LAKE REGION
Football
Coach: Chuck Hamaty
Last year: The Lakers finished 0-9 in the Class B Campbell Conference.
Players to watch: Seniors Tom Hamilton, Luke Elliott, Brett Jauss, Adam Madura, Jordan Brochu, and Aaron Babb; juniors Ben Elliott, Nick Marcella, Dillon Burtsell, Kyle Ebling, Bryan Driscoll, Tyler Merrifield, Kyle Cluff, Killian Harriman, Travis Barrows, Mike Gedney, Nick Anderson, Carlo Olivera, Scott Miller, and Kyle Thorne.
Outlook: After a disappointing 2006 season, the Lakers have nowhere to go but up. They’ll look for more production from their offense and they’ll hope for more big stops defensively to break back into the win column.
Lake Region is 0-2 so far this season with an opening loss at Wells and home loss to Falmouth last weekend. The Warriors shutout the Lakers in week one, but the Lakers did get into the end zone on two occasions in the setback to the Yachtsmen.
Sophomore Chris Douglass caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Aaron Babb in the first half of play. And freshman Mike Shea scored on a 70-yard run late in the second half.
The Lakers take on two of the top team’s in the conference in the next two weeks – Greely and Mountain Valley.
Field hockey
Coach: Dagny Leland
Last year: The Lakers finished third in the West B Heal Point standings last year and they topped Falmouth in a regional quarterfinal before falling to Leavitt in the semifinals.
Players to watch: The top returning players are Anna Stewart-sweeper, Amanda Place-halfback, Courtney Irving-halfback, Julia Davis-halfback, Rachel Ferland-forward, Corey-Lynn-forward, Kayla Shane-forward, Carolynne Skarbinski-forward, Jess Corson-forward, Lauren D’Ascanio- halfback, and Amy Tragert-goalie. And the top newcomers are Angie Adams- forward, Taylor Kemp-sweeper, Doree’ Bell – forward, Ciara Smart-forward Kayla Palmer-forward, Casey Chaplin, halfback, and Rachel Curtis-goalie.
Coach’s Outlook: Our forward line is very familiar with scoring goals and being aggressive inside the circle,” said Leland. “They move the ball well and have an opportunity to be creative. They are very positive and are working hard to improve their skills and working with each other. Defensively, we lost some great core players, but this group coming up has the knowledge and know-how. It will just take time to pick up the pace to get back on defense, but I have faith in their ability to be the best that they can be.”
“The goalies have been working on footwork and clearing the ball with confidence and they have been successful with communicating with the defense,” continued Leland. “There is always something to work on but as a team they need to talk more. Changing positions a lot and moving the ball is what we do best so the communication is crucial.”
Boys soccer
Coach: Don White
Last year: The Lakers finished at 5-6-3 and fell in the first round of the West B tourney to Yarmouth.
Players to watch: Top returning players include seniors Tavish Leland and Aaron Chase who figure to pace the Lakers’ attack from the striker position. Both possess great speed, work hard, and have a nose for the goal. Senior captains Jordan Nichols and Andrew Payne return to anchor the back line with smart and steady play and they will be joined by Joe Shaw and Cory Dunning who have both looked strong during pre-season. Juniors Phil Leighton and Brandon Chase return and move to center midfield slots where they have been showing a nice touch on the ball and an aggressive attitude playing both ways. Juniors Dan Casey, Jon Norris, and Cody Leland all provide the speed and skills needed on the outside. Sophomore Sam Maker returns with good ball skills, versatility, and field vision. And sophomore goalkeeper Matt Langadas continues to develop into one of the best in the WMC. Many of the boys have the ability to play multiple positions allowing many options for the coaching staff.
Top newcomers include senior outside midfielder Fernando Carballo-Uribe who joins the team as an exchange student from Mexico. He brings a great touch on the ball and precision passing and shooting ability. Juniors Matt Van Vliet and Zach Poulin are joined by sophomores Travis Linehan and Zach Tomkinson to provide skilled depth at many positions and will allow the coaching staff to rotate players with confidence.
Coach’s Outlook: The Lakers will have 14 upperclassmen and probably the best depth that the team has fielded in years. The boys are in good shape and possess very good overall team speed.
The Western Maine Conference is a very tough conference, but the Lakers have established themselves over the last three years as a talented and hard working group that can play with anyone. If this group of young men play an unselfish brand of team soccer and continue to work hard together, they have the skills to improve on last year’s regular season
Girls soccer
Coach: Lynne Harrison
Last year: The Lakers finished the regular season at No. 5 in the West B Heal Point standings. They were knocked from the playoffs in the quarterfinal round at York.
Players to watch: Goalie Chelsea Myers and forwards Renee Nicholas and Krysti Leach.
Outlook: The Lakers lost for the first time this year in a game played at Falmouth last week. Lake Region opened the season with two wins against St. Dom’s and Poland. Their 3-2 victory over the Saints came courtesy of Renee Nicholas’ two goals and another score from Krysti Leach.
The Lakers have enough athletes and enough experience to get into the tournament again. If they play sound defense, they could make some noise come playoff time.
Cross Country
Coach: Dan Dors
Last year: The girls placed eighth at the Western Maine Class B regionals. And the boys finished eighth at the regional meet as well.
Runners to watch: Boys – Zach Maine, Jake Moore, Maurice MacDougall, Keegan Eldridge, Damon Scarlett, Brandon Palmer, and Tim Strain. Girls – India Bell, Courtney Estes, Tina Delacruz, Meghan Maguire and Sarah Cutting.
Outlook: The Lakers will try to improve their personal best times as the season goes on and they’ll hope they’re running fast enough when the regional meets come around to qualify for the state meet.
Golf
Coach: Art Kilborn
Players to watch: Quinn Allen, Aaron Chase, Brandon Chase, Dan Casey, Danny Place, Kristian Peterson and Justin Peterson.
Outlook: The Lakers opened this season with a pair of wins – an 8.5 to 4.5 victory at Poland and a 13-0 shutout of Gray-New Gloucester. Allen and Chase have been playing in the top two spots in the rotation and their scores have been in the low 40s.
The Lakers should competitive all season long. If they can maintain some scoring consistency from top to bottom, they’ll be a tough match-up for most teams.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
