BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor High School boys soccer team numbers six sophomores and five freshmen among its 23-player roster.
But don’t mistake that youth for inexperience.
“We have five freshmen who have all played club soccer, so they’re very experienced,” Rams’ junior midfielder Carson Atherley said. “They’ve come in, gotten a lot of minutes and played great so far, and I think going forward they’re just going to continue to improve.”
Three of the first-year players, Colin Waterman, Conor O’Brien and Jack Bourassa, were in the starting lineup Monday as coach Billy Shannon’s club improved its record to 2-0 with a 2-0 win at Brewer.
Classmates Josh Sherwood and Will Hadden also have been immediate contributors as newcomers to the varsity scene. They help give the team a blend similar to its 2014 edition when now-sophomores Garth Berenyi, Jacob Berenyi and David Miller made the leap from middle school to the varsity.
Bangor compiled a 10-3-3 record and reached the Eastern Maine Class A semifinals before bowing to eventual regional champion Lewiston 1-0 on a late goal.
“Only having three or four seniors in the lineup at a given time and then mixing in the junior, sophomore and freshman classes, as far as this year’s concerned it’s awesome to see the potential we’ve got to make strides between now and the end of the season,” Shannon said.
“Last year we felt the same way because we had a number of underclassmen who came into the mix and contributed, and we feel like it’s the same this year,” Shannon said. “Hopefully if we get better day by day, which is what we’re looking to do, we’ll be where we want to be come the end of the year.”
Bangor, the only Eastern Maine boys team to win the Class A state championship in the last 11 years (2006 and 2010), will rely heavily on veterans Athlerley, senior forward Eli Clein and senior goalie Stanley Clarke — all Eastern Maine Class A all-stars last fall — to lead the way.
While the Rams have posted back-to-back shutouts in their first two victories, they’ll get a major early test at 6 p.m. Thursday when they host Lewiston. The Blue Devils opened their season with a victory over Brewer and beat Skowhegan 13-0 Tuesday.
Lewiston, which returns a veteran roster from its 2014 title team, has had Bangor’s number during recent seasons, including a pair of one-goal victories last fall.
“Lewiston’s going to be where the bar is set for [the newly named] Class A North,” Shannon said. “We need to come in and work on both sides of the ball, in possession play simple and quick and take care of our responsibilities defensively, work as a group and make the most of the chances we create.
“There’s not going to be as many chances as we’ve had the last two games, so we want to make sure we put it in the back of the net when we have the opportunities.”
