Statistics can be misleading.
But not in the case of the Oceanside High School girls soccer team from Rockland/Thomaston.
The reason the Mariners are 12-0-2 and the top seed for the Class B North playoffs is because they have allowed just three goals.
They have 12 shutouts.
Coach Darryl Townsend, who is in his 21st year of coaching, said he has never had a team that allowed such few goal and that includes his Class C state champion Georges Valley team in 2009 and his Western Maine champion team in 1997.
“The girls take a lot of pride in putting goose eggs up on the board,” said Townsend. “We talk a lot about playing good defense and keeping teams off the scoreboard. If the opposing team doesn’t score, we can’t lose.
“Then we try to generate a bit of offense. We don’t score a ton of goals, but if we can score a couple in each game, we have a pretty good chance to win,” he added.
Oceanside has scored 39 goals and has three 1-0 victories and three 2-0 triumphs.
Townsend admitted he has been surprised by his team’s success.
“I was hoping to be 10-4 and finish in the top four so we could get a bye and wouldn’t have to play a preliminary game,” said Townsend. “They have exceeded my expectations.”
The Mariners, 9-5 a year ago, aren’t comprised of superstars, according to their coach.
“We have a bunch of good athletes who work really hard,” he said.
And it is a relatively young team with just four seniors.
One of those seniors, Kalyn Grover, is the goalkeeper, and she is following in the footsteps of her sister, Kennadi, who was a goalkeeper at Oceanside.
“She’s like her sister. She’s a good athlete,” said Townsend. “She hasn’t had to make a ton of excellent saves. She makes good saves. Our defense makes her job easier.”
The defense features center backs Emma Lee, a junior, and sophomore Gabby Simmons, with
juniors Haylie Witham and Lauren Hatch on the outside.
The midfield is patrolled by twin sisters Kelsey and Jillian Brooks and Lily McVetty. All are juniors. Kelsey Brooks is the central midfielder.
Up front, there is another Brooks, Makenna, who is a first cousin to the twins. She is a senior. She is joined up there by sophomore Casey Pine and freshman Abby Veilleux.
Freshman Gabby Straka and Hope Butler also see duty up front, and senior Brianna Dugan sees a lot of time in the midfield.
Butler was the star of the Mariners’ most noteworthy result: a 2-2 tie with defending state “B” champ Waterville.
The Mariners trailed 2-0 at Waterville with 10 minutes left when standout senior back Rebecca Boggs suffered a season-ending knee injury.
The Mariners overcame the loss of Boggs, who was one of their captains, to tie it on two Butler goals in the final seven minutes.
Townsend is hoping the Mariners can make a deep run in the tournament. He pointed out that there are a lot of quality teams capable of winning the regional crown.
“We learned a lot from the Waterville game. We just try to get better each time out. There’s no magic formula. The kids have been very sound and consistent,” said Townsend.