Some streaks are made to be broken, others to be extended.
The Bangor Christian boys soccer team hopes to extend its streak of state championships to six in a row on Saturday, when the Patriots play in one of eight finals to be held at Hampden Academy or Deering High School in Portland.
Bangor Christian (16-1) will play undefeated Richmond (17-0) in its 10 a.m. Class D matchup at Hampden, and the Class A boys match between Lewiston (16-0-1) and Cheverus of Portland (10-4-4) will be at 3 p.m. at the same site.
Boys matchups in Portland kick off at 10 a.m. with the Class B final between Ellsworth (16-0-1) and Yarmouth (13-2-2), and the Class C game between Orono (15-2) and Maranacook of Readfield (17-0) will be at 3 p.m.
Bangor Christian had its 64-match winning streak snapped by Penobscot Valley of Howland on Sept. 20, but coach Aaron Wilcox’s club has won 12 straight since then with a roster that includes five freshmen starters.
One of those freshmen, Tyler Welch, scored with 5:45 left in Thursday’s Eastern Maine final, the lone goal as top-ranked Bangor Christian edged third-seeded Ashland 1-0 to capture its sixth straight regional crown.
The victory marked the 12th consecutive shutout for the Patriots, who have allowed just five goals this fall and not been scored upon since their 2-1 loss to Penobscot Valley nearly two months ago.
A victory on Saturday would place Bangor Christian alone among Maine high school soccer teams for most consecutive state championships. The Patriots’ run of five straight since 2009 leaves them alone among boys programs in that category and tied with girls teams from Class A Waterville (1980-84) and Class C North Yarmouth Academy (2003-07) for the overall standard.
Richmond represents a familiar state-final opponent for the Patriots. The top-seeded Bobcats, which scored 14 goals in three Western Maine playoff games and defeated No. 2 Buckfield 3-1 in its final Wednesday, lost to Bangor Christian in three of the last five championship games — 2009, 2010 and 2013.
“I’m really excited. I can’t wait to play in the state game,” said Bangor Christian senior defender Seth Pearson. “It’s going to be really fun. We need to keep our composure. We know we need to play good. We know they’re a really good team. We played them last year and took them to [penalty kicks]. That just shows how good they are. If we play a good game, we can definitely hang with them, and we can definitely pull one out. Composure, relaxing, playing as a team and I think we’ll do good.”
One major change for Richmond this fall is the presence on the sideline of Peter Gardner, who came out of a two-year retirement to coach the Bobcats after posting 463 victories and six Class A state championships over 39 years at Brunswick.
“They graduated some [players], but Richmond’s solid,” said Wilcox. “And then you bring in Peter Gardner to coach. What, are you kidding me?”
The second boys’ game at Hampden matches a Lewiston club that was expected to contend for top Class A honors against a Cheverus team that emerged from the No. 7 seed in Western Maine by knocking off second-seeded and perennial power Falmouth in the quarterfinals and edging No. 6 South Portland on penalty kicks in its semifinal before stunning two-time defending state champion Scarborough 3-2 in double overtime in the Western Maine final.
Lewiston will be vying for its first state crown, while Cheverus seeks its first state championship since 2001.
At Portland, Ellsworth will try to become the first Eastern Maine boys team to win the Class B state title since coach Brian Higgins’ Eagles won it all in 1993.
Since then, the West has won 20 straight, including Greely of Cumberland’s 2-1 victory over Camden Hills of Rockport last fall — the West’s third consecutive one-goal victory.
Both teams were top-ranked in their region, with Ellsworth going on to the only constant during an otherwise unpredictable Eastern Maine tournament — the Eagles defeated the Nos. 9, 12 and 10 seeds to earn its seventh regional title since winning its last gold ball.
Yarmouth, which last won a state championship in 2010, took a more traditional route to this year’s game. The Clippers defeated No. 8 Fryeburg Academy 7-0 and No. 4 Gray-New Gloucester 2-1 in overtime before ousting Greely 4-2 in the Western Maine final.
Orono broke through to win its first Eastern Maine crown since 1992 with Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Central of Corinth. The third-ranked Red Riots became the first non-Aroostook County team since Washington Academy of East Machias in 2008 to represent the East in the Class C state game — Fort Kent advanced in 2009 and 2010, Houlton in 2011 and 2012 and Madawaska in 2013.
Maranacook, which scored a 2-0 win over Madawaska in last year’s final, improved its record over the last two seasons to 33-0-2 — despite playing a predominantly Class B schedule — with its 1-0 victory over Hall-Dale in the Western C title game.
Assistant sports editor Pete Warner contributed to this report.
