Appropriately enough, there were no losers Tuesday night as some of Maine’s best soccer players got together for a pair of all-star games at Westbrook High School.
The games, which featured just-graduated high school seniors from the SMAA and Western Maine conferences, ended in ties. The women opened the competition and battled to a 2-2 finish. The men followed and tied 3-3.
There were plenty of winners, however, with proceeds from the contests going to benefit the Special Olympics.
The drama of the night wasn’t over until Scarborough goal keeper Joe Withee made the last of several outstanding saves in the final minute of the second game. Westbrook’s Andy Wight scored the tying goal for the SMAA men with less than 19 minutes on the clock, keying a comeback.
Earlier in the second half, the Western Maine men tied things up 2-2 when Yarmouth’s Brandon Neal assisted on Wells’ Sam Lindauer’s goal. Moments later Lindauer returned the favor and assisted on Neal’s goal, which gave WMC the lead. Neal had given his team a 2-1 lead, scoring unassisted on a very long shot in the final minute of the first half.
Westbrook’s Kyle Shangraw started the scoring in the men’s competition, scoring on a grounder that glanced off the right post with 22:20 left in period one. Less than five minutes later Shangraw took a beautiful feed from Scarborough’s Peter McHugh and scored the game’s second goal.
“I loved it,” said McHugh about his all-star experience. “It was great, being surrounded by all this talent.
“I had to shake the rust off my shoes,” he added. “But I’ve been trying to play a little bit.”
McHugh, off to Syracuse and engineering classes, won’t be playing soccer at the college level, so, like many of the players, it was his last try at this level.
Withee (who is headed for St. Joseph’s College) and McHugh were joined on the team by Scarborough teammate Tegan Udeh, who will also attend Syracuse.
South Portland’s Justin Collett and Courtney Albin, who scored her team’s first goal, also contributed outstanding play for their SMAA teams.
Goalie Derek Baillie and Brett Brown, both from Cape Elizabeth, were defensive forces for the Western Maine men and Cape’s Ali Mehlsak was a force for the WMC women.
In the women’s game, Gorham’s Ashley Wingert (Western Maine) started the scoring on an assist by St. Dominics’ Rachel Nadeau with 18:45 left in the first half.
But the SMAA women came back before halftime, Albin scoring unassisted less than a minute later. And, with 10:41 on the clock, Windham’s Kayla Stewart punched in a high lob over the head of the keeper after taking a pass from Sanford’s Alycia Laferte.
Western Maine tied it on Sarah Murchie’s goal with just under five minutes left in the game, drilling the ball into the net on a very extreme angle from the right side, assist going to McAuley’s Jessye Perkins.
“It was fun,” said Albin of her early goal. “But I didn’t realize how out of shape I was.”
Wingert said she was set up well by Nadeau.
“I got a good touch and it went in,” she said. “I was lucky.”
The Gorham star added, “It was nice we tied. It showed we were really evenly matched.
Gorham teammate Shannon Martin said she hadn’t been playing soccer much recently, but said the experience, “was awesome.”
“I hadn’t really touched a ball lately,” said Martin, who will be playing at the University of Southern Maine this fall. “And it’s always hard playing with a team you don’t know. It was definitely different than a high school game. Fighting for a ball, you get hit a few times instead of just once.”
Gorham coaches Tim King helped coach the Western Maine men and Jeanne Zarilli helped direct the Western Maine women. And Gorham’s Andrew Robitaille helped give the WMC men some much needed speed down the sidelines.
“It was really fun coaching kids from opposing teams and getting to know them on a different level,” said Zarrilli. “This was like a dream team. These are really nice kids and it was fun to put them out there. They were really cooperative.”
Windham’s Stewart, who said she would like to start up an intramural soccer team at Orono when she studies Biochemistry at the University of Maine this fall (“I hear they don’t have one,” she said) was thrilled to get her goal.
“I usually played defense, so it was exciting to get some of the glory,” Stewart said. “One of the other girls got it to me and I wasn’t expecting it, but I got a foot on it. I got a little lucky, but I’ll take what I can get.”
Also contributing skills to the all-star event were Windham’s Laura DiBiase and Nicholas Diamon and Bonny Eagle’s Zachary Lurvey and Amanda Rumpf.
“It’s just a pleasure to be here with all these kids, all these all stars,” Lurvey said. “And the tie…I guess that’s the way it should have been.”
Making the all-stars from Thornton Academy were Shawn Paquette, on the SMAA men’s team, and Katie Leighton and Maria Arabatzis, for the SMAA women.
“It was fun being able to play with all the top players from the other schools,” Leighton said. “I’ve been in a summer league, so I’ve been playing once or twice a week.”
Arabatzis added, “it was fun, and it was hard,” noting that the collected talent helped to bring out the best in everyone. “And I made a lot friends,” she said.
Westbrook’s Rosie Perkins, who will play at Stonehill this fall, made the SMAA women’s team to play one last time on her home field. And Shangraw and Wight were joined on the men’s team by teammate Anthony Jenson.
Gillis said it was a pleasure having all of the Blue Blazes perform well.
“It was a joy,” said Westbrook boys coach Tim Gillis, who teamed with Cheverus coach Jeff Laniewski to direct the SMAA men’s team.
“Normally I’m coaching against Laniewski, and he’s usually outsmarting me. So it was fun to work with him, find out what he’s got in his bag of tricks.”
Shangraw was among those players perhaps best prepared for Tuesday’s contest. He just returned from Holland, where his Premier team fared well in the soccer-rich culture of Western Europe.
“It’s kind of an easy game here compared to over there,” said Shangraw, who will play at Bryant Junior College. “Over there they play hard and rough.”
Wight, who reports to practice at Merrimack College Sept. 4, said he was pleased getting one last chance to play with his high school counterparts.
“It’s so much fun, playing with all the guys you played with during the season,” Wight said. “Bringing them all together here, it was a good time.”
Said Perkins, “I was excited to find out we’d be playing here. I played with most of these girls since I was little, so it was fun to see them again and learn where everyone is going.”
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