The early November snowstorm that dumped 12 to 18 inches of snow on much of Eastern and Northern Maine has created a major headache for athletic directors whose natural grass fields won’t be playable on Wednesday when the regional soccer championship games are supposed to be held.
Four of the eight Eastern Maine finals set for Wednesday could be postponed.
The athletic directors are seeking the closet artificial turf field for their schools’ games, but that is no guarantee.
Two of those fields are Husson University’s Boucher Field in Bangor and the Hampden Academy field, but Husson’s snow-removal machine is broken and Hampden doesn’t allow shoveling on its field.
So it will be a question of how fast will the snow melt. That could force the games to be pushed back to Thursday.
Mike Bisson, Hampden Academy athletic director, and Jason Harvey, Husson University’s assistant director of athletics for facilities and game management, said the odds aren’t good that their fields will be playable on Wednesday.
“I would probably say there is a 20 percent chance. We’re still under a foot of snow,” Harvey said. He noted that if the machine was working, they could clear the field in four hours.
Bisson said 20 percent was also an accurate assessment of the chances of games at the Hampden field on Wednesday.
Both said the odds would be much better for Thursday especially if Wednesday’s forecast of 50-plus degree weather holds.
The state championship boys and girls games in Classes A and D are slated to be held in Hampden on Saturday.
Two regional championship games have been definitely changed.
The Eastern Maine girls title games between Ashland and Penobscot Valley of Howland in Class D and Houlton and Fort Kent in Class C have been switched to the Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex adjacent to the Presque Isle Middle School on Wednesday. The Johnson Athletic Complex has artificial turf.
Ashland and Houlton were supposed to host the games but their fields are not playable.
Ashland and PVHS will play at 3 p.m., with Houlton and Fort Kent squaring off at 5 p.m.
Presque Isle High School athletic director Mark White said he had a crew taking the top layer of snow off with a snowblower on Monday “and we’ll use grooming equipment to take the rest of it off.”
He said the only obstacle was high snow drifts in some places.
The Lewiston, Ellsworth, Orono and Bangor Christian boys are the higher seeds for the Eastern Maine title games, so they are the host schools, but it appears as though only Lewiston will have the game on its grass field because the Lewiston-Auburn area received under two inches of snow.
Lewiston will entertain Brunswick at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Ellsworth coach Brian Higgins said soccer players, football players and parents were shoveling off Del Luce Stadium field on Monday but he feels it is a long shot that they will be able to play on Wednesday.
“We got eight inches of snow,” Higgins said. “Even if we got it shoveled off, it would be a mud-pie.”
He expects to explore the possibility of playing on the artificial turf field at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.
Orono and Bangor Christian are awaiting word on the availability of the Husson and Hampden Academy fields. The Orono boys are playing Central of Corinth, while Bangor Christian is entertaining Ashland.
“We’re hoping to play at 4 p.m. at Hampden on Wednesday but if the Hampden field isn’t ready, we’re hoping to play at 4:30 at Husson. Bangor Christian has already played a couple of [playoff] games at Husson so we’ll work around them,” Archer said.
Archer said he hopes the sunny weather predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday pans out.
“Once you get bear spots on the [artificial] turf, the rubber pellets [under the artificial grass] heat right up and the snow goes quickly,” said Archer.
Archer called the situation “a nuisance” but said “there’s nothing you can do about it.”
If the games are pushed back to Thursday, that will be a disadvantage because the Eastern Maine champ will have just one day to prepare for the state final and won’t be as rested as the Western Maine titlist.
In the girls regional finals, Edward Little of Auburn will host Mt. Ararat of Topsham at 1:30 p.m. on its grass field on Wednesday but the Class B game between Hermon and Waterville is up in the air.
Waterville will host the game.
“[Waterville athletic director Heidi Bernier] wasn’t hopeful about playing on their grass field so she was looking at Thomas College or Colby College,” Hermon athletic director Steph Biberstein said.
Thomas and Colby are both in Waterville and both have turf fields.