Waynflete’s Myles Culley, right, tied Maine’s single-season scoring record with 52 goals in his only season of high school soccer. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

After more than two years of not being able to play soccer at all because of a painful, significant injury, Myles Culley was looking at his senior season at Waynflete as a great opportunity to play the game he loves with friends and have some fun.

Boy, did he have fun.

Culley scored 52 goals in 18 games to tie Maine’s single-season boys’ soccer record, and he led Waynflete to its fourth consecutive Class C title with 17 goals in four postseason games. His historic season and his team’s success against a schedule that included five games against top Class B teams and two against eventual Class D champion North Yarmouth Academy makes Culley the 2022 Varsity Maine Player of the Year for boys’ soccer.

“When you combine the injury that he came back from, the schedule that we played, our team success, it has to be one of the greatest single seasons ever in the state,” said Brandon Salway, who has been Waynflete’s head coach for 34 years. “Certainly from my viewpoint it was.”

Since a young age, Culley stood out on a soccer field. He played in Seacoast United’s Development Academy programs and then spent his first two falls of high school with the academy team run by Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union. At a holiday tournament with the Union in late 2019, he suffered a double avulsion fracture of his left hamstring.

Rehab, surgery, more rehab and a lot of uncertainty followed.

It wasn’t until the spring of 2022 when Culley was able to begin training again. Then he played a summer league game with Waynflete, scored three goals, and knew he was back and with the right group.

“In that moment, I realized two things. One, was that I really wanted to go out and play high school soccer. And also, when I played that game, I knew I had the potential to be a real quality player in high school,” Culley said.

Culley scored in every game he played. In the final regular season game against eventual Class B champion Yarmouth, Culley was shut out in regulation time. But 1:56 into overtime, he worked across the pitch to create just enough space to get his powerful left foot on 30-yard shot that found a corner for a 3-2 win.

“He had a small window to hit that. He had two guys on him and a third guy coming. Most kids in high school don’t even take that shot,” marveled Yarmouth Coach Mike Hagerty.

That goal was Culley’s 35th of the season. This reporter flatly stated that the state single-season scoring record set by Damon Warren of Sumner in 2018 was “out of reach.”

“I don’t blame you for that,” Culley said. “When you wrote that article, I thought 52 would be way out of reach, too. Even going into the state game, I had 47. I mean, five goals in a state championship? I never thought I would get to 52 ever. Until I got to 51.”

Waynflete beat Fort Kent, 6-1. With 22:53 remaining, Fort Kent scored to cut the lead to 2-1. Culley then scored four goals in 14 minutes. It took just 52 seconds after No. 51 for No. 52 to find the net.

“Nothing was out of reach for Myles,” Salway said. “He scored a goal from midfield at Traip Academy with a second left in the first half on a purposeful shot.”

Culley recently committed to play college soccer for Colby College in Waterville.

“I’m really excited about that,” Culley said. “I think the program is trending in a very upwards direction. They could be a NESCAC Division III contender in years to come.”