POLAND — Poland boys’ soccer received a painful reminder Monday afternoon about life in the Western Maine Conference.
Even the schools in your general geographic area and immediate neighbors in the standings are a tough assignment.
Fryeburg rolled into town with a matching one-win resume, then rode off with a convincing 6-0 victory.
“We played with them all summer long and in the preseason,” said Poland coach Allen Hanson. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to compete, but we’re so used to being on the other side. Once that ball goes in the net, it’s like a waterfall. You hate to say it, but it’s true.”
Wyatt Andreoli and Milos Mijokov each scored two goals for the Raiders (2-4), who snapped a three-game scoreless streak and then some.
Poland (1-4) kept the cage clean for 17 minutes to start the game until Paul Kurnick’s goal queued up a familiar refrain for the Knights.
“We got a lot of confidence after that,” Kurnick said. “We’ve played a pretty tough schedule early in the season.”
Andreoli cashed in just over two minutes later off Bjorn Myhre’s steal in the Knights’ defensive zone.
Mijokov made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal just before the half.
Poland goalkeeperDillon Douglas charged out of the cage in an effort to slow Mijokov’s breakaway bid. Mijokov recovered the ball and filled the open net.
Douglas did his part for the Knights, chalking up 14 first-half saves to offset a 22-2 shot disparity in Fryeburg’s favor.
Sam Larrivee, Cam Spiller, Collin Dudley and Nate Rybeck also worked feverishly on defense to minimize the damage for Poland.
The Knights have been outscored 35-0 since a season-opening 4-3 win at Wells. Monday’s game, like Wednesday’s scheduled trip to Freeport, was one that Poland visualized as a potential win.
“That’s what you hope, but a lot of it depends on which team shows up,” Hanson said. “We’ve seen flashes of it this season.”
Shots and scoring runs were more even in the second half, but Andreoli and Mijokov each connected again in the first eight minutes before the Raiders began liberal substitution.
Fabian Schoerner set up Andreoli. Mijokov made a great solo effort through traffic to slip his second goal of the day inside the left post.
“It’s a matter of us coming together as a team. You could see that happening today,” Andreoli said. “It wasn’t just an individual effort.”
Poland had two point-blank chances to break the shutout.
Jacob Littlefield’s blast from 15 yards escaped goalie Mike Creegan’s dive but sailed wide left. Creegan later leaped to corral Logan Nichols’ tough bid at the crossbar.
Andy Seo completed the scoring for Fryeburg with 13 seconds left.
koakes@sunjournal.com
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- Poland goalie Dillon Douglass can’t get to a shot by a Fryeburg Academy player, one of six goals the team gave up during Monday’s 6-0 loss at home.
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- Poland’s Logan Nichols, left and Fryeburg’s Bjorn Myhre battle for the ball during Monday afternoon’s game in Poland.
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- Poland’s Logan Nichols, left and Fryeburg’s Conrad Ward battle to get a head on a goal kick during Monday afternoon’s contest in Poland.
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- Action from 9/20/10 boys varsity soccer game between Fryeburg Academy and Poland High School in Poland.
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- Action from 9/20/10 boys varsity soccer game between Fryeburg Academy and Poland High School in Poland.
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- Action from 9/20/10 boys varsity soccer game between Fryeburg Academy and Poland High School in Poland.
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- Action from 9/20/10 boys varsity soccer game between Fryeburg Academy and Poland High School in Poland.
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- Action from 9/20/10 boys varsity soccer game between Fryeburg Academy and Poland High School in Poland.
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- Action from 9/20/10 boys varsity soccer game between Fryeburg Academy and Poland High School in Poland.
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- Action from 9/20/10 boys varsity soccer game between Fryeburg Academy and Poland High School in Poland.
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- Action from 9/20/10 boys varsity soccer game between Fryeburg Academy and Poland High School in Poland.
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