Piscataquis Community High School senior Chase Lander joined some rare company in Maine high school sports history with his 100th career goal in a 14-0 victory vs. Greenville High School under the lights Wednesday.
Lander is now the first boys player to reach the century mark in eight-person soccer, per the Maine Soccer Coaches Association, and second player overall.
He is the 13th boy across all classes to reach the milestone. More than 30 girls have scored 100 goals.
In the second game of the season vs. Searsport District High School on Sept. 9, Lander surpassed his former teammate Brady Gaw, a 2026 graduate, to become the Pirates’ all-time leader scorer at 92 goals.
Following a pair of goals in an 8-0 victory vs. Sumner Memorial High School of Sulivan the night before, Lander entered at 99 against Greenville. He had several shots on goal in the early minutes but could not get the ball into the net.
During the Sept. 16 game, Lander received a pass from sophomore Nathan Beckwith near the top of the box and dribbled down the right. He got off a low shot that found its mark in the left side of the goal at the 17:53-mark for career goal No. 100.
Play was briefly stopped for a ceremony as Lander’s parents, Dustin and Kristen Lander, stepped onto the field with three number-shaped balloons signifying 100 and another of a soccer ball. Athletic Director Tom Panciera presented Lander with the game ball.
“It was a surreal feeling. Doing it with this team was great,” Lander said.
PCHS won 14-0, with Lander netting six more goals to finish with 106 for his career. The Pirates improved to 5-0 with a 40-1 goal differential over this stretch. Lander has scored 17 of those goals.
The program has also now won 23 games in a row, including last year’s state championship, since the 2025 opener.
Lander credited putting in the hard work every weekend, every weekday and at practices and games for attaining the milestone.
“The fans supported me this whole way,” Lander said. “It was awesome seeing them all here for this moment.”
Of his 100-plus goals, Lander’s most memorable came in the 2025 8-person championship. He scored in the second half to give PCHS a 2-0 lead in what became a 2-1 victory over Telstar Regional High School of Bethel. The Pirates won the program’s second state title (the first was a Class C crown in 1985, 40 years prior) a year after losing in the 2024 8-person final.
“I would just like to thank my coaches, teammates and family and parents most of all,” Lander, a Guilford resident, said.
Lander also stars on the basketball court for PCHS and for the cooperative baseball team the school has with Dexter Regional High School.
He is a leader in school and not just in athletics, said Graham Goulette, the first-year boys soccer head coach and a 1995 PCHS graduate.
“He gives it all every single time he is on the field and on the court, it doesn’t matter the sport or activity,” Goulette said. “There is no one more deserving of this accomplishment.”
Goulette described Lander, one of two captains on the team, as a natural leader and unselfish player.
“He thinks of his teammates as family and he gets excited when they score, too, and you see that on the field,” the coach said. “He’s just as excited getting his teammates an assist.”
Goulette said it was great to see all the community support with fans covering the hill overlooking the soccer field.
“I am glad he was able to do it here at home in front of a great crowd, and it was exciting to be part of it,” Goulette said.
A postgame fireworks display over the east end of the pitch celebrated Lander’s achievement.