The Mt. Abram boys soccer team spent much of Wednesday afternoon prepping for its showdown with Waynflete in a Class C South semifinal game Friday.
Part of the practice in Strong also included shoveling snow off its field.
Indeed, it’s that time of year for Mt. Abram (15-0-0), the top seed in C South. The Roadrunners and No. 4 Flyers (8-5-2) will kick off at 5 p.m. Friday in Strong.
“We didn’t have to shovel too much, our maintenance department kind of got out there with a tractor (to move it),” Mt. Abram coach Darren Allen said. “I kind of wanted to put a snow bank up for when (Waynflete, of Portland) shows up on Friday, but I don’t think it’s going to stick around; it’ll probably melt.”
Allen added that Mt. Abram has a true home field advantage.
“We were actually talking about (having the game) on an alternative pitch, and I was like, ‘no, no, no,” he said. “We want the home field, we can play on that. We can play on turf, we’re fine with turf, we can do both. Our field plays like turf. … You don’t want to come (to Mt. Abram), because you have to deal with our elements, you have to deal with our crowd, and we have a huge crowd to support us. You get off that bus and look at that mountain and go, ‘where am I?’ That really has an effect on some teams; they really hate coming here, just because of the atmosphere and travel. It is a huge advantage for us. It creates an atmosphere we like.”
The high school soccer season, like many other fall sports, had its playoffs interrupted after the mass shooting in Lewiston on Oct. 25. Many teams returned to the pitch this week, with an abundance of regional semifinal games.
In the eight-person boys tournament, Carrabec (16-0-0) gets a breather until the regional final Nov. 7 in Biddeford. The No. 1 Cobras beat No. 5 Rangeley 5-0 in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Madison is the No. 1 seed in the eight-person girls tournament and will also play in the regional final after it beat No. 4 Carrabec 8-0 in a semifinal game Tuesday.
Lisbon’s Gerek Theriault, left, and Mt. Abram’s Sam Cockerham go for control of the ball during a Sept. 14 game in Lisbon. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
“We’re excited,” said Madison head coach Kayla Carrier. “This new format, the new eight-person (division) is really giving us an opportunity to compete with teams and create an even playing field, and we haven’t had that in a couple of years.”
The Bulldogs have had a dynamic offense, led by junior Raegan Cowan, who has 52 goals.
“We have the benefit of having Raegan up front, who is a very speedy, quick little kid and she has a lot of skill,” Carrier said. “But one of the things that sets teams apart in 8-man is your defensive line. If you run a 3-3-1, like we’ve been doing, that puts 1-on-1 pressure up top.”
In Class C North, the No. 6 Mount View boys (11-4-0) will make the four-hour trip north from Thorndike to play No. 2 Fort Kent (12-2-1).
“We expect to be here, we’ve built a pretty good feeder program coming up,” said first-year head coach Burn Ferris. “But we’re young. When we started this season, we had two seniors on our roster… Our core group is solid. … They work extremely hard and we play very well together as a team. (Senior) Noah Hurd is a stud, but we have a good, solid team and we play as a team.”
In Class B North, the third-seeded Winslow boys (12-2-1) will carry a 12-game win streak into its showdown Thursday with No. 2 Ellsworth (12-2-1). The Black Raiders avoided a bit of a scare in the quarterfinal round, beating No. 6 Caribou 4-2. The teams were tied 2-2 midway through the second half before the Black Raiders pulled away with goals by Braden Rodrigue and Carter Calvo.
Maranacook’s Phoebe Bell and Natalie Mohlar hug after Bell scored to put the Black Bears up 2-1 against Monmouth/Winthrop during a girls soccer game on Sept. 12 game in Monmouth. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“(Ellsworth) has a strong mix of all-conference players at every level,” Winslow head coach Aaron Wolfe said. “That’s always going to make a team very hard to beat, because they’ve got a great player in the middle, an excellent center back, and an excellent top-notch scorer… They’re a very tough team, and it’s going to take a very good game to beat them.”
In Class D South boys action, No. 1 Richmond (14-1-0) hosts No. 5 Isleboro (9-5-1). The Bobcats are on a roll, not having lost since a 3-0 decision to Monmouth Academy on Sept. 8.
A pair of central Maine girls teams remain in the Class C South tournament. No. 2 Maranacook (14-0-1) will face No. 3 Waynflete (10-5-0) at Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams in Readfield on Thursday night. The Black Bears (14-0-1) have allowed just four goals all season to go along with 11 shutouts. Their lone blemish was a 0-0 tie with Wells on Oct. 14.
“Waynflete is very good, they’ll be, if not the best team we’ve played, one of the best teams we’ve played,” Maranacook head coach Travis Magnusson said. “They’ve got really good, talented players. We played them in the regional final (last year); we won 2-0 and got a goal with a minute or two left (in the game) to make it 2-0. They have a lot back from last year. They really only lost one player that played a lot. It’ll be a great game, probably one of the marquee matchups in any class. It’s a tough task, but we’ll have to play our very best to be able to come away with a win.”
No. 4 Hall-Dale (11-4-0) is entering new territory, playing in a semifinal for the first time since 2014. The Bulldogs earned the trip with a 2-1 win over rival Monmouth/Winthrop in the quarterfinals. Hall-Dale will travel south on Friday to take on No. 1 North Yarmouth Academy (11-1-3).
In Class D South girls play, No. 2 Richmond (8-5-0) will host No. 3 Buckfield (9-5-0). The winner will face No. 1 St. Dominic (11-3-1) in the regional final. The Bobcats are looking to avenge two regular season losses to the Bucks, 5-1 on Sept. 21 and 2-1 on Oct. 16.
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