Maranacook senior striker Emily Harper tries to get around Bucksport defender Alyx Frazell during the Class C state title game Nov. 6 at Presque Isle Middle School. Mike Mandell/Mount Desert Islander
There was one more step the Maranacook girls soccer team needed to take.
The Black Bears had established themselves as a leading program in Class C, but they missed the Gold Ball to make it official. They reached the Class C final in 2018, and fell a game shy of the championship game in 2019.
This fall, though, Maranacook finished the job. The Black Bears defeated Bucksport 5-0 to win the first state championship in program history.
“That cemented us as (being) the best Class C program in the last four years,” Maranacook coach Travis Magnusson said. “Winning the state championship and doing it the way we did, we’ve been the dominant Class C program over the last four years. That speaks a lot to us, too, and it makes us proud. It wasn’t just a one-year thing.”
Maranacook’s championship run was the top headline from the girls soccer season in the area, a season that saw teams able to play again for state championships after missing that opportunity in the COVID-compromised 2020 season.
Messalonskee’s Camdyn Lamarre (5) tries to get around Mt. Ararat’s Morgan Ruff (2) during a Class A North girls soccer quarterfinal Oct. 27 in Topsham. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Players spoke often in 2020 about how happy they were to be playing at all, given fall sports’ up-in-the-air status throughout the summer preceding it. But the return of normal postseason goals this time around, they said, made all the difference.
“Last year we had the COVID Cup, but that wasn’t something to look forward to like a state game or playoff games,” Monmouth/Winthrop senior forward Megan Ham said during the preseason. “It makes it a lot more exciting, in that there’s a lot more competition now, because I like to win. I like that competition from other teams that we don’t usually get to play.”
Speaking after her team’s championship victory, Maranacook senior Ella Delisle said it was important for a team she knew from the start would be special to get that chance to prove it in a full postseason tournament.
“We were all super excited to get a playoff run,” she said. “Especially for our senior year, to get to be able to go to another state game.”
No team in the area went further in that tournament than Maranacook. Featuring a deep roster powered by top scorer Emily Harper, the Black Bears finished 16-1-1 and saved their most impressive performance for the end.
Waynflete’s Emily Girard, left, and Hall-Dale’s Marie Benoit go for a ball during a Class C South girls soccer quarterfinal game Oct. 28 at Don Roux Field in Lewiston. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“It’s very rewarding,” Delisle said. “We worked so hard the last four years to get to this point. To finally finish with that season, that outcome, feels really rewarding. We’re all still on a high.”
The Black Bears weren’t the only team to find success. In Class A, Messalonskee went 7-5-2 and went to the A North semifinals, falling eventually to No. 1 seed Bangor 2-0. Seeded fifth, the Eagles upset No. 4 Mt. Ararat to reach the semifinal, getting two goals from Emma Parsons and another from Natalie Tracy. Mt. Blue earned the sixth seed and defeatedNo. 11 Skowhegan before falling to eventual regional champion Brunswick 4-0.
Class B featured a strong regular season from Erskine, which went 10-3-1 and, led by two Mackenzie Roderick goals, beat Lincoln Academy 3-0 before falling to York 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the competitive Southern region. In the North region, Winslow and Waterville earned fourth and fifth seeds for the tournament, while No. 8 Nokomis reached the quarterfinals after defeating No. 9 Cony 2-1 on the strength of two Jordyn Condon goals.
Joining Maranacook among teams having success in Class C were Hall-Dale, which went 11-1-0 during the regular season en route to the No. 1 seed, and Oak Hill, which got the No. 2 seed with a 12-0-0 mark. Monmouth/Winthrop earned the fifth seed and defeated No. 12 Boothbay/Wiscasset in the opening round before falling to eventual South runner-up Traip. MCI got the third seed in the North and beat Piscataquis and Mattanawcook by 5-0 scores before falling to Fort Kent 3-2 in the regional semis.
In D South, Rangeley got the second seed and earned victories over Buckfield (2-1) and Greenville (7-0) before falling to North Yarmouth Academy in the regional final. Richmond, the fourth seed, got a win over Temple Academy before losing to NYA in the semis.
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