WINSLOW — Entering the season, there was a lot of talk about what the Winslow boys soccer team had lost.
After graduating 12 players from a team that went 18-1 and won the B North title, Winslow was left with a trimmed-down roster this fall. Yet for all of the talent that had moved on, there was still quite a bit that remained — including Andrew Poulin.
Poulin, a senior, is enjoying an all-time great season for a Winslow team that hasn’t skipped a beat in maintaining its status as one of the elite teams in Class B North. He’s scored a program-record 46 goals this season and, more recently, reached an impressive 100 for his career.
“It’s been a pretty special year, for sure,” Poulin said Tuesday after his team closed out a 13-0-1 regular season with a 3-0 victory over rival Waterville. “Breaking the records and having all the success we’ve had as a team, it’s been a lot of fun.”
The Black Raiders will enter the B North playoffs as the No. 2 seed, behind No. 1 John Bapst (13-0-1). The Heal points were finalized Thursday. Other central Maine boys teams to earn high seeds include: Erskine Academy (7-3-4, No. 4 in Class B South), Mt. Abram (13-1, No. 2 in C South), Monmouth Academy (11-2-1, No. 3 in C South), Maranacook (9-3-2, No. 4 in C South) and Richmond (10-3-1, No. 4 in D South).
On the girls side, Mt. Blue (11-2-1, No. 4 in Class A North) and Waterville (10-3-1, No. 4 in Class B North) are among the top-seeded teams in Maine’s two larger classes. Hall-Dale and Maranacook are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in Class C South, with records of 14-0 and 13-0-1, respectively. Richmond (10-4-0) is also seeded in D South.
The upcoming playoffs will also present Poulin with a chance to make another piece of history: Maine’s single-season scoring record. Should Winslow continue to win games, he’ll have a great shot at breaking the current mark of 52 goals set by Sumner’s Damon Warren in 2018.
Winslow senior Andrew Poulin takes a shot on goal past Waterville defender Theodore Ruehsen during the first half of a boys soccer game Tuesday at Thomas College in Waterville. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
“We have a good team with insane chemistry; we’ve been playing soccer together for like eight years,” Poulin said. “I’m glad to be playing with these boys. Hopefully, we keep on winning, and I’ll be able to get a few more.”
Poulin has scored the lion’s share of goals for Winslow this year, with his 46 making up more than half of the Black Raiders’ 84 goals on the year. He’s scored in every game this season, including tallies of seven goals Sept. 20 against Belfast, six on Sept. 29 against Nokomis and five on Oct. 7 against Lawrence.
The records, then, have been coming left and right for Poulin. On Sept. 24, he scored his 72nd career goal to become Winslow’s all-time leading scorer; on Oct. 4, he scored his 34th of the season to break the record of 33 he himself set as a junior a year ago.
Neither of those achievements, though, meant nearly as much to Poulin as scoring No. 100 last week against Oceanside did. The senior scored four goals in the Black Raiders’ 7-0 victory over the Mariners, the last of which put him in elite company as one of just nine Maine boys high school soccer players to reach the triple-digit mark.
“It felt so good, especially knowing that I put in all that hard work and finally got there,” said Poulin, who is now at 101 career goals after adding another in a victory over Waterville. “That was my goal this season, to get to that mark, and I finally did it.”
Given his prolific scoring rate, opposing teams frequently devote multiple defenders to Poulin in attempts to keep the senior at bay. Yet those efforts frequently go in vain as the quick, physical forward uses his pace and deceptiveness to beat offside traps and sprint past double-team attempts.
Winslow senior Andrew Poulin fires a shot on goal as Waterville defender Theodore Ruehsen closes in during the first half of a boys soccer game Tuesday at Thomas College in Waterville. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Even in the rare instances in which Poulin isn’t scoring goals, he’s still making a major impact on the game. Poulin is also gifted as a distributor with 11 assists on the season and 44 for his career, and the double- and triple-teams he draws from opponents free up space for Winslow’s other players to score.
“That’s one of the things that having him is able to do for us,” said Winslow head coach Aaron Wolfe. “With how good he is, it’s going to take a lot from other teams to try and stop him, but if they put too much attention on him, it’s going to free up some of our other players.”
By the time the year ends, there’s a chance that half of Poulin’s career goals will have come in his senior season alone. Although Poulin has been a strong player throughout his Winslow career, there’s no doubt that his final year with the Black Raiders has been his finest.
“I put a lot of work into the offseason to make improvements to my game,” Poulin said. “I’ve done a lot of things like speed training, and I’ve also worked on my finishing around the net. We’ve got a lot of good soccer players; the boys find me, and I score.”
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
