Of all the high school sports on the fall spectrum, you might not expect to find many common denominators between field hockey and football.
When Mountain Valley field hockey coach Melissa Forbes and her husband, football coach Jim Aylward, get home from work and have that late-dinner conversation, however, they can almost complete each other’s sentences.
Like the football team that is taking its lumps with a senior-scarce team, Falcons field hockey is in the same boat. Four starters are freshmen. Three more are sophomores.
“We talk about the same things. The freshmen are very athletic, but they’re still freshmen,” Forbes said. “They want to be good and they will be, but it’s a lot to digest. We’re enjoying them. They’re polite. They’re not troublemakers.”
Mountain Valley graduated nine seniors from a 2011 team that reached the first Western Class B final in school history. Nine more played their final season in 2012, essentially turning over the entire team in two years.
Aly Carlton, Nichole Couch, Ellie Hall and Kayla Pingree are the only seniors on the roster. Sam Blanchard and Lindsay Marston are the lone juniors.
“A lot of our girls are coming right from the middle school game,” Forbes said. “So they ask me questions and at first I think they’re ridiculous questions, but then I end up apologizing because I forget.”
The Falcons have lost six straight games after a 2-1 start, but there have been ample signs of optimism.
Mountain Valley lost 1-0 to Dirigo after being on the receiving end of a 5-1 rout in a preseason scrimmage. The Falcons gave Lisbon, the top-ranked team in Western Class C, a battle before falling 2-0. They’ve also stayed within a goal of tournament locks Winthrop and Telstar.
“We’re trying to get the second line to support the front line,” Forbes said. “Sometimes I saw the front line supporting each other and I have to remind them that we need to score goals. It’s just a mindset.”
Festival atmosphere
The largest cross country meet of the season is less than a week away.
Nearly 1,700 runners are registered for the annual Festival of Champions, scheduled for Saturday at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast.
In-state registration is full at 70 teams. Schools from Rhode Island and Vermont and the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island also are scheduled to compete.
Josef Holt-Andrews of Telstar, who finished third in the boys’ race a year ago, is the top seed by 22 seconds.
He leads three local runners ranked among the top five. Aaron Willingham (third) and Josh Horne (fifth) represent Mt. Blue. Other top local boys’ competitors are Will Shafer of Gray-New Gloucester and the Lewiston pack of Mohamed Awil, Farhan Abdillahi, Mohamed Mohamed and Isaiah Harris. Mohamed and Harris each finished in the top 20 a year ago.
Sophomore Anne McKee of Kents Hill is top girls’ seed. Mt. Blue’s Sarah Wade, Katherine Gunther and Maggie Hickey all are ranked among the top 60 out of more than 700 female runners.
Where did the season go?
From the Time Flies Department: Monday is the final day of the Mountain Valley Conference golf regular season.
The league will hold its team championships at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro on Thursday. Wiscasset, Winthrop and St. Dom’s are the favorites. The winner will receive at automatic berth in the state team championship, also at Natanis, on Oct. 11.
This year’s individual state championship will be played at Natanis on Oct. 18.
Solid in the net
The defense for the Mt. Abram girls’ soccer team is pretty young. The Roadrunners have two freshmen starters and two seniors that played midfield last year. That’s why keeper Allie Lopez is playing such a significant role for the Runners this fall.
“The entire defense is new,” said Mt. Abram coach Marc Keller. “So other than Allie, everybody is new. So we’re still understanding and developing those communication skills.”
Mt. Abram (4-3) is in the hunt for a playoff spot and has played some tough games against some pretty good competition. Lopez has been a key part of that. She’s been a leader in the back for the Roadrunners and helped keep her club in every game with save after save.
“She’s one of the best,” Keller said. “We’ve given up a lot more goals this year than I’d hoped for. She’s a reason why we haven’t given up more. We’re playing okay, but we’re young.”
Mt. Abram has allowed 12 goals in seven games. That includes three against second-seeded St. Dom’s. Lopez has backstopped the Roadrunners to shutout wins against Winthrop and Dirigo.
“She’s the rock back there,” Keller said. “She communicates so well. She knows the game so well. She knows every position on the field and what they should be doing.”
Rich win
The Buckfield boys’ soccer team had a bit of a milestone victory recently. The Bucks beat Richmond 1-0 and now have the rematch looming this Thursday.
“When I was in high school, I never beat them,” said Buckfield coach Kyle Rines. “They were a very good program. During my experience as a coach, we’ve had some close games against them. I think it was a combination of us getting steadily better as a program and wanting it that day.”
It was a Jon Randolph goal that lifted the Bucks to the 1-0 win. The Bobcats hosts Thursday’s rematch.
“It was huge,” said Randolph. “It meant a lot to us. It shows that we not only can beat one of the top teams but also go all the way.”
Rines stressed to his team after that win that it is a long season and there are plenty more important wins ahead. The Bucks are currently ranked fourth in Western D after a tough 2-1 loss to Greenville Saturday.
“We’re striving to be at the top this year,” said Rines. I think we’re capable of doing that, but it’s about keeping our heads.”
Goal ‘Hounds
It was a tall order for the Lisbon girls’ soccer team to find scoring this year. The Greyhounds graduated much of its experienced offense from last year, including all-state scorer Kayla Angelico.
It showed early as Lisbon netted just one goal in its first three games, but the Greyhounds have since won four of its last five and scored 11 goals in its last four outings.
Coach Jake Gentle has tried a different formation this year in hopes of spreading the offense out and creating more scoring balance.
“It’s going to help us out with the personnel that we have,” Gentle said. “It creates more space. We can rely on everybody as a group doing a lot for us. It’s working really well because our passing is really getting better. The girls’ know we have to do it all together instead of having one or two girls’ do it for us.”
In a win over Boothbay, Deliah Schreiber had three goals. Paige Galligan had a pair against the Seahawks and the game-winner against Mt. Abram. Jenne Clifford had the lone goal in a win over Dirigo and also scored against the Roadrunners. Kailin Hill and Renae Samay-Houle have also been contributors up front.
“Some of our underclassmen have stepped up and so have our upperclassmen,” Galligan said. “We’re fortunate for that.”
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