The football regular season has finished, but field hockey, soccer and volleyball got a head start and have begun their playoffs, to largely positive results.
The postseason excitement continues this week and city teams will be in the middle of it all.
Here’s a glimpse at what’s transpired and what’s to come:
Boys’ soccer
Cheverus’ Carter Hoglund tries to keep the ball away from Portland’s Nick Paterniti early in the Bulldogs’ 1-0 playoff victory Friday. Paterniti scored the winning goal in overtime. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster
Portland’s boys’ soccer team opened the postseason with a dramatic overtime victory over Cheverus and at press time, was one of two city teams still standing.
The Bulldogs, ranked eighth in Class A South after closing the regular season with a 3-1 home victory over reigning Class A champion Falmouth (behind goals from Nick Paterniti, Oliver Hettenbach and Cristo Vumpa), hosted the ninth-seeded Stags Friday afternoon at Fitzpatrick Stadium and, despite being short-handed due to COVID-complications, hung tough through regulation, then won it, 1-0, when Paterniti scored early in overtime.
“I received the ball around the 30, chipped it over one of their players, chested it, took a touch and hit it,” Paterniti said. “I thought it had a 50-50 chance. I started running and it was sheer happiness when it went in.”
“I’m just so happy for these kids,” said longtime Portland coach Rocco Frenzilli. “They put every ounce of energy they had into this. Everybody’s work rate was off the charts. It was a great game. Two evenly matched teams, chances both ways. It was going to come down to one goal.”
The 10-5 Bulldogs then faced a daunting task as they went to top-ranked Windham (14-1) for the quarterfinals Tuesday. Portland lost, 2-0, at Windham back on Sept. 11. The teams have played twice previously in the playoffs, with both games going to overtime and each squad winning once.
“We just have to keep this energy up going,” Paterniti said. “We have to play simple and keep believing.”
“It’s sweet to get through and get to play again,” Frenzilli said. “We’re playing with house money now. We’ll go up there and see what we can do.”
If Portland advances to Friday’s semifinals, it will go to No. 4 Marshwood (12-2-1) or No. 5 Falmouth (11-2-2). The Bulldogs lost, 4-1, at the Hawks Oct. 16 and just beat the Navigators. Portland won both prior playoff games against Marshwood and is 2-1 all-time in the postseason versus Falmouth.
Cheverus, which ended the regular season with a 3-2 overtime loss to visiting Scarborough (despite goals from Brady Hoglund and Shane McGrath), couldn’t find the net in the preliminary round and dropped a 1-0 overtime heartbreaker to Portland to finish the year 5-8-2.
“We didn’t have our best finishing day,” lamented Cheverus coach Bill LeBlanc. “We came in here expecting to win the game, but we just couldn’t find our touch. At halftime, I told the guys it’s almost like we were playing not to lose. We didn’t have that sense of urgency. I thought on the goal, people are tired and you need to make an effort to block the shot, but he hit it well. I’m happy for Portland. Good luck to them going forward.”
The Stags will be hard-hit by graduation, but figure to be back in the hunt in 2022.
“It’s a good group of seniors,” LeBlanc said. “They’re great kids. They’re taking it hard. We’re always consistently right there.”
Deering, ranked sixth in Class A South after a 3-0 home victory over Sanford to wrap up the regular season (Abdulla Al Taee scored twice and Ezekial Appel also tickled the twine), had a disappointing conclusion to its campaign, falling at home to No. 11 Bonny Eagle, 1-0, in the preliminary round to wind up 9-5-1.
Two-time reigning Class C champion Waynflete finished second in Class C South after playing host Yarmouth, the reigning Class B champion, to a 1-1 draw in the regular season finale last Tuesday (Jasper Curtis scored the goal, from Henry Hart, and Lincoln Smith made six saves). The Flyers (10-2-2) opened their quest for another championship Tuesday at home versus No. 10 Sacopee Valley (6-7-2) in the quarterfinals. Waynflete beat the Hawks twice this season, 3-0 away and 7-1 at home. The Flyers have taken two of three prior playoff meetings against the Hawks, with a 4-0 triumph in the 2018 Class C South quarterfinals the most recent.
If it advances, Waynflete will host either third-ranked Lisbon (12-2) or No. 6 Traip Academy (8-7) in Friday’s semifinal round. The Flyers didn’t face the Greyhounds this year and are 2-1 against them all-time in the postseason. Waynflete swept the Rangers this fall, 2-0 at home and 1-0 in Kittery, and won the lone prior playoff encounter.
The Class C South Final is Tuesday of next week in Lewiston. The Class A South Final is Wednesday of next week at Thornton Academy.
Girls’ soccer
On the girls’ side, Cheverus and Waynflete escaped the preliminary round, while Deering and Portland fell just short.
The Flyers closed the regular season with a 3-2 loss at Old Orchard Beach (Fallon Culley and Lucy Hart scored the goals) and wound up ranked eighth in Class C South. They then blanked No. 9 Madison, 7-0, in Saturday’s preliminary round, as Iris Stutzman had three goals, Hart added two and Culley and Casey Curtis also scored. Waynflete (9-6) is at top-ranked Hall-Dale (11-1) in the quarterfinals Wednesday. The teams don’t play in the regular season. The Flyers have won all three prior playoff encounters.
In Class A South, Cheverus, ranked sixth after finishing the regular season with a 1-0 loss at Scarborough, survived No. 11 Bonny Eagle, 2-1, in overtime in the preliminary round. Julia Kratzer scored in regulation and Lily Hoyt played the hero in OT. The Stags (10-5) are at No. 3 Gorham (11-1-3) in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round. The Rams beat visiting Cheverus, 3-1, back on Sept. 16. The Stags are 3-4 all-time versus the Rams in the playoffs, but have captured the last three meetings.
If Cheverus advances to Saturday’s semifinals, they go to No. 2 Falmouth (13-1-1) or host No. 7 Marshwood (8-5-2). The Stags beat the visiting Hawks, 7-1, Sept. 10 and lost at home to the Navigators, 2-1, Sept. 23.
The Class C South Final is Tuesday of next week in Lewiston. The Class A South Final is Wednesday of next week at Thornton Academy.
Deering, which closed the regular season with a 2-1 win at Sanford, was 13th in Class A South and nearly sprung an epic upset at No. 4 Scarborough Friday before falling late, 1-0, to wind up 4-10-1.
“I’m so proud of the girls,” said Rams first-year coach Paul Cameron. “Everyone’s improved so much. They’ve worked so hard. They’re really nice kids. They gave me everything they had.”
Deering will be hard-hit by graduation, but the Rams have shown they can compete with the league’s elite and they hope to make noise again in 2022.
“We lose 12 seniors and I said to them that little kids in the stands were watching them play and hopefully they inspired some kids to want to play for Deering,” Cameron said.
Portland ended its regular season with a 1-0 loss at Falmouth and as the No. 10 seed, went to No 7 Marshwood for the preliminary round Saturday. The Bulldogs got a goal from Eliza Stein and 13 saves from backup goalkeeper Lucy Tidd, but lost in double-overtime, 2-1, to finish 5-8-1.
Football
Portland’s football team completed its first undefeated regular season since 2015 at 8-0 last Friday with a decisive 42-0 home win over Lewiston. Brandon Boyle put the Bulldogs ahead to stay with a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter. Before the frame was over, quarterback Grant Crosby threw touchdown passes to Reegan Buck (72 yards) and Nathan Isajar (19 yards) to make it 21-0. Crosby added an 8-yard TD run for a 28-0 halftime lead. In the third period, Boyle scored on a 6-yard run. Boyle added one more touchdown in the final stanza, from 4 yards out. Cristo Vumpa, who earlier in the day played for the boys’ soccer team in its preliminary round win over Cheverus, nailed all six of his extra point attempts.
Portland is the top seed in Class B South and will host No. 8 Biddeford (1-7) Friday in the quarterfinals. On Oct. 8, the Bulldogs dominated the visiting Tigers, 55-8. The teams have split six prior playoff meetings, with a 34-0 Portland win in the 2005 Western A quarterfinals the most recent.
Deering finished 0-8 with a 34-0 home loss to Noble.
In the eight-man large division, Cheverus (5-0) is the top seed in the South Region and will host No. 4 Lake Region (3-4) in the semifinals Saturday afternoon. The teams’ regular season contest was canceled. The Lakers and Stags have no playoff history.
Field hockey
Cheverus’ field hockey team earned the top seed after a 14-0 regular season and opened the Class A South playoffs Tuesday at home versus No. 8 Kennebunk (8-6). The Stags beat the visiting Rams, 3-0, Sept. 22. The teams had met just once previously in the playoffs, a 3-2 Cheverus victory in the 2010 Western A quarterfinals.
If the Stags advance to the semifinals this weekend, they’ll host either No. 4 Massabesic (13-2) or fifth-ranked Falmouth (10-4). Cheverus didn’t face the Navigators this season. They closed with a 3-2 victory at the Mustangs Oct. 14.
The Class A South Final will be Wednesday of next week at Freeport High School.
Portland/Deering wasn’t as fortunate. After finishing the regular season with a 6-0 loss at Massabesic, the squad, ranked 15th in Class A South, fell, 9-0, at No. 2 Scarborough in the preliminary round to wind up 1-14.
In Class C South, the North Yarmouth Academy/Waynflete co-op team, ranked third, hosts No. 6 Lisbon (5-8-1) in the quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon. The teams don’t play in the regular season.
If NYA/Waynflete advances, it will either go to No. 2 St. Dom’s (11-1) or host No. 10 Telstar (2-13) in the semifinals this weekend.
The Class C South Final will be Wednesday of next week at Freeport High School.
Volleyball
The volleyball season came to a sudden end for city teams in the state preliminary round last week.
Portland, the No. 17 seed in Class A, lost in four sets (23-25, 23-25, 25-19, 26-28) at No. 16 Lewiston in a play-in match last week to wind up 2-13.
Cheverus, ranked 13th in Class A, lost in four games at No. 4 Marshwood in the preliminary round to wind up 4-11.
Deering, seeded 11th in Class A, lost in three sets (19-25, 16-25, 19-25) at No. 6 Sanford to finish 8-7 .
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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