It may be a surprise to some to see the Yarmouth field hockey team atop the Class B South Heal points. It’s not so surprising, however, to the Clippers themselves.
“I think they came in knowing that they had potential,” said Yarmouth’s first-year coach, Bre Morrill. “They knew that teams had recycled seniors, they had lost no one. … That’s the fun of high school. It changes every single year.”
Indeed, in B South, there’s a new look to the power structure. York, the team everyone has chased year after year, has looked mortal because of a small roster and graduation losses. The Wildcats are in the middle of the standings at 2-2-1. That has left the top spot up for grabs, and while usual contenders such as Freeport (5-1) and Cape Elizabeth (4-2) are hanging near the front of the pack, there’s also Lake Region (4-1-1), which went 5-8-1 last year, and Yarmouth, the lone team without a blemish at 6-0.
“Everyone’s scores are so tight, we can’t overlook schools like Greely or Poland. I think it’s really wide open,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Maura Bisogni. “Back-and-forth games are exciting, lots of experience in different situations. It’s getting to play every game like it’s a playoff game.”
Leading the way are the Clippers, who were a playoff team last year at 8-6 but were a notch below the top teams, going 0-4 and being outscored 20-4 against the top three seeds – York, Freeport and Cape Elizabeth.
Yarmouth has looked powerful this season, with a 4-3 win over Freeport providing further evidence of its status as a bona fide contender.
“(I’m) not necessarily surprised. I knew this team had endless possibilities for this year,” said Morrill, a 2016 Yarmouth graduate who is also the assistant director of the club program Maine Styx. “We’ve got very strong players at every single age level, from freshmen … to a great group of seniors.”
The Clippers have eight seniors, including returning Western Maine Conference All-Star Colleen Lynch at midfield and top scorer Sophie Smith at forward. Yarmouth has gotten a boost from other classes – sophomore forwards Celia Zinman and Madison Wiles also have provided scoring, as has freshman forward Erica O’Connor – but Morrill said the experience factor has lifted the team.
“The seniors have this desire … and they’re realizing this is our last year,” she said. “This is it. If we want to leave a mark, this is the time to do it.”
CAPE ELIZABETH made some program history last week when it beat York, 3-2. It was the Capers’ first victory over their Western Maine Conference rival since 2000.
“It’s huge, especially for our seniors, who have been on the receiving end of many losses to York,” Bisogni said. “They’ve been in all those games for the past two years, they know what to expect when they go down there. They know what kind of team they’re going to face, and they were ready.”
The Capers rarely have been able to get an early lead against the Wildcats. They did this time, going up 1-0 on a Jenna Tuttle goal, which Bisogni said relaxed the team and helped it clear the mental hurdle.
“I think that was really a game-changer for us,” Bisogni said. “Jenna putting in that first goal really set the tone for us.”
WHILE CHEVERUS (36 straight regular-season wins) continues to set the pace in Class A South, a top challenger may be taking form. Gorham has rolled to a 5-1 start and has outscored opponents 38-5, with its latest victory a 2-1 win over annual contender Scarborough.
The Rams were seeded seventh last year but anticipated making a climb up the standings after returning most of their prominent offensive and defensive players. So far, depth has fueled that climb.
“We set high expectations at the beginning of the summer. We knew how good we could be,” Coach Becky Manson said. “But we’ve had 11 different people score 38 goals, and I think that has, in a way, surprised me. I think it’s amazing, because who do you mark? Who are they keying on?”
Brooke Farquhar, the top scorer last season, has led the charge again, but the Rams have also received a scoring boost from Emerson Homa, a senior but only a second-year field hockey player.
“It says quite a bit about the offensive power that we can have if we’re really on our game,” Manson said.
The offense was shut down in a 4-0 loss to Cheverus, but considering the Rams held the Stags to their lowest regular-season scoring output since 2021, Manson said there were positives.
“It just gave us more motivation,” she said. “I think our confidence is still right there.”
CLASS A NORTH, normally firmly in Skowhegan’s control, is looking open in the early going. The River Hawks (4-1) dropped their first regular-season game since 2017 (excluding the 2020 pandemic season) on Monday to Messalonskee (3-2), which earlier lost to Mt. Ararat (5-1), which lost in overtime to Skowhegan. All of those games were 2-1.
“The teams at the top, we’ve all lost a game. I think that just feels like anything can happen,” said Mt. Ararat Coach Krista Chase. “We’ve just got to show up every day, compete and work hard, and see how things play out.”
Chase’s Eagles have put themselves firmly in the conversation of the region’s top teams. A new defense has turned into a strength, allowing only two goals all year, while the offense has taken off with 34 goals in six games. Lydia Hiltz has led the charge there, but Chase said no one’s chasing accolades.
“Nobody on my team cares who gets their name in the paper. That’s one reason we’re doing so well this year,” she said. “They want the goal. They don’t care who gets it.”
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