Even when you knew what Lana Djuranovic was about to do, even when you defended it as well as it could possibly be defended, the Scarborough senior still made a play.

Take for example, the goal Djuranovic scored on a corner kick in the first half of the Class A South championship game. It was windy that night in Kennebunk, and Delia Fravert’s corner kick sailed a little long. Djuranovic followed the flight of the ball, and with a Gorham defender right on her, leaped and headed it toward the net as she was falling backward. Even as her momentum carried her away from the goal, Djuranovic got enough on the ball to place it just out of the reach of Gorham goalie Sawyer VonderHaar.

“We were prepared for that. We practiced for that,” Gorham Coach Jeanne Zarrilli said. “You prepare for Lana, then she finds crafty ways to make sweet passes to her teammates, or a play like that.”

Even as the target of every opponent’s defensive game plan, Djuranovic still found ways for herself or a teammate to score. A midfielder, Djuranovic scored 32 goals and had five assists, including the first goal in Scarborough’s 2-0 win over Bangor in the Class A state championship game – the Red Storm’s second straight title.

“To game plan against Lana, you’d have to game plan so many things. I don’t know how you do it,” Scarborough Coach Mike Farley said. “I’m so glad I didn’t have to worry about it… Every year, she added something to her game.”

After dominating the competitive SMAA, Djuranovic was the easy choice as the Varsity Maine Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.

Djuranovic completed her career with a school-record 79 goals and 104 points. It appears the only person who could slow Djuranovic down was Farley. When Djuranovic was a freshman in 2020 – a short season limited to a few regional games during the pandemic – Farley played her in a defensive midfield role while Djuranovic’s older sister, Una, played the attacking midfield spot that Lana inherited a year later. Lana Djuranovic scored one goal that season, but Farley knew the Red Storm had a special player.

“Going into her sophomore year, we knew she was an offensive weapon we had to use,” Farley said.

During a sophomore season in which she scored 18 goals and assisted on 13, Djuranovic was bothered by the extra attention she drew from defenders, Farley said. As a junior, she began to learn how to use her skill to create space for herself. This fall, Farley said, thrived despite that attention.

“Knowing I was going to get man-marked so much, I had to use my teammates in different ways, I had to shoot from different places and angles,” Djuranovic said. “Sometimes I had to create that space for myself. Our team did a really good job finding me in those spaces.”

Zarrilli noted Djuranovic’s ability to create offense in a number of ways. She can score in the run of the game. She can score on a set play. She obviously can score on a corner kick, Zarrilli said. In the state championship game, Djuranovic finally checked scoring on a penalty kick off her to-do list.

She combines an intelligence for the game with physical skills to create for herself and her teammates, Zarrilli said, pointing at another play from the regional final. With her back to the goal and well-marked, Djuranovic flicked the ball to an open teammate making a run at the net.

“That versatility, you just don’t see that much in Maine,” Zarrilli said. “I have no doubt she’ll do well at the next level.”

For Djuranovic, the next level is the University of Miami in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the toughest women’s soccer leagues in the nation. In order to play at that level, Djuranovic knows she has to get stronger.

“The main thing for me is my physicality. I have to be ready for that physical style of game,” she said. “I’ll have opportunities at Miami with personal trainers and nutritionists. … I’m so excited.”

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