The Patriots have a lot to be proud of, following autumn sports.
Consider Mark Renna’s football squad, which until the first game of 2015 hadn’t won since the current crop of seniors were freshmen. That all changed on Sept. 4, however, when Gray-New Gloucester edged past Mountain Valley, 44-37. The squad then turned in two more wins – 22-20 at Fryeburg and 36-0 vs. visiting Freeport – before plunging into a tough stretch of their schedule. They only pulled out one additional win before the end of the regular season, though it’s worth noting that they fell to an exceptional Cape Elizabeth team by the meager margin of 7-0.
The Patriots met the Capers again in the first round of the playoffs and had a bit less success against them the second time around, losing 33-16. Still, Renna & Co. no doubt will look back on 2015 as a huge positive.
Andy Higgins’s soccer boys also made a huge splash. The Patriots went 8-5-1 through the regular season, earning the five-seed for the playoffs. There, they pulled off overtime victories against No. 12 Lincoln (3-2 on PKs) and Mountain Valley (also 3-2) in the prelims and quarterfinals, respectively. For the semis, however, the team traveled to No. 1 Maranacook, where they couldn’t dig up much offense, ultimately falling 3-0.
Kiaran McCormack’s soccer girls split the regular season, finishing 6-6-2 to reach the bracketing ranked 11th. The Lady Patriots upset No. 6 Mountain Valley hugely in the prelims, blasting them 6-1, to earn a quarterfinals shot at No. 3 Cape. The Capers, though, got the better of G-NG, if only by a single point, 1-0.
Christa Roddy’s field hockey squad likewise went .500 through the regular season, finishing 7-7 and entering the playoffs at No. 8. These Lady Patriots ejected rivals Freeport, the nine-seed, in the prelims, 3-2 in double-OT, but succumbed 7-1 to No. 1 York (the eventual state champs) in the quarters.
Led by Ben Garcia, the G-NG boys cross-country lineup took seventh at Class B Regionals to just sneak into States, where they placed 12th.
Patriot Alexa Thayer slices into an off-angle shot low in Freeport’s zone.
Zack Haskell runs for the Patriots in a dominant, early-season performance against visiting Freeport.
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