The Maranacook and Yarmouth boys soccer teams will meet in the B South championship game at Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams in Readfield for a second consecutive season, only this time students will be moved to designated areas after a row of bleachers was damaged in the showdown last season.
The teams will kick off at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Yarmouth earned a 3-2 double overtime victory in the regional final last season. Afterward, Maranacook officials learned a row of bleachers in which Yarmouth students were standing on was damaged during the emotional contest.
Yarmouth Athletic Director Susan Robbins said Tuesday the school paid about $300 in damages to Maranacook last spring and that some students were disciplined.
“We made repairs to Maranacook,” she said. “We sent them a check. There were apology letters. We weren’t happy because we want to be respectful everywhere we go. We ask our student-athletes to be respectful on the field and we want our fans to follow suit off it.”
Maranacook Athletic Director Al MacGregor said students wishing to stand will be moved to portable bleachers.
“Last year, it was not malicious,” MacGregor said. “They shouldn’t have stood on them, and when they were celebrating they bent them up. We have portable bleachers coming in — one for our student section and one for theirs. If they want to stand and shout, they can go down and do it there. If they want to go to the main bleachers they will have to sit. We just don’t want to damage them again.
Added Robbins: “I don’t anticipate any problems this year.”
The top-seeded Yarmouth girls are also in action Wednesday night, when it hosts No. 2 Greely in a regional final at 6.
“We are hosting the girls game so our fan base will be split,” Robbins said.
In other regional final action Wednesday, the second-seeded Waterville girls will play at No. 1 Hermon in a 5 p.m. game between two 16-0-0 clubs.
The Purple Panthers have allowed one goal in their last 10 games.
“We played Hermon in the preseason and have seen them once or twice since,” Waterville coach Mark Serdjenian said. “I think they are a lot like us in that play a possession game. It should be a good matchup.”
Sophie Webb and Anika Elias have each scored more than 25 goals this season to lead Waterville.
“We’ve been playing really well so we just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Serdjenian said. “We’re going to have to be able to play the way we’ve played all season. We’ll need to up the intensity a little bit to play at highest level we can. I like our balance on the field. I like our defense. We are pretty solid all over field.”
The Winslow boys (15-0-1) will play John Bapst (15-1-0) at 2 p.m. on the University of Maine at Orono campus.
The teams did not play in the regular season.
“We don’t know what to expect,” John Bapst coach Pete McDonnell said. “We don’t know much about Winslow. I’ve never watched them and we never played them. But if we do our job correctly we should be OK. Any team that goes unbeaten is going to be a real test. We have to respect them for sure. We’ll have to see what they are made of in the first 10 minutes. We’ll know pretty quick what kind of pressure they bring.”
Senior striker Alvara Valls leads the Crusaders with 25 goals while Paul Branch has 15.
Winslow coach Aaron Wolfe said the Black Raiders will try and make the Crusaders adjust.
“That’s what we want to do,” he said. “We want the other team to adjust. If we have to make adjustments, we will.”
Jake Warn has four goals in the playoffs for Winslow.
“He has shown an extra level of play,” said. “He’s definitely shown up these last two games, which is nice.”
In Class C South, the No. 2 Madison girls (15-1-0) will host No. 5 Waynflete (9-4-2) at 2 p.m. The No. 1 Monmouth boys (13-1-2) will host No. 3 Lisbon (10-3-3), also at 2 p.m. The teams met Sept. 15 with the Mustangs earning a 2-1 victory.
The Richmond girls (14-1-0) will host surprising Searsport (7-9-0) in the D South final at 2 p.m. An hour later, the Richmond boys (15-1-0) will host Greenville (10-5-1).
Bill Stewart — 621-5618
bstewart@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @billstewartMTM
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