After waiting a decade, what was another 80 minutes, and then some, for Waynflete’s girls’ soccer team to finally ascend to the pinnacle?
Saturday morning at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, the Flyers completed a dizzying and dazzling playoff run with a marathon victory over Fort Kent in the Class C state final, winning their first Gold Ball since 2013.
In unforgettable fashion.
The long climb back
When Waynflete won Class C in 2013, it won the title for the second year in a row and third time in six seasons. The Flyers would return to the state game in 2015 and 2016, but lost to Orono each time. After going 6-7-2 in 2017, Waynflete went 4-10 and missed the playoffs in 2018, posted a mark of 3-10-3 in 2019, then went 4-5-1 during the COVID season of 2020, in which there were no playoffs.
The turnaround began the next season, when the Flyers posted 10 victories, including a pair in the playoffs, and got to the semifinals before losing to Traip Academy. In 2022, Waynflete won 12 times and reached the Class C Final, only to lose to Maranacook, 2-0.
This fall, the Flyers had even higher aspirations and wouldn’t be denied.
Waynflete was just 4-4 at one juncture this season, then won five games in a row before losing its finale to rival North Yarmouth Academy (see sidebar for links to previous stories).
As the No. 3 seed in Class C South, the Flyers dispatched No. 6 Traip Academy (4-1) in the quarterfinals, then didn’t surrender a goal the rest of the way.
In the semifinals, Waynflete got a measure of revenge for last year, upsetting second-ranked Maranacook, 1-0, on a goal from senior Morgan Earls.
Waynflete senior standout Lucy Hart plays the ball during last week’s Class C South Final victory over rival North Yarmouth Academy. Hart scored the lone goal. Brian Beard photos/Courtesy Waynflete Athletics
Last Wednesday, in Lewiston, Waynflete got another shot at top-ranked NYA and thanks to a goal from senior standout Lucy Hart just 70 seconds in and a stellar defensive effort, sprung a 1-0 upset to win a regional title for the first time in seven years.
“I’m definitely glad we got a lead early,” Hart said.
“We had to stay focused, because (NYA has) been one of our strongest opponents for years,” said senior back Jojo Moriba. “We had to stay positive.”
“I could not have guessed it was going to end 1-0,” added Carrie Earls, who has co-coached the Flyers, along with George Sherry, since 2018. “I’m proud,. My defensive line was the MVP tonight. They deserve all the credit.”
Saturday, Waynflete took on Fort Kent in the state final.
The Flyers had beaten the Warriors in the team’s lone prior playoff meeting, 3-2, in the 2012 Class C state game.
Waynflete would prevail again, but it didn’t come easily.
Neither team could score in 80 minutes of regulation, nor in 30 minutes of overtime, although Hart nearly ended matters in OT with a shot that hit the crossbar.
That sent the game and the season to penalty kicks.
Each team had five chances to make as many shots as possible and while Hart, Naomi Rice and Grace Alexander converted for the Flyers, the Warriors also converted three, so it was on to a second round.
There, Paige Alexander, Morgan Earls and Ayla Stutzman, the goalie, converted, then Stutzman made a timely save.
“I tried to just get my energy flowing,” Stutzman said. “We didn’t want it to end like that, but it was really exciting that it did.”
Liza Lawson had a chance to end matters and she did so, firing the ball into the net to give Waynflete a 1-0 victory (7-4 in PKs), a 13-5 record, its first title in a decade, fourth in Class C and ninth all-time.
Waynflete sophomore Liza Lawson is mobbed by her teammates after burying the winning penalty kick Saturday.
“I was just thinking that it was nothing,” Lawson said. “I had to take it like it was an every day, little thing. Otherwise, I would have stressed out too much. I thought the first five would get it in, we’d be good to go. When I turned around and saw everybody running toward me, I just started crying. It was so emotional.”
“(Liza) doesn’t let outside factors affect her,” Carrie Earls said. “She had no idea it came down to her. I just told her to wait until the whistle and then bury it.”
Lawson’s goal set off a wild celebration.
“Just seeing the (Gold) ball in our hands, my team’s hands, is a feeling that I can’t compare to anything right now,” Stutzman said. “Since last year, since we got knocked out, we wanted to take it one step farther. It’s been the goal since we stepped on the field in June.”
“We had to stay positive,” Hart said. “We had a bunch of chances and we kept trying to knock on the door. We just couldn’t finish.”
Waynflete’s players show off the newly won Gold Ball to the fan section.
“We’ve got a lot of soccer players this year,” Carrie Earls added. “Normally we have a lot of great athletes, but soccer’s not their first sport. We have a lot of four-year soccer players, girls who know how to move the ball, and they really wanted it this year. They didn’t like the feeling of losing in the regional finals last year. It was a goal in (summer soccer) to be here today.
“This state championship means everything to this program. The regional final loss stung a lot last year, because we felt like we had the talent to win it, but we learned that talent wasn’t everything. The girls needed to face some adversity to get us over the hump. Taking a more competitive schedule this year battle-tested us. We learned how to grind out close games, how to be more assertive and physical and more importantly, how to put away our chances. We were all focused on the same goal and it paid off.”
The 2023 Class C girls’ soccer state champion Waynflete Flyers.
On to 2024
Waynflete loses six seniors, a strong group led by Hart and Morgan Earls, which returned the program to the pinnacle.
“These seniors deserve so much credit for what they’ve done for this program,” Carrie Earls said. “They have taken our team one step closer to a championship in each of their four years. Their dedication, drive and passion for the program will leave a mark for years to come.”
The Flyers will be in very good shape to go for a repeat in 2024. They’ll just need some time to put some new faces in new places.
But the goal will be the same.
Bringing home another trophy.
“We have a lot of talented returning players with quite a bit of varsity experience,” said Carrie Earls. “Some players will have to take on new roles, but we expect to be competitive with everyone in Class C next season.”
Press Herald staff writers Drew Bonifant and Travis Lazarczyk contributed to this story.
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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