YARMOUTH — Adam LaBrie was asked if his team felt it had unfinished business from last year when the Clippers’ undefeated season came to an end in the regional final.
“Definitely,” said LaBrie, a senior striker on the Yarmouth boys’ soccer team. “We feel we got robbed last year and the year before that for that matter.”
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Robbed is a strong way to explain consecutive losses in the Western Class B final, but it indicates the wounds are still a source of motivation.
“We have that one goal, to win a state championship, and we don’t want to let it slide away like last year,” said senior midfielder/outside back Ben Vigue.
Added senior midfielder Connor Lainey: “Being on the team the past four years and doing so well the past years, when you get kicked out of the tournament it just makes you want it so much more.”
Yarmouth enters the playoffs this season as the top seed in Western B for the third straight year. In the previous two seasons, the Clippers lost the regional final at home to a team it had beaten and tied in two regular-season meetings.
A year ago the Clippers took a 13-0-3 record to the Western final and lost to Greely 2-1. Yarmouth took a 1-0 lead in the first 90 seconds and had several opportunities to pad its lead.
“We had our chances. I think they saved a couple off the back line,” Lainey said. “But we weren’t really clicking. We all had off games and it was the wrong time to have one.”
In 2012, Falmouth beat the top-ranked Clippers 2-0.
Yarmouth (10-2-2) opens the 2014 playoffs Tuesday at home against No. 8 Fryeburg Academy (6-6-3). The winner will meet No. 5 Lincoln Academy or No. 4 Gray-New Gloucester in the regional semifinals.
But the teams the Clippers really have their eyes on are the familiar foes from the top tier of the Western Maine Conference: Greely and Cape Elizabeth, and darkhorse York.
Falmouth, which won nine Class B state titles between 2000-2012, is in its second season playing in the Class A tournament. Yarmouth won the other four titles in that span.
But the Clippers won their last state title in 2010, when current starters LaBrie, Vigue, Lainey, goalkeeper Alex Lyon and back Garrett Flanagan were eighth-graders.
Veteran Coach Mike Hagerty knew this year’s team might need some time to come together after graduating a strong senior class.
Key injuries also slowed the process, particularly when Vigue missed several games with a broken toe. While Vigue was recovering, Yarmouth lost to Falmouth 5-2 and played to ties against York and Class C contender Waynflete.
But the Clippers played some of their best soccer at the end of the regular season. They beat longtime nemesis Greely 1-0 and Falmouth 3-0. In the regular-season finale against Falmouth, on a miserable, rainy and windy day, LaBrie (18 goals) displayed his refined finishing abilities and score all three goals.
“They did everything well. They’re just a good team,” Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan said. “They’re one of the best teams in the state.”
Hagerty said it wasn’t until recently that he “found the right mix of kids in the right spots.
“(Vigue) missed a two-and-half week stretch and he’s kind of the glue that binds us, his enthusiasm, his energy, his focus. He does a lot of the dirty work. Offensively and defensively Ben is probably our best communicator and with him there, he just makes other people better.”
One tweak Hagerty made late in the season was moving high-energy junior Patrick Grant to the forward spot as a running mate for LaBrie. While Grant may not have his teammate’s scoring touch, he brings constant effort, makes strong runs and has the ability to pester defenders into mistakes.
When Yarmouth is playing well, it keeps the ball on the ground, closes space on defense, and uses its skill to move the ball both up the wings and side-to-side always with an eye toward springing LaBrie. Defender Walter Conrad adds a physical presence in the back and a dangerous weapon on long-range set pieces.
“What this team has (is) a lot more team chemistry,” Vigue said. “We’re all closer, more friendly than it used to be. It’s more fun and we all push each other. We all want the same goal and we’re all working for the same common goal.”
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