A winning record last fall wasn’t good enough to earn a playoff spot for the Monmouth Academy girls’ soccer team.
Despite great improvements during the season, the Mustangs still had some work to do. So this season, Monmouth is determined to build off that and hope for bigger and better things.
The Mustangs did just that in the first week of the season with three straight wins. Monmouth beat Mountain Valley 3-1, blanked Hall-Dale 2-0 and beat Boothbay convincingly, 9-3. The unbeaten start came to an end Monday night with a 3-2 loss to Spruce Mountain.
“We’re trying to get to that next step and winning those three games was big for these girls,” said Monmouth coach Gary Trafton. “We’re scoring goals. We’ve scored 16 goals in four games and three years ago, we only scored nine the whole season.”
Monmouth has made great strides since those lean years and after going 7-5-2, the Mustang are poised to be a club contending for a berth in the Western C tourney.
With just six seniors on the team, the Mustangs are still developing but three straight wins does wonders for their self-assurance.
“That helped,” said Trafton. “We got some confidence. We showed we could score some goals. Against Spruce Mountain we had opportunities and just didn’t finish when we had to.”
Monmouth has a formidable group up front that has provided a finishing touch. Kylie Kemp and Chelse Arsenault each have four goals while Ashley Coulombe and Danielle Burmann each have three. The Mustangs have a solid defense, anchored by seniors Molly Menice, Kourtnee Langlois, Angie Bechard, Burmann and junior Lenny Urquhart in front of sophomore keeper Natalie Young. Senior Colby Wilson and junior Melissa Brassard have led the midfield.
The biggest challenge thus far for Monmouth has been finding some stability in their play. When that happens, the Mustangs c0uld have even greater potential. Monmouth showed that against the Phoenix nearly forcing overtime after rallying from a 3-0 deficit. Had the Mustangs played as well the first 15 minutes as they did the last, it might have been a different game.
“It’s just putting it together consistently and playing hard,” said Trafton. “It takes a lot out of you to play hard all the time, but that’s what you have to do to be an elite team.”
Scoring touch
Scoring goals certainly hasn’t been a problem for Spruce Mountain. The unbeaten Phoenix (3-0) have already scored 19 goals. That included 1o in the season opener against Winthrop, led by Alexi Deering’s eight.
“We have a really strong team all around,” said Deering. “We lost some key players and didn’t necessarily replace those players, but overall, we have way more depth.”
Deering leads the Phoenix with 11 goals and four assists while her freshmen sidekicks up front have been a force as well. Vanese Barnes has two goals and five assists while Megan Duval has a pair of goals.
After the 10-2 drubbing of the Ramblers, the Phoenix beat Carrabec 6-1 and edged Monmouth 3-2, putting them third in the Western B standings.
“We’ve got some kids up front that are more offensive,” said Spruce Mountain coach Jon Blaisdell. “I’ve got two freshmen up front with Alexi now, and they make a huge difference. That takes pressure off her because both those kids can score.”
Junior defendender Lindsey Allen also has a pair while sophomore midfielder Hayley Doyon has a goal. Emily Keene, a freshman keeper and midfielder, also has a goal.
“Up front and in the middle we’re doing a really good job passing,” said Deering.
That’s been a focus of this club this year. With experienced players coming over from both the Jay and Livermore Falls programs, the Phoenix have been trying to hone their skills. They have some good quickness and athletes to work with.
“We’re working on our passing game a lot,” said Blaisdell. “We’ve always been a boot-and-chase team. We’ve been working on our passing and hope that you’ll see more passing from us.”
The Phoenix may get their toughest test of the season Wednesday afternoon at St. Dom’s. The defending MVC champs reached the regional final last year and are currently 2-1 and ranked second in Western C.
“This is probably the best team I’ve had talent-wise,” said Blaisdell. “It’s more well-rounded and deeper than what we’ve had before. It’s exciting.”
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