Lewiston head coach Mike McGraw reacts following his team’s win over Hampden Academy in Lewiston in 2015.
Mike McGraw and Rocco Frenzilli have known each other a long time. Their 30-plus-year tenures as the head coaches of the Lewiston and Portland High School boys’ soccer teams, respectively, had a lot to do with their friendship.
“We’ve always said that it would be nice to meet each other in a state championship game,” McGraw said. “It’s funny because this year in the preseason when we played them he never said that, and here we are.”
Saturday’s Class A state final will finally pit McGraw and Frenzilli’s teams against each other.
The Blue Devils (13-2-2) will be making their fourth trip under McGraw, losing in 1991 and 2014 before breaking through in 2015. Frenzilli’s Bulldogs (13-3-1) teams made unsuccessful trips to the final in 1994 and 2010.
“I was telling my wife ‘playing in the state championship is like watching the movie ‘Brigadoon.’ When does the town come out? Every how many years? It’s just like that for us,” Frenzilli joked.
Neither team was the favorite in its respective region, but both beat the defending regional champion in this year’s regional finals to advance to the state title game. Lewiston handed Bangor its first loss of the season, while Portland knocked off Gorham.
Frenzilli said the regional final against Gorham stood out for him because his team withstood the Rams’ late onslaught to win on penalty kicks.
Withstanding is something the Bulldogs have done well all season.
“Our defense has been very strong,” Frenzilli said.
That starts with senior goalie Rowan Daligan.
“Rowan has come up big in some big games for us, made some really key saves,” Frenzilli said. “His leadership, he’s the general on the field.”
McGraw, meanwhile, keyed in on Portland’s wing midfielders of Tyler Lemay and Manny Yugu as threats, as well as striker Pedro Fonseca.
“He’s a man-child,” McGraw said. “He’s fast, he’s solid, he’s strong. He takes a throw-in, it’s just like a corner kick. That’s a huge weapon.”
McGraw said the Bulldogs can match his team speed for speed, maybe more speed than the Blue Devils have faced all season.
Frenzilli said he hasn’t gotten to see much of Lewiston. A preseason meeting doesn’t amount to much because neither team was the same version of itself that will be displayed in Saturday’s state final at Deering High School’s Memorial Stadium.
“They sound very young, they sound very explosive, obviously well-coached, and we’re looking forward to a great match,” Frenzilli said. “After the first five or 10 minutes of the game you’re going to know. We know what we’re going to be facing: A very fast, aggressive team that’s just going to keep coming at you. I noticed that this summer in that little game that we played with them up there.”
McGraw said his team might be able to find success on the counter-attack if the Bulldogs push forward, but if they don’t the Blue Devils can work on controlling the ball and finding a weakness in Portland’s “very solid defensive core.”
“It’s like two really evenly-matched teams that are going to play against each other. It’s probably going to come down to a mistake or a brilliant play,” McGraw said. “I’d like to see brilliant as opposed to mistakes.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Portland head coach Rocco Frenzilli talks with his players at half time of the game. (John Ewing/Portland Press Herald)
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