The Livermore Falls field hockey team toiled all season long toward a perfect record. The Andies fell a single game short of that goal and, at 13-1, missed out on the top spot in Western Class C, finishing in second behind Telstar, which also finished at 13-1.
The team’s reward for a strong second-place finish? A date with rival Jay in a do-or-die Western Class C quarterfinal next Tuesday.
“It’s a whole new ball game now that playoffs have started,” Livermore Falls coach Julia Parker said. “Facing Jay is not what we wanted to do, because it’s always a different feeling when Jay and Livermore Falls play each other. The lower seed, with the rivalry, can always upset the higher seed.”
A top-two finish was a priority for the Andies, though. This way, if they do get past Jay, they’ll host the conference semifinal. If seeds hold, that opponent would be 13-1 North Yarmouth Academy, another perennial title contender and the defending Western Class C champion.
“I don’t know much about NYA other than they’re always a good team and they have another good record this year,” Parker said. “The thing is, if we were to get by Jay, NYA would have to come to us this time instead of us meeting them on turf. So if we can get that far, having home field is big.”
The feeling that a lower seed is gunning for a win over a higher seed isn’t unique to an intense rivalry. In the playoffs, and particularly in a single-elimination format, anything goes.
Just ask Winthrop. Last year, the class of the MVC alongside Telstar, the Ramblers earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern C playoffs. In their first game, No. 7 Orono took the Ramblers out.
This year, Winthrop is back in the Eastern C playoffs, and will again host a quarterfinal, this time as a No. 4 seed. The Ramblers will face Mattanawcook.
The Rebels, meanwhile, all they did was again garner the top seed in Western C. After falling to Livermore Falls, 6-0, in the second game of the season, Telstar went unbeaten, including a 2-0 win in a rematch with the Andies.
Telstar will face No. 8 Freeport in the quarterfinal round. Lisbon finished its season strong, with wins in three of its last four games, including a 3-1 victory over Winthrop in the season finale. At 8-6, the Greyhounds earned the No. 5 seed and will travel to No. 4 Sacopee Valley.
In Eastern Class A, a pair of area teams have qualified in the top four, and the matchups vary sharply.
Edward Little, which split a season series with Messalonskee, earned the No. 3 seed, and will host No. 6 Lawrence.
“We haven’t seen Lawrence this year, so it’s a matter of playing an unknown,” EL coach Greg Perkins said. “Looking at their scores, they played a lot of teams tough, so we know we’re in for a battle.”
The Eddies began the season with a cautiously optimistic outlook. Those expectations heightened with a key victory.
“Once we beat Cony earlier this year, we felt we could play with anybody,” Perkins said. “There are a couple we’d probably like to have back, and really, we could have maybe had 12 wins instead. But we’ll take third. You have to go through everyone if you want to win it, anyway.”
Oxford Hills, meanwhile, slipped into the No. 4 position with a dramatic victory over Cony in the teams’ regular-season finale. The reward? Another date with the Rams.
The Vikings capped an up-and-down season at 8-5-1, a record that includes a Heal Points-rich tie with Edward Little, which followed a stunning loss to Lewiston. At No. 4, Oxford Hills will host the rematch with No. 5 Cony.
No. 1 Skowhegan, meanwhile, again capped a perfect season and will host No. 8 Mt. Ararat, while Messalonskee earned the No. 2 spot and hosts No. 7 Brunswick.
“Obviously, in the second round, if we get there, we get Messalonskee, and we know we have a chance to beat them, because we did this year already,” Perkins said.
Two area teams found their way into the Western Class B playoff ladder. In the most widely-scattered division that features teams from three different conferences, No. 7 Mountain Valley, representing the MVC, will travel just a few dozen miles to take on KVAC stalwart Leavitt, the second seed.
“They play in a different league than we do, and so do half the other teams in the playoffs, so we have three different leagues and different styles coming together in the playoffs,” Mountain Valley coach Melissa Forbes said.
“We did see Leavitt in the summer, and at one of our preseason play days at Yarmouth,” Forbes added. “It’s pretty laid back in the summer, but that play day, we did see them. I think our girls would much rather see Leavitt than a Greely or any other team further south. The bus ride is much better for us going to Leavitt.”
The Hornets had one of their better regular seasons in recent memory, posting a 10-2-1 record, including a 5-0-1 mark away from home. Their 5-1-1 home record includes a stunning 3-2 overtime win over previously unbeaten Mt. View, a win that pushed the Hornets into the No. 2 position.
Mountain Valley, meanwhile, played in the Class C-dominated MVC, and held its own against the top teams in Western C. At 9-5, the junior-dominated Falcons were a game better at home (5-2), than on the road (4-3). Facing the Hornets, Forbes said, is going to take some solid play through the midfield and up front.
“If you look at a lot of their games, they have a lot of wins by one goal, so it seems like they play a lot of the game in the midfield,” Forbes said. “It doesn’t seem like they’re outscoring their opponents by a lot, so the front line is going to be very important.”
Most teams begin their playoff push Tuesday, with a select few opting to play Wednesday. The regional semifinals are slated for Saturday, Oct. 23, the regional finals for Wednesday, Oct. 27, and the state finals for Saturday, Oct. 30.
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