There is no baggage. There is no burden.

For the first time since incoming seniors Kristi Zarrilli, Lauren Chouinard and Lindsay Wilson strapped on the shin guards for the Gorham High varsity girls soccer team as freshmen, the Rams enter the preseason without the modifier “defending state champs.” Their current unbeaten streak? Zero games.

It was a soggy, gloomy day last November when Gorham’s 70-game unbeaten streak and run of three straight Class A state titles came to a screeching halt against Waterville in the Gold Ball game. After taking a quick 1-0 lead, Gorham watched as Waterville tied the game, then took the lead. And added to it. And added to it. And added to it. The final score was 5-1. There was shock, sadness and disappointment.

And also liberation.

“It definitely serves as a relief,” said Chouinard, a returning starter who is moving from sweeper to midfield this season. “We were feeling pressure from our friends at school, from teachers, from our coaches, from other coaches throughout the state, from other teams that were talking about us.

“Everything was pressure. The news, everything. We did lose that game, so now we really have nothing else to lose. There’s no 70-game streak. There’s nothing. We just get to do our thing.”

Their thing is playing really good soccer. Sure, the graduation of former Gatorade Maine Girls Soccer Player of the Year Rachele Burns and four other starters will leave some holes, but the deep Rams have the pieces to fill them.

Team members having been working hard and playing soccer all summer, ready to uphold the strong Gorham soccer tradition.

“I’ve been very fortunate over the years to have a program that just keeps building, where the kids have maintained their enthusiasm and so many of them are playing year round and they come in excited to play,” said Gorham coach Jeanne Zarrilli. “We have kids who were just waiting on the sidelines last year to get their chance. We want to be one of the big contenders. We’re going to be younger, but right now we’re playing really good soccer.”

Kristi Zarrilli, Chouinard and Wilson – the three seniors entering their fourth season of varsity play – played a big role in building the streak. They know what it’s like to win it all. They’ve done so, twice. But they also now know what it feels like to not only lose, but to lose badly in the biggest game.

“I think about the state game all the time,” said Kristi Zarrilli, the coach’s daughter. “I want to get back there this year so bad and I’m sure the other girls on the team want to get back there and make up for what happened and show that wasn’t how we play, that we can play so much better than that.”

Gorham had defeated Waterville 2-1 for the 2007 state championship. Kristi Zarrilli saw how much that loss motivated the Panthers.

“They wanted it so bad because they were so mad when we beat them in 2007,” she said. “They worked the whole year to come back and beat us. I think we just kind of went into it like, ‘Oh, we’ve been here before.’ And they went into it wanting it so much more.”

“We just thought we had it under our belts already and got a little ahead of ourselves,” Chouinard said. “This year, we’re taking a step back and building from the ground up.”

Gorham also returns three juniors with significant varsity experience in Sam Peters, Shelbi Guimond and Kylie Perrin. Add to that a talented sophomore class that includes Kiersten Turner, Audrey Adkison, Lindsey Smith, Sierra Peters, Sarah Perkins (who replaces Nicole Belhumeur in goal) and Ally Lurvey, and the Rams look like they’ll again be at the top of the Western Maine heap.

“We have so much talent from the freshmen to the seniors,” Kristi Zarrilli said. “We just have a team of workhorses.”

With Kristi Zarrilli, Wilson (who is nursing a knee injury but expected back soon) and Turner, Gorham has several established scoring threats. Coach Zarrilli expects plenty of others to also get in on the action. “I really expect scoring to come from a lot of different places,” she said.

Chouinard loves the idea of getting to contribute more on offense. She was a forward when she came up as a freshman, but soon moved to sweeper. This year, as a center-mid, she’ll be looking to create goals, rather than preventing the opponent from scoring them.

“I’ve always felt kind of bored back there, just sprinting down people, trying to chase them down,” Chouinard said. “This year, I feel like I’m going to help out the team a little more on offense.”

Gorham will see some challenges in the West. Scarborough looks like a legitimate contender in the SMAA. Greely, which has a Class B schedule but plays up in the tournament, will likely be a major factor in the postseason. In the East, many view Brunswick as the favorite. Waterville was hard hit by graduation, but returns some good players.

This season, the Rams’ goal is singular: a state title. There’s no streak to worry about (well, unless you want to count Gorham’s home winning streak that predates the current senior class).

“That’s our goal, to get back to that state game and prove what we didn’t prove last year,” Chouinard said. “We’re just going to take it game by game. This year, we just want to get better. If we have a few losses, OK. We can deal with that. Our goal this year is to win that state championship. Last year, it was more about winning all through the season.”

Jeanne Zarrilli admits that loss last season still bothers her. She also knows, however, that it might have been the best thing that could have happened for this year’s team.

“Now we’ve been kicked in the gut,” she said. “That will enable us to come back out fighting.”

Kristi Zarrilli, shown here looking to make a pass during practice on Tuesday, is one of three four-year varsity players on this year’s Gorham High School girls soccer team.
Staff photo by Tom Minervino