The Bangor boys soccer program has come of age in recent times, compiling a 45-3-3 record with two Eastern Maine Class A titles and one state championship since the start of the 2006 season.
There’s little to suggest the Rams won’t be right back among the elite contenders for regional and state honors again this fall.
“Depth we have, and talent we have,” said second-year head coach David Patterson, who guided Bangor to a 16-1-1 record, a regional title and a 1-0 loss to Scarborough in last year’s state final.
“And we’re very, very experienced.”
Bangor did graduate 10 seniors — including six starters — from last year’s team, a group led by All-American back Ryan Larochelle.
But Patterson’s style of rotating up to 15 players in and out of the lineup throughout matches leaves the Rams with a deep corps of returning players to go with several impact sophomores.
“Each year is different, different people and different teams,” said Patterson. “I’m looking forward to seeing this year’s team evolve and develop its own personality.”
Defense was at the foundation of Bangor’s success last fall, when the Rams yielded just six goals.
That’s also where graduation may have hit hardest, with just one starter back on the back line.
Bud Angst emerged as the starter in goal last fall, and returns for his senior season after amassing 12 shutouts in 2008. Other goalies who could contribute are Colin Corneil and Jesse Perkins.
Seniors Kyle Savage and Colby Treadwell are experienced defenders, and the Rams may get a boost from the potential shift of 6-foot-5 senior Clark Noonan from the front line to defense.
Noonan scored 11 goals last fall, but stood out defensively during Bangor’s recent scrimmages against Brunswick, Yarmouth and Cheverus of Portland.
Senior Cody Cormier returns as a pivotal player at midfield, along with junior Jacques Larochelle.
Senior Nick George, who led Bangor with 17 goals and eight assists last fall, is a four-year starter at forward, and other returning goal-scorers include juniors Luke Hetterman (11-4) and Phil Frost (10-5).
“We know we’re going to score goals,” said Patterson.
Four sophomores, Connor Griffin, Alex Shi, John Szewczyk and Collin Kimsey, also are expected to contend for considerable playing time.
“We want to make sure they gain that experience,” said Patterson.
Reclassification will make for slight changes in Bangor’s schedule this fall, with the Rams scheduled to play both Messalonskee of Oakland and Mt. Blue of Farmington twice instead of once as was the case last season.
Messalonskee played Bangor to a 1-1 tie in 2008, the only blemish on the Rams’ record until the state final.
Patterson expects Brunswick, Messalonskee, Waterville, Hampden Academy and Mt. Blue to be among the Rams’ chief challengers for Eastern A supremacy this fall.
“There are five or six teams that are always going to be competitive,” said Patterson, whose team opens its season against Brewer on Sept. 4. “There are no easy games any more.”
Play days for preseason
High schools around the state are making preseason schedule adjustments to accommodate for the new Maine Principals’ Association rule approved last winter that limits teams to a maximum of five scrimmages or exhibition dates.
Instead of scheduling a single opponent for such a date, “play days” involving several schools meeting at a single location on the same date, has become common as part of the preseason schedule for soccer and field hockey teams.
The Bangor boys varsity soccer team competed in a four-team preseason event at Brunswick High School last Saturday, along with the host Dragons, Cheverus of Portland and Yarmouth, the reigning Class B state champion.
“It worked out pretty well,” said Patterson. “We probably got the equivalent of two full games in against some real good competition.”
Bangor will host a similar play day beginning at noon Saturday, with perennial Western Maine power Falmouth and 2008 Eastern B finalist Camden Hills of Rockport the guests.
The decision to limit all sports teams to a maximum of five dates for noncountable preseason games, scrimmages, holiday tournaments or other exhibition contest was one of two cost-cutting measures approved by the MPA’s Interscholastic Management Committee last January.
The other change will trim postseason fields in sports governed by Heal points — soccer, field hockey, volleyball, ice hockey, basketball, baseball, softball, tennis and lacrosse — to 50 percent of the teams in each class for at least the next two years, down from 66 percent.
Western C football expands
Four more high school football teams will qualify for postseason play this fall with the expansion of the Campbell Conference Class C, or Western Maine Class C, from 10 to 14 teams. Freeport and Sacopee Valley of South Hiram will field varsity teams for the first time, while Maranacook of Readfield and Oak Hill of Sabattus have been reclassified from Eastern Maine Class B to Western Maine Class C.
As a result, Western C will have an eight-game regular-season schedule followed by an eight-team playoff format, as compared to nine regular-season games and a four-team playoff format a year ago.
Western C also has been divided into two divisions for scheduling purposes.
The southern division consists of Boothbay, Freeport, Lisbon, Old Orchard Beach, Traip Academy of Kittery and Yarmouth.
The northern division consists of Dirigo of Dixfield, Jay, Livermore Falls, Madison, Maranacook, Oak Hill and Winthrop.
Statewide, 44 football teams will qualify for postseason play this fall. The only division that does not have an eight-team format is the 10-team Western Maine Class B, which still uses a nine-game regular season followed by a four- team playoff alignment.
The Pine Tree Conference Class B (or Eastern Maine Class B) ranks will drop from 11 to 10 teams with the addition of the new varsity program at Camden Hills of Rockport to partially offset to shift of Maranacook and Oak Hill to Western C. But according to the MPA football bulletin, PTC B will continue to use an eight-team playoff format.
Seventy-four teams overall will field varsity programs this fall, 40 in Western Maine and 34 in the East. Twenty-eight Class A teams, 20 Class B teams and 26 Class C programs make up the statewide total.
