The undefeated and top-ranked Scarborough High boys soccer team heads to the post-season fresh off a convincing 3-0 win against a good Deering squad last Thursday that concluded the regular season.
The Red Storm used first half goals from Ian Philbrick and Trevor Hoxsie to gain a 2-0 advantage at the break and Philbrick added another score in the early moments of the second half to secure the victory.
“The guys have worked really hard,” said Scarborough coach Mark Diaz. “We lost a lot of talented players from last year and these guys have stepped up.”
Scarborough goalkeeper Adam Blanchard played well making four stops including one particular save midway through the first half where he leapt high in the air to tip away a Deering scoring chance.
“I though that was a quality shot and that save gave us some confidence,” said Diaz about the play of his junior keeper.
The Red Storm is now 13-0-1 on the season and they await the winner of the Westbrook-Thornton prelim in Western Maine Class A tournament play. Scarborough defeated the eighth-seeded Blazes by a 2-1 score back on Sept. 22 and they earned a 1-1 tie at Thornton on Sept. 12.
“We have to keep being unselfish – that’s been key for us this year,” Diaz said about what his club needs to continue doing. “We need to be better in the air with our heading and we need to shoot better, too.”
Last year, Scarborough entered the regional tourney as the No. 2 seed and they marched through the playoffs with wins over Bonny Eagle and Cape Elizabeth along with a regional final win over Westbrook.
South Portland (6-6-2) also qualified for the post-season. The No. 10 Red Riots were scheduled to play at No. 7 Kennebunk (10-4) on Tuesday evening with the winner scheduled to play at No. 2 Gorham (12-2) on Friday.
The Riots did not play Kennebunk during the regular season, but they’re an athletic team that played every opponent tough this year. They dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to Scarborough on Oct. 9, and they also battled with Gorham before falling by a 3-1 margin on Sept. 7.
Cape Elizabeth (9-2-3) is the fourth-seeded team in the West A standings meaning the Capers get a bye into the quarterfinals where they’ll face the winner of the Greely-Windham prelim. The Rangers (10-3-1) are seeded No. 5 and the Eagles (6-7-1) are at No. 12. Cape is scheduled to host that quarterfinal on Friday.
Last year, the Capers entered the West A tourney as the No. 11 seed and they proceeded to knock off No. 6 Deering and No. 3 Greely before seeing their season end in the regional semifinals against Scarborough.
For more playoff news and results, see www.keepMEcurrent.com.
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