Regional high school soccer tournaments are scheduled to resume Wednesday, but the date and locations of some playoff games could be changed after Superstorm Sandy.
The date and site of the Western Class C boys’ final between No. 3 Waynflete and top seeded Hall-Dale was moved to Thursday afternoon to the artificial turf field at Thomas College in Waterville. Originally, the top-seeded Bulldogs were scheduled to host the match on their natural turf field in Farmingdale.
In another change, No. 2 Pine Tree Academy moved Wednesday’s Western Class D boys’ final against No. 4 Greenville from its grass field on its Freeport campus to the turf field at North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth.
Depending on the amount of rain the southern part of Maine receives during the night, other playoff games could be shifted to Thursday or to another site.
Top-seeded Gorham is scheduled to host No. 2 Scarborough in the Western Class A boys’ final in a battle of unbeatens, but that game could be postponed until Thursday.
“The field is a little soft at one end, but I think it has been for most of the year, so I think it will be fine,” Gorham Coach Tim King said. “I don’t see any reason why we can’t play on it (Wednesday). If not (Wednesday), then Thursday.”
On Sept. 8, the teams played to a scoreless tie at Scarborough.
“They outplayed us at some points, and we felt kind of fortunate to come out of there with a tie,” King said, “but I don’t think the gap was that great, and a lot of things have changed since then.”
King doesn’t want to move the playoff game to a turf field because Scarborough is used to playing on such a surface.
“We intend to play (Wednesday), but we’ll probably have to wait until pretty late in the process to see what the field is going to be like,” he said.
A similar scenario exists in the Eastern Class A boys’ final between No. 2 Lewiston (12-1-2) and No. 1 Mt. Ararat (13-1-1), which is scheduled to host the game on its natural turf field in Topsham.
“I really don’t want to play in the rain (Wednesday), and it’s supposed to rain,” Mt. Ararat Coach Rick Renaud said.
The teams split two games during the regular season. On Sept. 5, the Blue Devils cruised to a 3-1 win at Lewiston. On Oct. 2, the Eagles held on for a 2-1 win at home.
“My kids got nervous in the first game, and that caused some problems,” Renaud said. “Lewiston is a good team and you can’t come into a game not firing on all cylinders.”
The location of the Western Class B girls’ final between two-time defending state champion Falmouth (12-2-2) and top-seeded Morse (14-1-1) could be changed.
McMahon Field has been unplayable for nearly two weeks, and the host Shipbuilders played their first two playoff games at nearby Tainter Field, which normally serves as their practice field.
However, Morse, which has practiced the past two days at Seacoast United Maine’s indoor arena in Topsham, played its final game of the regular season on a turf field at the Hyde School in Bath.
“It either could be Tainter Field or Hyde School,” Morse Coach Steve Boyce said. “Hopefully, Tainter Field will drain so we can play there.”
The game is a rematch of last season’s regional final in which the Yachtsmen scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half to rally to a 2-1 win.
“We really don’t want to delay the game,” Boyce said. “It’s not fair for whoever wins not to have that extra day off.”
The boys’ and girls’ state championship games are scheduled for Saturday in Scarborough and Hampden.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at: pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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