Most area high school teams have played around one-third of their season so far, and several squads have begun to show where they might end up as the season progresses.
A lot can happen between now and the end of October, when the games become tougher, the warm, humid summer temperatures begin to shift into jacket weather and the inevitable white stuff that most of us dread, leading us into the postseason.
Here is a look at a few of our local squads:
Golf
What a turnaround at Morse.
After Monday’s 8.5-0.5 victory over Belfast, the Shipbuilders completed a perfect 10-0 season, good for the No. 1 seed in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference’s Class B region.
First-year coach Mike Dutton has the squad believing.
Morse hosts a semifinal on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Bath Golf Club, and if victorious, heads to the KVAC shootout.
Over at Mt. Ararat, longtime teacher Gerry Caron had high expectations for his Eagles, and so far the squad hasn’t disapppointed.
Led by junior Caleb Manuel and senior Cade Charron, Mt. Ararat is 9-0 heading into this afternoon’s finale at Camden Hills. The Eagles will likely be the No. 1 seed, and a state title is certainly the plan in Topsham.
Soccer
Taking away Monday night’s Western Maine Conference setbacks against Cape Elizabeth, both the Freeport boys and girls are off to solid starts under first-year coaches.
Bob Strong has the Falcon boys sitting at 3-1-2. One of those ties was a 1-1 deadlock against powerhouse Yarmouth, the Clippers’ first non victory in a long, long time.
David Intraversato has his girls squad at 2-2-2 in the early going, with tough losses against the Capers and Clippers, along with quality ties with York and Greely. The schedule surely doesn’t get any easier, with rematches with Greely, Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth, but the new coach seems to have his ladies believing.
It is the same old, same old at both Brunswick and Richmond in girls competition. Martyn Davison has the Dragons at 4-0-1, with the tie coming againt always tough Bangor.
At Richmond, Troy Kendrick’s squad suffered an ugly 5-1 loss to Class C Traip Academy at Kittery. But, the Bobcats are still 4-1 and seem to be the class of the East-West Conference.
Staying with girls soccer, Chad Kirk’s Mt. Ararat squad has been noticed. After a 3-0 start, the Eagles dropped consecutive home games to Brunsick and defending State Class A champ Camden Hills. However, the tough ones, other than a visit to Bangor Sept. 29 and the rematch with Brunswick in the finale Oct. 15, are behind the Eagles.
In boys soccer, Peter Gardner’s Richmond squad is once again playing well. Despite the loss of several quality players to graduation, the Bobcats are off to a 4-1 start, the loss coming at Traip Academy, 1-0.
Mt. Ararat is also off to a 4-1 start. Jack Rioux’s squad has pitched four shutouts so far, including a 2-0 win over “Battle of the Bridge” rival Brunswick, with the only loss a 2-0 setback to State Class A champion Lewiston.
Field hockey
Kerri Reno’s Morse Shipbuilders have began with three wins while outscoring opponents, 16-2.
Two losses in the past three games have brought the Shipbuilders down to earth a bit, but the squad has confidence after making the postseason last year.
Mt. Ararat was two better at the start than Morse, opening with five straight wins before a tough 2-1 loss to Cony on Saturday left the Eagles at 4-1. The schedule is tough from here, with a visit to Messalonskee and a home date with perennial power Skowhegan (Sept. 27). Plus, the Eagles face Mt. Blue and Oxford Hills in the second half of the season. We will see how well the Eagles do from here.
Down at Freeport, Marcia Wood’s Falcons are hot, riding a four-game winning streak and a 5-1 record.
Like Mt. Ararat, Freeport has a tough slate coming up, with games against St. Dom’s, York, Yarmouth and Greely among its final eight games.
Football
Lisbon has began the campaign with three straight wins. Now, not that this is unusual, but the way Chris Kates’ Greyhounds have arrived at this point is a bit strange.
In its first two games, Lisbon either trailed (Mountain Valley) or was tied (Spruce Mountain) heading to the fourth quarter.
The Greyhounds preach “STAMINA” and so far the team in making us all sweat in those black uniforms has found a way, including downing the previous unbeaten Phoenix in overtime on Saturday, 30-28.
Now comes back-to-back road tests – Friday at Madison/Carrabec, and Sept. 28 at State Class D champ Wells.
Dan Cooper’s Brunswick Dragons are a bit “disappointed” to be 2-1 heading into Friday’s expected home showdown with 3-0 Kennebunk. After a thrilling home-opening win over Falmouth, the Dragons led throughout at Skowhegan before falling by three points.
The Dragons bounced back with a 50-12 win at Messalonskee last week, but face a Rams squad that has outscored their first three opponents by an astonishing 179-19 count.
Cross country
Area runners have certainly been working hard.
At Mt. Ararat, Diane Fournier’s team has been solid so far, with several runners, led by Lisandro Berry-Gaviria, continuing to find success.
At Freeport, Lily Horne and Martin Horne are leading the way for the Falcons, while at Morse and Brunswick, runners have put up solid times.
The conference championships are fast approaching (WMC, Sept. 28; KVAC and MVC, Sept. 29), and I expect things will be quite exciting.
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