The month of October has arrived – the month of champions.

The first hardware will be handed out Monday when golf crowns its state champions. The other fall sports are also winding down their regular seasons and the drama is palpable.

Here’s a glimpse at where things stand:

Golf

Scarborough’s golf team earned a berth in the state match at the Southern Maine Activities Association qualifier Monday.

The Red Storm (7-3 in the regular season) had a team score of 315, finishing third by three strokes to Deering and one behind Cheverus. Zach Pelczar (77), Hunter Sacville (78) and Dan Slavin (78) all qualified for the individual state match. Kyle Parrott (82) also took part.

South Portland (0-10 this fall) didn’t compete as a team.

Cape Elizabeth looked to punch its ticket at the Western Maine Conference championships Wednesday.

The individual golf championships for boys and girls will be held Oct. 15, also at Natanis.

Cross country

South Portland competed at the Cross Country Festival of Champions in Belfast last weekend. The boys (seventh in the latest coaches’ poll) were 11th among 50 scoring teams. The girls wound up 18th out of 40. Senior Thomas Salamone was the top male individual (47th, 18:14.25). Junior Nyajock Pan finished ninth in the girls’ meet (20:15.69).

Cape Elizabeth’s boys also took part and came in 17th. The top individual was sophomore Peter Doane (38th, 18:01.46).

Closer to home, Scarborough hosted Kennebunk, McAuley and Noble last Wednesday and both teams were second. The Red Storm boys were second in the latest coaches’ poll behind Falmouth.

Cape Elizabeth’s girls (ranked seventh by the coaches) joined Merriconeag and NYA at Fryeburg Saturday and won the meet.

Friday, Cape Elizabeth (along with Falmouth and Yarmouth) runs at Greely, Scarborough joins Thornton Academy at Cheverus and South Portland (with Biddeford and Bonny Eagle) runs at Marshwood.

Boys’ soccer

Scarborough was leading the Western Class A Heal Points standings at press time with a 7-1-2 mark. The Red Storm were upset, 3-2, at Windham Saturday, but blanked visiting Noble, 6-0, Monday. Austin Downing and Andrew Jones scored in the loss. Jones and Trevor Sparda both had two goals in the victory. Scarborough is idle until Tuesday when it hosts Westbrook.

South Portland was ninth in Western A at press time despite improving to 6-2-1 after a 5-0 home win over Bonny Eagle last Thursday. The Red Riots were paced by two goals apiece from Akiba Davis and Nem Kaurin. South Portland played a pivotal game at Cheverus Thursday, hosts Gorham in an equally important contest Saturday and goes to Thornton Academy Tuesday.

Cape Elizabeth went 1-1-1 in its last three games, winning at Lake Region (6-0), tying host York (1-1) and losing at home to defending Class B state champion Yarmouth (1-0). Justin Cary scored twice in the victory. Tim Lavallee had the goal in the draw. Against the Clippers, the Capers fell behind in the fourth minute and could never catch up in a rain-plagued affair.

“It was a sloppy night,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Ben Raymond. “We didn’t have an awful lot of shots on goal in the first half. Neither team really played great. They probably had a little more possession, but there really wasn’t much possession at all. It’s just tough in these conditions. We’ve been pretty much even with all the good teams. I think everybody’s really close. One mistake or one good play is the difference between winning and losing.”

The Capers were home with Poland Thursday and go to Waynflete Tuesday.

“We still have a lot of points out there,” Raymond said. “We’d like to stay in the top four.”

In Western D, Greater Portland Christian School was 6-4 and sixth in the standings after winning three straight. The Lions edged host AR Gould, 2-1, on goals from Than Peterson and Adam Simpson, blanked Acadia Christian, 9-0, as David Davol and Eric Pearson each scored twice and shut out Chop Point Christian, 3-0, as Pearson, Peterson and Ryan Waugh all scored. After hosting Buckfield Wednesday, GPCS goes to Acadia Christian Monday and welcomes Richmond next Wednesday.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth has slipped behind Greely in the Western A Heals, but the Capers did improve to 8-0-2 with recent shutouts of visiting Lake Region (6-0, behind two goals from Addie Wood) and host Gray-New Gloucester (2-0, as Melanie Vangel and Kathryn Clark scored). Cape Elizabeth was at Poland Thursday and welcomes Waynflete Tuesday.

Defending Class A champion Scarborough held off host Deering, 3-2, last Wednesday, then won at Windham, 2-0, Saturday to improve to 6-1-2 and third in the Heals. Against the Rams, Haley Carignan scored twice in the first half, but Deering answered both times, with the second goal coming at the horn signifying the end of the first half. Carignan struck again in the second half and this time, the Red Storm made the lead hold up.

“Deering’s a really good team,” Carignan said. “Coming into this game, we knew no matter what the rankings said, we had to come out and play. After losing 12 seniors and I don’t know how many starters, it just shows we have something to prove this year and that we have to work hard to even compete. I think we’re doing an amazing job. We can do even better. We’re improving as the season goes on. The way the other games have gone proves we’re still one of the top teams.”

The Red Storm went to Noble Wednesday and visit McAuley Friday.

This squad is seeking to rediscover its championship form and could very well be there once again when all is said and done.

South Portland is 5-3-1 and eighth in the standings after Friday’s 1-0 win at Bonny Eagle (Emily Masters had the goal). The Red Riots went to Gorham Wednesday, host Massabesic in a makeup game next Tuesday, then welcome Thornton Academy the following night.

GPCS lost, 3-2, to Rangeley last Friday and 7-6 to Calvary Chapel Saturday to fall to 0-8 and sixth in the Western D Heals. Elaine Beech scored twice against Rangeley and added four against Calvary Chapel. The Lions were home with Buckfield Wednesday and host Vinalhaven Friday. They visit Sacopee Valley Monday and host Richmond Wednesday of next week in the season finale.

Field hockey

Scarborough’s field hockey team is closing in on the top seed for the playoffs once again. The Red Storm beat hosts Thornton Academy and Windham by 2-0 scores last week and improved to 11-0-1 Tuesday with an 8-1 home victory over Deering. Grace Whelan and Lindsay Dobecki scored against the Golden Trojans, Maddie Dobecki and Karli-An Gilbert against the Eagles and Ellie Walker led the way against the Rams with a pair of goals. The Red Storm went to Noble Thursday and closes the regular season at home versus Kennebunk Wednesday.

South Portland took a 1-10 mark and the No. 17 position in the Western A Heals into Wednesday’s home game with Windham. The Red Riots lost at Biddeford (1-0) and Sanford (4-0) last week. South Portland goes to Deering Friday and closes the year at home against Noble Wednesday.

Cape Elizabeth still needs a win or two to make the postseason. The Capers lost 1-0 decisions to Fryeburg and York in recent action. Cape Elizabeth took a 2-8-1 mark and the No. 11 seed (only the top 10 qualify for the playoffs) into Wednesday’s pivotal game at Wells. After visiting Greely Friday, the Capers close at home against Falmouth Tuesday.

Volleyball

The volleyball regular season is also winding down.

Scarborough is 8-2 and third behind Greely and Mt. Desert Island in the Class A Heals after going 1-1 in recent action, blanking host Kennebunk, 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 27-25), before falling in four close games at Greely Friday (20-25, 16-25, 25-16, 23-25). Brittany Bona had nine kills, seven aces and four digs against the Rams and 15 kills and 10 digs versus the Rangers. Emily Robbins finished with 19 assists and five digs against Kennebunk and 24 assists against Greely. Mary Cleary had seven kills and a block in the victory. Rachel Webber had 10 kills and Meghan Bickmore added seven digs in the loss.

The Red Storm went to Cony Wednesday, visits Cape Elizabeth Friday, goes to Yarmouth Tuesday of next week and closes the regular year at home against defending state champion Biddeford Thursday.

Cape Elizabeth was 3-8 and seventh in Class A at press time. The Capers lost in three sets to visiting Kennebunk last week and 3-0 at Gorham Tuesday. Cape Elizabeth hosts Scarborough, Cony and Lake Region to close the season.

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