The Bangor and Hermon high school girls soccer teams have sustained a consistent level of excellence and enter this season with similar blueprints, as they seek state championships in Class A and B, respectively.
Neither team lost many players, but the few who graduated were game-changers.
Both teams feature a sizeable flock of returnees, and both will be infused by talented newcomers as they prepare for the opening weekend of the season Sept. 4-5.
The Rams, who had a string of four straight Eastern Maine Class A championships snapped by Mt. Ararat of Topsham in a surprising 5-0 home loss in the regional semifinals last fall, have to replace strikers Mary Butler and Allison Boulier, who combined for 49 goals.
The Hawks have played in the last four EM Class BM finals, winning in 2012 but losing to Presque Isle in 2011 and to Waterville the past two seasons.
The Hawks have to replace dynamic midfielder Claire Petersen, who was an All-New England selection last year and the Penobscot Valley Conference’s Co-Player of the Year.
Bangor, which has gone 29-3-2 the past two seasons, will be a “little faster” than recent years, according to coach Joe Johnson, who is hoping to get more goals from the midfield to help compensate for the loss of Butler and Boulier.
“And the girls we have up front are fully capable of scoring,” added Johnson, referring to senior Erynne Sauda, sophomore Luci Clein and promising freshman Libby Spekhardt.
Clein had an injury-marred freshman season but is healthy now.
Talented junior Grace Morris, who had been a stalwart in the back, will get to enjoy a more pivotal role as a center midfielder this season.
“I’ll play wherever coach wants me to play, but I really do like the midfield. It’s a great position. I’ll have fun distributing the ball,” Morris said.
“Grace will have more influence on the offense now. It will make us very strong in the midfield,” Johnson said.
Seniors Sarah Bragg and Emma Barnett and junior Megan Conner will complement Morris in the central midfield and all are seasoned veterans. Junior Katie Butler and sophomores Maddie Cormier and twins Ally and Morgan Trimper will man the flanks in the midfield.
In the back, sophomores Lauren Young and Maddie Symonds received a ton of minutes during impressive freshmen seasons, and senior Maeve Harrigan provides a veteran presence while Bella Varisco, a freshman, has been a quality addition.
Athletic three-year starter Emily Gilmore, a senior, returns in goal.
“We have a lot of good freshmen, and they’re going to be really good by midseason,” Gilmore said.
“I think we’re going to have a real good team. We’re fast, athletic and very good, technically,” Morris said.
Hermon coach M.J. Ball feels his Hawks “could be better than last year, if we can stay healthy.”
“We have to figure out who is going to play in certain spots, but we have a lot of depth and that’s going to help. We have 17 new players,” Ball said. “Our goal is to not only get to the Eastern Maine final but to win it.”
Because of the influx of a large freshman class, Hermon is adding a junior varsity program.
“We’re definitely going to miss Claire, but we’re still going to be pretty good,” standout junior central midfielder-striker Brianna Saulter said.
“We should score a lot of goals,” Ball added.
Hermon is 31-3 over the past two seasons.
Sophomore Alex Allain had an outstanding freshman season, and she and the highly skilled Saulter will be the top offensive catalysts.
“If you have one of them in your lineup, you’re going to be very good. If you have both, you could be fantastic,” Ball said.
Ball said one will start as the center striker and the other as the central midfielder, and they will interchange positions.
Goalkeeper Hailey Perry, a junior, won’t return in order to play in softball showcases, but senior Bryanne Crouse, who started as a freshman and a sophomore but didn’t play last year, has returned to inherit the position. Freshmen Olivia Tardie and Megan Chamberlain will battle for playing time.
Senior captain and defender-midfielder Morgan Buck, junior Emi Higgins, senior Ali Reynolds, juniors Sierra Snow and Morgan Smith and freshmen Emma Allmon and Allison Treat supply the Hawks with a solid back line with Buck, Higgins, Treat and Allmon also capable of playing in the midfield.
Freshman Madysen Curtis will see midfield duty and junior Chloe Raymond will see service in the midfield or up front as will senior Bayley Bryant.
Senior Deanna Phipps and junior Emily Perley will be wings and are experienced.
Sophomore Laura Zenk can play in the midfield or up front.
Bangor and Hermon both open Saturday, Sept. 5, when Bangor will visit Oxford Hills in South Paris at 1:30 p.m. and Hermon will host Old Town at 10 a.m.