(Ed. Note: For the complete Waynflete-NYA boys’ soccer game story, with additional reaction and photos, please visit theforecaster.net)

The postseason fun is underway and there is plenty more to come in the days and weeks ahead.

Golf’s team state match was held Saturday and individuals go for glory this coming weekend. Field hockey’s regular season has already come to a close for many teams. Soccer and volleyball are nearing their end and cross country’s postseason is just days away.

Here’s a look:

Golf

At last week’s Southern Maine Activities Association qualifying match, Cheverus made the cut for the state match with a score of 319. Deering (352) and Portland (352) did not qualify.

The Stags then took part in Saturday’s Class A state match at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro. Cheverus shot a team score of 316, which left it third behind Gorham (309) and Greely (314). Chris Billings was the Stags’ top scorer, posting a 74. Andrew Cloutier (77), Jake Doughty (82) and Kaleb Bourassa (83) also scored. Adam Bachelder’s 85 wasn’t taken into account.

Waynflete shot a 385 at the Western Maine Conference qualifier, but failed to earn a spot in the Class C state match.

Several local players will return to Natanis Saturday for the boys’ and girls’ individual state matches.

Boys’ soccer

Waynflete’s boys’ soccer team, the defending Class C state champion, had a busy week. The Flyers first held off visiting Traip, 2-1, as Harry Baker-Connick tied the score just before halftime (finishing a corner kick from Mohammed Suja) and Suja (from Max Belleau) scored the winner with 15 minutes to play. Freshman goalkeeper Tommy Silk made six saves.

Friday, Waynflete hosted rival North Yarmouth Academy. The Flyers had captured five of the past six games against the Panthers, including a surprisingly one-sided 5-0 triumph at NYA earlier this season, but as expected, the rematch was closer.

Waynflete wasn’t able to convert several good first half chances and wasn’t able to go ahead until Kevin Kanakan’s shot was deflected into the goal by a Panthers defender late in the half. The Flyers managed to cling to a 1-0 lead, thanks largely to the play of Silk, who has been pressed into action in goal after Zander Majercik was sidelined with a finger injury. Silk (seven saves) was steady and even spectacular at times as he frustrated the visitors. Then, as time wound down in regulation, Waynflete’s defense held one final time, transitioned the ball up the field and Peabo Knoth, who just missed the goal on several occasions, finally tickled the twine and the Flyers were able to put the finishing touches on a 2-0 victory.

“(NYA is) always a good team,” Knoth said. “They always play us hard. It’s never easy. Last time was a little bit of a fluke. We made a lot of chances offensively, but couldn’t finish. I was a little frustrated missing that many shots, but it happens. We have guys out, but other people step in and do their job. That’s what it’s about. Every year, other guys step in and play their roles. It’s just about stepping up.”

“It was intense,” said Silk. “Especially in the first half. They had a lot of shots. The second half was equally scary. Especially at the end. It was fun, but I’m glad it’s over. This is a big confidence boost. Our confidence is really high right now. It’s always fun to beat NYA.”

“It was just a classic Waynflete-NYA battle,” added longtime Flyers coach Brandon Salway. “NYA’s improved. Who knows, maybe we haven’t seen the last of them.”

Waynflete finally suffered its first loss Saturday, in stunning fashion, 8-2, at Western D power Richmond. The Flyers led, 2-0, on goals from Suja (assisted by Willy Burdick) and Jack Cutler (assisted by Knoth), then everything fell apart, as Salway explained.

“We were leading, then a questionable (penalty kick) was called for Richmond,” Salway said. “Then, they scored off an obvious handball. After the refs huddled, they allowed the goal to stand.  We lost a player to a red card at that point for arguing the call. I was yellow carded after asking for an explanation. After it reached 4-2 in second half, we decided to get some younger players some experience. It was not the environment we have been used to playing in in the Western Maine Conference and with Greely on the horizon, we couldn’t afford to possibly lose another player. Several players missed the game due to injury. I was proud of the players that played the final 30 minutes. Including six freshmen. Richmond has a good team and they took advantage of all of the breaks.”

Waynflete (9-1-1 and third in the Western Class C Heal Points standings) has a tough closing stretch. The Flyers were home with Greely Tuesday (please see theforecaster.net for game story), host Lake Region Thursday and close at Cape Elizabeth Monday.

In Western A, Deering continues to surge up the standings. After playing host Kennebunk to a 1-1 draw last Tuesday (Jimmy Fasulo had the goal), the Rams upset visiting defending Class A champion Windham Thursday (2-1). In the victory, Steven Ochan had the winner. Deering (6-3-2 and fifth in the Heals) was home against Marshwood Tuesday, visits Cheverus Thursday and closes at Sanford Tuesday of next week.

Cheverus began the week 6-4-1 and 11th in the Heals after a 2-1 win at Thornton Academy and a 1-1 draw at South Portland last week. In the victory, Isaac Yeboah and MacKenzie Hoglund scored. Zach Poulin had the goal in the tie. The Stags were home with Massabseic Tuesday, host Deering Thursday and finish at Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Portland is still in the playoff hunt. The Bulldogs dropped tough decisions at Marshwood (4-3) and at home to Kennebunk (1-0, in overtime), before upsetting host Windham Saturday, 1-0. Against the Hawks, Stephen Barry, Connor Bruce and Tim Rovnak scored. In the victory, Rovnak had the lone tally.

“The kids played really well and we got a little luck when (Windham) hit the post twice,” said Portland coach Rocky Frenzilli. “There weren’t many chances, but when Tim got one, he made it count. I am just so happy for our players to see their hard work rewarded. Windham is a very good team.”

Portland (3-7-1 and 13th in Western A, where the top 12 teams make the playoffs) had a game at Bonny Eagle Tuesday, hosts South Portland Thursday and closes at home versus Thornton Academy Tuesday of next week. The Bulldogs might need two wins to qualify for the postseason.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, Waynflete remains unbeaten, even though it hasn’t won every game. The Flyers began the week 7-0-4 and fourth in the Western C Heals after blanking host Traip (4-0), host NYA (3-0) and settling for a 1-1 draw at Richmond. In the win over the Rangers, Isabel Agnew had two goals and Sadie Cole and Walker Foehl one apiece. Against the Panthers, Arianna Giguere scored twice and Leigh Fernandez also had a goal. In the tie, Cole had the Flyers’ tally. Waynflete was at Western A power Greely Tuesday, hosts Old Orchard Beach Friday and closes the regular season with a home game versus Cape Elizabeth Monday.

In Western A, Cheverus was eighth in the Heals at 8-3 at the start of the week. Last week, the Stags downed visiting Westbrook, 4-1, then let a second half lead slip away in a 4-3 home loss to Thornton Academy (in a game played on Deering High’s turf). In the victory, Abby Maker scored three times and Darby Rawcliffe added a goal. Maker, Rawcliffe and Maddy Richardson scored against the Golden Trojans, but Cheverus failed to hold leads of 2-0 and 3-2. The Stags go to Massabesic Wednesday, host Deering Friday and close at home against Gorham Tuesday.

Deering sat ninth at the start of the week with a 7-4 mark. The Rams enjoyed a 4-0 home win over Kennebunk last Wednesday), then lost at Windham Saturday, 3-1. In the victory, Alexis Elowitch had two goals, Edie Pallozzi and Camille Leal also scored. Simone Lauture had the goal in the loss. Deering is at Marshwood Wednesday and goes to Cheverus Friday. The Rams close at home with Sanford Tuesday.

McAuley was 2-9-1 and 17th after a 2-1 home win over Kennebunk, a 1-1 tie at Portland and a 9-0 loss at Scarborough. The Lions got goals from Ayla Tartre and Maddie Wood in the victory. McAuley hopes to move into the top 13 and qualify for the playoffs, but it likely needs wins over host Biddeford Wednesday and visiting Westbrook Friday to make that happen.

Portland is also on the outside looking in, 16th with a record of 2-8-2. The Bulldogs settled for a 1-1 home tie with McAuley and lost, 2-1, at Kennebunk in recent action. Ashley Frank had the goal in the tie. Rachel Glover scored against the Rams. Portland goes to South Portland Friday and closes at home against Thornton Academy Tuesday.

Field hockey

Cheverus’ field hockey team capped its season with wins over visiting Kennebunk (3-0), host McAuley (5-0) and host Sanford (4-1) to finish 13-1. Against the Rams, Anne Slattery, Staci Swallow and Meredith Willard had the goals. In the win over the Lions, Swallow, Laura Bither, Brooke Flaherty, Mary Kate Slattery and Gabby Wagabaza scored. Swallow had two more goals and Willard and Alex Logan one each versus the Spartans. The Stags will be the No. 2 seed in the Western Class A playoffs and will host a quarterfinal round playoff game Oct. 16.

Deering appears playoff-bound as well despite a regular season-ending four-game losing skid. The Rams closed with a 4-0 home loss to Scarborough, a 6-1 setback at Marshwood, a 4-1 loss at South Portland and a 3-0 home setback to Gorham. Amanda LeMoult scored against the Hawks and Mia Thurston had the goal against the Red Riots. Deering (10th in the Western A Heals at press time) will likely play a preliminary round playoff game on the road Saturday at Gorham, Sanford or Thornton Academy.

Portland, a regional finalist in 2011, didn’t qualify for the postseason this year. The Bulldogs finished 3-10-1 and 15th in Western A (only 11 teams made the playoffs). Portland dropped games at Noble (5-2) and at home to Westbrook (5-4), before closing with a 5-0 win at Biddeford. Against the Knights, Tory Clayton had both goals. Georgia Drew scored twice against the Blue Blazes. In the win, Clayton, Isabelle Dimillo, Drew, Lauren McIntyre and Leanne Reichert rattled the cage.

“Unfortunately, our hope for playoffs went out the window when Westbrook scored their go-ahead goal with 1:06 left in Wednesday’s game,” lamented Bulldogs coach Beth Arsenault. “It was very frustrating to say the least, however, I am really proud of the way our team played out the last five games, especially scoring nine goals in our final two games. Unfortunately, we just ran out of season or who knows what could have happened?”

McAuley went 0-14 this fall and finished 17th in the Heals. The Lions closed with losses to host Bonny Eagle (6-0), visiting Cheverus (5-0), host Westbrook (9-0) and host Massabesic. The Lions got 17 saves from Akech Allolding against the Stags.

In Western C, Waynflete capped its best regular season since 1979, edging visiting Traip (4-3, in double overtime) and downing visiting Poland (3-0), before losing, 5-0, at two-time state champion NYA. Against the Rangers, Nyanen Deng had two goals, including the winner in OT, and Merilla Michael and Madison Pellow also scored. Pellow, Elizabeth Berthy and Chloe Williams had the goals against the Knight. The Flyers (8-4-2) appear bound for the No. 3 spot, which would allow them to host a playoff game Oct. 16 for the first time in program history.

The playoffs begin with the preliminary round Saturday, continue with the quarterfinals Tuesday and Wednesday of next week and move on to the semifinals Oct. 20. All of those rounds will be hosted by the higher ranked team. The regional final round is Oct. 23, at Scarborough High School. The state championship games are Oct. 27, at the University of Maine in Orono.

Cross country

Waynflete’s cross country teams wrapped up their regular season Thursday at Traip in a three-team meet, which also included York. Both teams came in second. The boys were paced by Josh Espy, who was first individually in 18 minutes, 15 seconds. The girls were led by Martha Veroneau (second, 21:10). The Flyers next take part in the Western Maine Conference championship meet Friday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.

Cheverus joined Thornton Academy at Scarborough last weekend. The girls were first and the boys second. Individually, Shannon Conley was runner-up in the girls’ race (19:41.3) and Zeb Tarasevich placed fifth in the boys’ competition (18:26.33).

Deering and McAuley joined Westbrook at Massabesic last week. The Rams came in second in the boys’ meet, as Yahye Hussein placed fifth (17:59). In the girls’ race, the Lions were second and Deering finished fourth. Individually, McAuley’s Adele Werner was sixth (23:08). The Rams were led by Kathy Cho (16th, 27:48).

Portland joined Kennebunk and Sanford at Windham. The Bulldogs were third in the boys’ race and fourth on the girls’ side. Individually, Ben Allen won the boys’ meet (17:12) and Elin Roland was 11th (23:32) for the girls.

The SMAA regular season ends Friday when Deering hosts Cheverus, McAuley, Portland and South Portland.

The regional championship meet is Saturday, Oct. 20, at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland. The state championships are Oct. 27 in Belfast. The New England championship meet is also at Twin Brook, Nov. 10.

Volleyball

Cheverus’ volleyball team began the week 2-8 and 12th in Class A (where the top nine teams make the playoffs) after a 3-0 home loss to Biddeford Wednesday of last week. The Stags were at Cony Tuesday, host Windham Wednesday, play at Cape Elizabeth Friday and close their first varsity season at defending champion Greely Monday.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

Sidebar Elements

---

Waynflete junior Henry Cleaves’ rush is broken up by NYA senior Jacob Scammon during the Flyers’ 2-0 home win Friday.

Waynflete senior Jo Moore plays the ball during the Flyers’ 5-0 loss at two-time defending Class C state champion NYA last week. The Flyers finished the regular season with a sparkling 8-4-2 record and are primed to host a playoff game for the first time in program history.

Copy the Story Link