When Dave Morin noticed that the boys’ soccer job was vacant at Winthrop earlier this year, it proved too tempting for the former longtime coach at Edward Little.
“Marc (Fortin) and I have been working together for a couple years on baseball,” said Morin. “Baseball had ended. Nobody had applied for the soccer job. We just, sort of, off the cuff, said, ‘We ought to look into applying for that.’ A couple hours later, he call me up and said ‘Let’s go for it.’ Nobody else had applied for it.”
It wasn’t too different from when Morin took the Red Eddies job back in 1978. Nobody else was interested. So Morin, with little coaching experience, decided to do it. Until his retirement in 2012, after 34 years, he was the only coach Edward Little boys’ soccer had ever had.
After one year off the soccer sidelines, he’s back. He lives just five miles away from Winthrop and likes being back coaching again.
“It’s been easy,” said Morin. “As long as the weather stays like this. When it gets to be 20 degrees and the winds blowing and we’re up at Carrabec I might think otherwise.”
The Ramblers program has been struggling in recent years. This season is no different. Winthrop (1-7-1) has six freshmen and only a couple of subs each game. But Morin says the team is working hard and improving all the time.
Team defense
The top-ranked St. Dom’s girls’ soccer team has only allowed six goals all season. That’s a pretty good accomplishment considering much of the defense is brand new.
“My backline is mostly juniors,” said St. Dom’s coach Alicia Pelletier. “I have a freshman and a junior that subs in. Only two of them played last year.”
Juniors Sam Ladd and Kymberlee Johnson are the only two seasoned defenders in front of keeper Kelly Pomerleau. Hailey Eason, a junior newcomer, has stepped in to fill the stopper role.
Despite the lack of seasoning, the Saints defense has been solid as a whole. That’s because Pomerleau in net and the leadership in the midfield from Marley Byrne and Emily Caron have helped solidify things.
“We know how to move the ball and we know how to pass very well,” said Pelletier. “That’s what we have to do for us to be successful.”
The Saints suffered a blow this week when Byrne was injured in a 1-0 win against Mountain Valley. St. Dom’s has already been plagued by injuries this season and now lost their senior midfielder for the season.
Replacing that talent and experience in the midfield will be a challenge for the Saints (8-1-1). Still, the Saints strength was the ability to work as a team defensively and do the job from the keeper on out. Pomerleau makes a fine leader to build from.
“She’s a great captain because she leads in the right way,” said Pelletier. “She see the field very well. She uses her knowledge to help and improve people in front of her.”
Sprint to the finish
With roughly a week remaining in the field hockey regular season, there is a lengthy list of local games this week that will have an impact on teams preparing for a potential playoff run.
Spruce Mountain (10-0-1) may not catch York for the No. 1 seed in Western Class B. But since the regional final is played on a neutral, artificial turf site, anyway, the primary goal for the Phoenix is to finish in the top two to guarantee home games in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
“You want to be at home,” Spruce Mountain co-coach Jane DiPompo said. “Look at last year when we had to go on the road (to York). That makes it tough.”
Wins over St. Dom’s, Boothbay and Hall-Dale probably would be enough to secure that status. A loss may open the door to Cape Elizabeth, Leavitt or Lake Region, all currently in a fight for third.
Oak Hill (6-4-1) travels to Telstar (4-7) for a game of MVC and Western Class C significance. The Raiders, ranked No. 3 in the region, shut out the No. 6 Rebels 1-0 at home in Litchfield earlier this season.
Mt. Blue (10-2) has a measuring stick contest Tuesday at perennial Class A champion Skowhegan (12-0). The Cougars are at No. 3 in Eastern Maine for their best ranking in recent memory, but it will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure of a clash with the Indians, who won 7-0 in the first meeting this season.
Friday offers a rematch between Winthrop (9-1-1) and Lisbon (8-2-1), this time in the Greyhounds’ house. They were the Class C finalists in 2012, and the Sept. 26 game didn’t disappoint, with the Ramblers scoring twice in the final 10 minutes of regulation to avenge the their state-game loss with a 2-1 victory.
Lisbon remains No. 1 ahead of NYA in Western C, while Winthrop is third behind Winslow and Foxcroft in Eastern C.
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