State soccer titles will be on the line Saturday when high school boys soccer teams square off at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland and at the Dr. Gehrig T. Johnson Complex in Presque Isle.
CLASS A
No. 1 Lewiston Blue Devils (17-0) vs. No. 1 Scarborough Red Storm (15-0-2), 12:30 p.m. at Portland: Nationally-ranked Lewiston returns to the final for the second straight year, with the lone defeat during the last two seasons a 2-1 loss to Cheverus of Portland in the 2014 state match. The Blue Devils stormed through the A North regional, outscoring Edward Little of Auburn, Bangor and Hampden Academy by a combined 13-0. Scarborough is in pursuit of its 10th Class A state championship overall and third in the last four years. The Red Storm similarly went unscored upon during their regional tournament, defeating Westbrook, Falmouth and Cheverus by a combined 7-0.
CLASS B
No. 10 Erskine Academy Eagles (14-4) vs. No. 1 Yarmouth (15-1-1), 5:30 p.m. at Portland: Erskine is Cinderella among this year’s boys soccer state finalists, earning its first regional title by knocking off the top three seeds in the division among four road playoff victories — with two of the wins coming on penalty kicks before the Eagles’ 2-1 upset of top-ranked and defending regional champion Ellsworth. Defending state champion Yarmouth earned a return trip to the state match by outlasting Maranacook of Readfield 3-2 in double overtime on Wednesday. Erskine played Maranacook, a fellow Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference program, in two competitive regular-season matches this fall but lost both, 3-1 at Readfield on Sept. 22 and 2-1 at South China on Oct. 13.
CLASS D
No. 1 Fort Fairfield Tigers (16-0-1) vs. No. 1 Buckfield Bucks (16-1), 5:30 p.m. at Presque Isle: Fort Fairfield is experiencing an impressive run in boys sports, this state final appearance following the Tigers’ Eastern Maine Class D championship in boys basketball last winter. Not all the contributors are the same, however, as evidenced by freshman Jonah Daigle scoring the game-winning goal in Fort’s 1-0 soccer semifinal win over Central Aroostook of Mars Hill and its 2-1 overtime victory over Bangor Christian in Wednesday’s D North final that ended the Patriots’ six-year regional championship streak. Both state finalists are seeking their first crown, Buckfield after outlasting defending champion Richmond in penalty kicks to earn the D South crown.
