The Orono High School girls soccer team and the Foxcroft Academy field hockey squad captured Eastern Maine Class C championships in their respective sports last season. Foxcroft went on to win the state title by beating North Yarmouth Academy 1-0 in the final; Orono lost to Waynflete of Portland 3-2 in double overtime.
The teams had veteran goalies returning, but knee injuries shelved both goalies for the upcoming season.
Brianna Skolfield allowed just one goal a year ago as the Ponies went 17-0-1. But she hurt her knee playing summer basketball and has returned to Central High School in Corinth, where she spent her first two years before transferring to Foxcroft last year.
Vicki Goodwin was a two-year starter for Orono but will undergo surgery after suffering a knee injury in practice a week ago.
“She was just moving around, jogging a little to get ready to start practice, and she planted her foot and her knee popped,” Orono coach Cid Dyjak explained.
Sophomore Katelyn Richards, the back-up goalie and midfielder, will replace Goodwin. Sophomore Sydney Robertson, who transferred from Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln, will back her up.
The Ponies have inherited a pair of players from the soccer team who will be vying for the goalkeeping job: Madison Chadbourne is a junior and Abby Simpson is a sophomore.
Dyjak and FA’s Stephanie Smith feel their teams will still contend, even though they will be inexperienced in goal.
“Katelyn has played very well in a couple of scrimmages,” Dyjak said. “Things are coming into place. She’s getting a little more confident. She’s cutting off her angles better. She still has a ways to go, but she is off to a great start.”
Smith said her duo has done a “great job” adapting to a new sport and learning the position.
“They’ve been working hard. They’re very athletic. Both played basketball and soccer. Simpson was a goalie and has the right instincts. Maddy is a natural athlete. They have certainly made progress,” Smith said.
Foxcroft, which opened with a 5-0 win over Class B Old Town, has plenty of weapons surrounding its goalkeepers as seven starters have returned.
Senior Julia Annis scored 21 goals a year ago and more than 40 goals over the past two seasons. Annis, fellow seniors Fern Morrison and Emma Tetlow and junior Madison Fadley comprise a prolific front line that will create havoc for opposing defenders.
Fadley scored the game-winners in the 1-0 wins over Winslow in the regional final and North Yarmouth Academy in the state game, and she picked up where she left off with the game-winner against Old Town along with an assist. Annis had two goals and an assist in the triumph.
Senior Jenny Boyer will head up the midfield, and senior Aliviah King, who was an exceptional sweeper a year ago, will make the transition to midfield. Sophomore Becca Anderson also will be in the midfield.
Junior Avery Carroll and senior Abby Simmons are a dependable pair of veteran backs, with senior Deseray LeBlanc and sophomore Lexi Raymond supplementing them.
“Brianna is a huge loss, but we’ll still do well,” Annis said. “We’re confident in our goalies and our defense.”
“The goalies have been doing fantastic. They’re working really hard in practice,” Fadley said. “As long as we keep working together and building as a team, we should be able to go far.”
Orono also has experienced top-notch talent up front, in the midfield and in the back.
The Riots went 15-2-1 last fall and are still seeking that elusive first state championship. They have played in three state finals over the past six years.
The offensive catalysts will include senior midfielder Diana Tyutyunnyk along with striker Daphne Murphy, midfielder-striker Becky Lopez-Anido, attacking midfielder Brinsley Chasse and outside midfielder Elizabeth White. Murphy, Lopez-Anido, Chasse and White are sophomores.
Senior Ally Gonyar will be a defensive midfielder. The other midfielders will include senior Bella Desisto, junior Ali Pickering and sophomore Elise Kenney. Desisto has been slowed in the early going by a back injury.
Three-year starters Lauren Stoops and Jordan Hernandez, both juniors, will headline the defense. They will be joined by junior Samantha Round and sophomore Lydia Chase.