The fall sports regular season has featured thrills and some surprises as well.
At press time, the regular season was coming to a close and by this weekend, the postseason will be underway in every sport but 11-man football.
Local squads are very much in the title hunt across the board and here’s where things stand on the brink of the most exciting time of the year.
Football
South Portland running back Matthew Berry finds room early in last week’s 27-6 home win over Kennebunk. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster
South Portland’s football team is hoping for a late-season surge to earn a playoff berth. Last Friday, the Red Riots took a step in that direction as they hosted undefeated Kennebunk and made an impressive statement with a 27-6 victory.
South Portland set the tone by forcing a Kennebunk three-and-out, then driving to take the lead for good on a 5-yard touchdown run from quarterback Easton Healy. The Rams responded with some trickery early in the second period, as quarterback Gray Compton caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jaiden Homa, but the Red Riots drove right back down the field and got a 27-yard TD scamper from Matthew Berry to take a 14-6 advantage and after a timely goal-line stand right before the horn, went to the break on top.
After Connor Gerard had a clutch interception deep in South Portland territory to end Kennebunk’s first drive of the second half, Gerard scored on a 6-yard run to extend the lead to 21-6 heading for the fourth period. And there, the Red Riots slammed the door, as Matthew Frey first intercepted a pass, then delivered the coup de grace with a 1-yard touchdown dive.
“No matter what we face, we’re always confident,’ said Frey, after playing on his home field for the final time. “We have such a strong brotherhood. There was always effort. Frustration was starting to mount, but in the end we overcame because of our love for each other and our team.”
“We needed a win like this,” South Portland coach Aaron Filieo said. “The guys come to work every day and they’re locked in and they listen to coaching and they’re confident. The mistakes we made in execution and operation have gotten us in the losing column, so we’ve focused on being clear minded and they’re making improvements. We watched a lot of film on Kennebunk and saw them live when they looked good against Sanford. They’re good in all facets. We didn’t know how we’d match up, but we thought we could do it.”
The Red Riots are fifth in the Class A South Crabtree Points standings and only four teams make the playoffs from the region, so they’ll need to win out to qualify. South Portland goes to 1-5 Scarborough Friday and closes at undefeated Portland Oct. 27.
“We just have to continue to focus on physical aspects, but also on the mental aspects and we just have to execute,” said Frey. We’re developing as we’re going. That’s what I love about these guys. I feel like we don’t have a ceiling.”
“We’ll enjoy this then turn the page to Scarborough,” Filieo said. “After the TA game (a 14-0 home loss), the guys understood they could play with anybody. That’s the mentality going forward. Record-wise, we’re probably where we should be. What I wasn’t sure of was how we’d respond from losses and the way we’ve responded is way ahead of any schedule that I would have projected.”
Also in Class A South, Scarborough fell to 1-5 and sixth with a 41-0 home loss to Portland. The Red Storm host South Portland Friday, then close at powerhouse Thornton Academy Oct. 26.
In Class C South, Cape Elizabeth fell to 1-6 and fifth after a 28-14 loss at Wells. The Capers finish the regular season at 2-5 Freeport Friday night.
Boys’ soccer
Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ soccer team lost at home to Freeport last Thursday (4-3), but finished in style Monday with a 3-1 win at three-time reigning Class B state champion Yarmouth to finish 9-4-1 and move into the No. 2 spot for the Class B South playoffs. In the setback, Sam Cochran, Alex van Huystee and Will Vaine scored, but the Capers couldn’t hold a 3-2 second half lead. Cape Elizabeth then rallied from a halftime deficit at the Clippers, getting two goals from Cochran and another from Henry Moore. The Capers are idle until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, when they will host a quarterfinal round contest.
Reigning Class A South champion Scarborough stretched its win streak to six games last Thursday with a 5-1 home victory over South Portland, then fell to 9-4-1 Tuesday with a 4-1 loss at Gorham in the regular season finale. In the win, Will Fallona scored two goals and Matthew Booth, Kilson Joao and Freddie Uzzi added one apiece. The Red Storm project to be the No. 5 seed in the region and will host a game in the preliminary round this weekend.
South Portland finished 6-5-3 and will be the No. 8 seed in Class A South after a 5-1 loss at Scarborough and a 3-1 setback at Westbrook. Curtis Metcalf scored against the Red Storm and goalie Michael Zaccaria made seven saves. Metcalf also scored in the loss to the Blue Blazes. Zaccaria stopped 10 shots. The Red Riots will host a prelim this weekend.
Girls’ soccer
Cape Elizabeth’s Noelle Mallory fights for the ball during Tuesday’s home loss to Yarmouth. Ben McCanna / Portland Press Herald
On the girls’ side, reigning state champion Scarborough closed on a 10-game win streak and improved to 13-1 after defeating host Sanford (4-0) and Falmouth (5-0) in its final two outings. Senior standout Lana Djuranovic scored all four goals against the Spartans. In the win over the Navigators, the Red Storm showed their balance with five goal scorers, as Djuranovic, Delia Fravert, Paige Garlock, Sarah LeFebvre and Maya Taylor all tickled the twine.
“Our offense is very diverse,” Djuranovic said. “A lot of girls can score.”
“It shows no matter who’s on the field, they can make an impact,” said LeFebvre. “We work really well together.”
“This was a big step for me,” added longtime Red Storm coach Mike Farley. “We’d had 10-minute lapses here and there the past couple games, but for the most part, we kept our foot on the gas the whole time. It’s a really positive way to end the season. We want to be playing at a high level and that’s about as high a level as we can play.”
Scarborough will be the top seed in the region and the favorite to repeat, but the Red Storm know that when they return to the pitch either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week in the quarterfinals against a team to be determined, that nothing will come easily.
“We know we have to work hard,” said Djuranovic. “We just have to keep going.”
“I don’t think we can underestimate anyone,” LeFebvre said. “We just have to believe in each other.”
“Homefield advantage was our goal,” Farley added. “We want to play on our home turf. Our schedule is so good. We’ve had competitive games. For us to beat Falmouth twice and play all the best teams in the SMAA, a lot of them on the road, shows we can be something special.
“It won’t be easy because of the parity in the league. Everyone comes to play and they give their all with something to prove when they come play us. Playoffs is where you want to be. For me, going from playing to coaching, it’s so fun to try to help these kids get over the top. It’s a great group to have.”
South Portland finished its bounce-back season with a 7-5-2 mark, its best since 2017, after sandwiching home wins over Biddeford (3-0) and Kennebunk (4-2) around a 1-0 loss at Portland. Against the Tigers, Marina Bassett scored two goals and Stella Henderson had the other. In the win over the Rams, Bassett had three goals and Nola Gorneau scored the other. The Red Riots finished eighth in Class A South and will host a preliminary round contest this weekend against a foe to be determined.
In Class B South Cape Elizabeth wound up 12-2 and second after beating host Freeport (2-1) and losing at home to defending state champion Yarmouth (2-0). CC Duryee and Noelle Mallory had the goals in the victory. In the loss, the Capers surrendered an early goal, were decimated by injuries, then, after having an apparent Mallory tying goal waved off early in the second half, conceded a second score and couldn’t recover.
“Sometimes you need these games right before playoffs,” said Cape Elizabeth’s first-year coach Branden Noltkamper. “We knew coming in we’d be 1 or 2 regardless of the result. These games have a playoff feel. Fun to be a part of.”
The Capers will host a quarterfinal round game next Tuesday or Wednesday against a yet-to-be-determined foe.
“I think everyone is beatable in this league,” Noltkamper said. “No one is invincible. (Yarmouth’s) a good team and so are we and hopefully we’ll see each other again. We’ll keep moving forward. We just need to get healthy and stay positive. Hopefully we’ll keep trending in the right direction. Going 12-2 was a good regular season and going 16-2 would be even better.”
Field hockey
Scarborough’s Ava Eccles and goalie Jamila Mohamed raise their sticks in celebration at the final horn of last week’s win at Falmouth. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster
Cape Elizabeth’s field hockey team wound up 8-5-1 and fifth in Class B South after a 2-0 home loss to Freeport and a 1-0 home win over York. In the victory, Shyla McVeigh scored the goal as the Capers swept a season series from the Wildcats for the first time this century. Cape Elizabeth will see York again in next week’s quarterfinals (date and time to be announced).
In Class A South, Scarborough finished 8-5 and fourth following victories at Falmouth (2-0), at home over Sanford (3-1) and at home over South Portland/Westbrook (4-0). At the Navigators, Caroline Hartley had a goal and an assist and Emma Lally also scored.
“This was a really big game for us,” said Hartley. “We knew Falmouth would be a great team. It’s always a close game when we play. We knew this would be important. That amped up our energy and we knew we had to win it.”
“We had to put the puzzle pieces together and we seem to be jelling now,” said longtime Scarborough coach Kerry Mariello. “I just keep telling them to ride the wave and hopefully the confidence gets built. We kind of had to blow things up. We put a whole new package in there, different formations and ideas. That seems to be working right now and hopefully that’s all we need. Aside from us being extremely young, it’s just a matter of having success.”
In the win over the Spartans, Hartley, Hailey French and Laine Niles all scored. Against SP/Westbrook, French scored two goals, Niles and Rosa Perlut and also scored and Maggie Pendergast added two assists. The Red Storm will host No. 5 Falmouth in a quarterfinal round tournament game next week (day and time to be announced).
“We just need to play like we did today, energetic, stepping to every ball and being defensive-minded,” Hartley said. “I think this team can be the team that can surprise people. It happens every playoffs.”
“We want to finish on a high note,” Mariello said. “We just have to show up and play our game and hopefully we’ll get a big win in the playoffs. We’ll have the challenge of having to do it on grass. We have nothing to lose. We’re very young. We just want to be the best version of ourselves.”
The South Portland/Westbrook co-op team wound up 2-12 and 15th in Class A South (only 10 teams made the playoffs) after beating host Portland/Deering (2-1) and losing at home to reigning regional champion Cheverus (10-0) and at Scarborough (4-0). Goalie Emily Keefe made 11 saves against the Red Storm.
Volleyball
Scarborough’s volleyball team ended the regular season 11-3 after 3-0 home wins over York and Falmouth. The Red Storm will host either Bonny Eagle or Hampden Academy in the Class A state quarterfinal round Saturday at a time to be announced.
South Portland finished 3-11 and earned the 12th and final playoff spot in Class A after closing with a straight set (16-25, 22-25, 16-25) loss at Cape Elizabeth and a four-game (25-22, 25-27, 21-25, 19-25) home loss to Portland. The Red Riots went to Sanford in the preliminary round Thursday. If they sprung an upset, they would go to Deering for the quarterfinals Saturday.
Cape Elizabeth finished 8-6 and eighth in Class B after closing the regular season with a straight set (25-16, 25-22, 25-16) home win over South Portland, a 3-0 loss at Messalonskee and a straight set (17-25, 24-26, 16-25) home loss to four-time reigning state champion Yarmouth. The Capers hosted York in a preliminary round match Thursday. If victorious, they would go to top-ranked Washington Academy Saturday in the quarterfinals.
Cross country
Several local teams took part in the Western Maine Conference championship meet last week in Standish.
Greely won the girls’ meet and Cape Elizabeth placed sixth. Emma Young was the Capers’ fastest runner, finishing fifth in 20:58.
In the boys’ meet, won by Freeport, Cape Elizabeth came in eighth. Finn Morris (16th, 18:29) led the way individually.
The regional championships will be held Saturday at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland.
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023
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