SCARBOROUGH — Regardless of its late-season struggles, the idea of Scarborough’s perennial powerhouse boys’ soccer team being viewed as an underdog just doesn’t seem proper — or realistic.
And you can be assured that the higher seeded teams in the region don’t view the Red Storm that way and that Scarborough will relish in that role it after making a positive statement in its first playoff test Friday afternoon.
The eighth-ranked Red Storm, who won just once in their final five regular season games, hosted No. 9 Thornton Academy, last year’s underdog-who-made-noise, at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex and thanks to a strong 80-minute defensive effort and goals just before and after halftime, extended their season.
After 39 minutes devoid of good chances, Scarborough got the only goal it would need with 51.7 seconds left in the first half, as off a corner kick, senior Liam Bridgham banged home a loose ball.
Bridgham scored again, in much more impressive fashion, 64 seconds into the second half and the Red Storm had some breathing room.
While the Golden Trojans attempted to rally and had some good looks, Scarborough senior goalkeeper Nathan Taggart held them at bay and the Red Storm went on to a 2-0 victory.
Scarborough improved to 10-4-1, ended Thornton Academy’s season at 6-8-1 and advanced to visit top-ranked, undefeated Gorham (13-0-1) in the quarterfinals Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“We hadn’t had the results, but we felt good about how we’re playing,” said longtime Red Storm coach Mark Diaz, who earned his 265th win with the program. “We weren’t scoring, but we were playing well as a team. We made the most of our chances today. We could have had a couple more.”
Scarborough and Thornton Academy had never before met in the playoffs.
The Red Storm won nine games during the regular season, but a 1-3-1 stretch to close the year dropped them to the No. 8 seed, necessitating a preliminary round playoff game for the second year in a row (after not needing one for the previous 14).
The Golden Trojans, who stunned undefeated South Portland in last year’s quarterfinals before losing to eventual regional champion Portland in the semifinals, dropped their first three contests this fall, but wound up 6-7-1 and ninth in the region.
On Sept. 6 in Saco, Scarborough prevailed, 2-0, behind goals from seniors Anthony Clavette and Elliot Duamis.
Friday, Thornton Academy hoped to reverse that result, but instead, the Red Storm made it to the quarterfinals for the 16th consecutive year.
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