RICHMOND

After the final whistle had blown, the medals had been given out, and the team posed for pictures, the hugs being given to one another on the Richmond High School boys soccer team were heartfelt.

There was one good reason why this was happening.

Despite the 1-0 loss to a very talented Bangor Christian team in Saturday’s State Class D Final at Hampden Academy, the Bobcats were able to reflect on what they had accomplished and what it took to get there. Something this year’s seniors instilled on this team was to play as one, fight as one, and win or lose as one. Here was a group of Bobcats who have mostly played together for many years.

“We had great senior leadership this season,” said coach Peter Gardner. “Those boys were incoming freshmen in the summer of 2014 when I came to the program. They have matured so much just this year alone.”

Gardner is no stranger to the sidelines. Having coached high school soccer at Brunswick High School from 1972-2012, he’s witnessed a thing or two on the soccer field. Sure, he enjoys all the teams he has coached, but this team is one he’s proud of for what they’ve become over the past four years.

Being a life-long resident of Richmond, Gardner also knows the success the soccer program has had over the years.

Coming off a loss in the state final in 2013, ironically to Bangor Christian, that following summer Gardner took hold of the program and eventually committed to a freshman goalie in Zach Small, taking him out of the midfield, an area Small had excelled in while growing up.

“We needed a goalie. Zach said, ‘sure, I’ll do it,’ and we put him in net. It was tough taking him off the field, he’s such a fierce competitor, but it was something we needed to do as a team,” said Gardner.” We had other players we could put on the field like Matt Rines and Nate Kendrick,” players who were also freshmen at the time.

They won the Gold Ball that year, something a lot of players never get to celebrate. The Bobcats reached the regional finals the next two years, going down in defeat in both via penalty kicks. But this group of athletes, sprinkled in both jayvee and varsity over those two years, still played and practiced together. Gardner and his son Ryan, run practices with both squads to ensure everyone is on the same page, learning the same skills together.

Small to Shea

Moving forward to this season, the Bobcats faced a similar situation in net. Looking to get Small out onto the field, senior Trystin Shea stepped up.

“He has really shown so much growth and maturity this season with his positive attitude,” Peter Gardner said of his keeper.

The move was something that made the team more aggressive offensively, and allowed Small to be one of the vocal leaders on the field.

Small wasn’t the only leader Coach Gardner had. The coach credits this group of seniors of leading by example, and not only to the younger players, but to one another.

“Not only do they challenge each other, they listen to each other as well,” said the longtime high school soccer coach. “It’s not just my captains (Small, Rines, and Kendrick) that lead this team.”

Peter Gardner was referring to his other seniors that have been with the program and contributed to the success of the team. Some like Ethan Gardner, Jordan Perry and Dustin Simmons.

“I told the team that it was going to take more than three or four of our players to lead us, we all need to be in it together,” said the coach.

Others like Isaac Cappen, Andrew Goodall and exchange student Petr Simon have also been part of the team’s senior leadership.

“This year we’ve been a close team. Not that we hadn’t been in the past, but this team is close on and off the field,” said Small.

“A lot of these kids play sports together throughout the year. I’ve told them they’re always going to have to play together in other sports,” said Coach Gardner.

“I couldn’t be more proud to play with these guys,” said Rines. “I’d go to battle with them any day.”

The seniors will surely be missed, but there will be another group of seniors next year, and the next and so on. Coach Gardner is already thinking to next year.

“We have some low numbers of incoming freshmen the next few years. In a program where we’ve had a steady 30 or so kids, we’ll be at 18-19,” said the coach. “It will pick up again eventually with this year’s sixth-grade class.”

With a week off before the winter season practices begin, the seniors will look back on their successes and carry them into the next sport.

As for Peter Gardner, what was he doing Monday on the first day without soccer practice? Watching soccer on TV, of course.