Between them, the Falmouth boys’ and girls’ soccer teams have won 15 Class B state championships since 2000.
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Each of the squads will play for another state championship Saturday at Scarborough High School.
The boys, the reigning state champions, will seek their ninth state title in 13 seasons, and the girls will go for a three-peat while playing for their eighth state title in 12 seasons.
Neither team has ever lost in a Class B state final.
How do the Yachtsmen do it? What is their secret?
It’s clear the bar has been set extremely high for soccer in Falmouth, and being good enough to make either varsity team is very special to the players.
“When you’re young, you idolize all those guys playing on the varsity team,” said Jack Pike, a senior sweeper. “You want to be one of them one day.”
“All the little kids come out to all the varsity games,” said J.P. White, a senior midfielder. “I use to watch as a kid, and when you finally get a chance to play it just means so much because you’ve been watching it your whole life.”
The same holds true for the players on Falmouth’s girls’ team.
“The tradition means something to every one of us,” said Cassie Darrow, a senior midfielder. “Ever since we were in sixth grade coming to the varsity soccer games, everybody wanted to be on the varsity team, and now that we’re living it, we value it even more.”
The boys’ squad includes 12 seniors who started playing the game in the town’s youth soccer program.
“We’ve been together all the way from youth soccer coming all the way up,” White said. “Finally, getting to our senior year, we’re all playing together again. It’s a big deal because it’s the last time we will be playing together. It means so much to everyone.”
At Falmouth, players have to work hard to win a spot on the varsity.
Even White, considered one of the top players in the state, didn’t get to play that much when he was a freshman.
“I got into most games, but it was usually at the end when the team was ahead,” he said.
It took Pike two years to earn his spot with the varsity squad.
“I worked my way up through to the JVs and then to the varsity last year,” he said.
Jack Engelberg is a freshmen defender who hasn’t gotten to play at all during the Yachtsmen’s tournament run, but he relishes the opportunity to be part of the Falmouth tradition.
“I played a little bit in the beginning of the season when one guy was hurt, so that was good,” Engelberg said. “I think it’s a really great experience. You get better playing with good guys.”
Freshmen have made contributions to the girls’ team.
“This year, we have three freshmen on the varsity team, but that just means they’re expected to uphold the standards like everybody else,” Darrow said. “Their work ethic is amazing, and it has to be to play here.”
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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