmen.
“We have a lot of sophomores,” Camire said.
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638
rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @RAWmaterical33
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