It’s been an up-and-down postseason for Scarborough’s fall sports teams, but the Red Storm brought home one piece of hardware last Saturday and there remains the possibility of more this weekend.
Here’s a look back at a busy, and largely successful, playoff stretch:
Cross country
Scarborough’s boys’ cross country team captured the Class A state champion Saturday at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland, as its 69 points was one better than runner-up, reigning champion Portland.
Atticus Merriam was second for scoring purposes, finishing the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 30.48 seconds.
Merriam said he likes to run a conservative first mile, “push the middle of the race and then just hold on.” When he found himself running with the leaders, including teammate Ethan Keller, after a mile, he knew he could significantly improve on his eight-place regional finish. ”I passed one kid on the final straightaway, which I think made the difference for the team,” Merriam said.
Keller wound up sixth (16:43.18). Also scoring were Baxter Merriam (11th, 17:04.57), Landen Springer (24th, 17:28.3) and Nicholas Koziell (26th, 17:47.11).
The crown was the Red Storm’s 11th all-time and their first since 2018. They will run together as a team one final time Saturday at the New England championship meet at Manchester, Connecticut.
Scarborough’s girls competed at states for the first time in five years and had 213 points to come in eighth (Falmouth won with 61). Laurel Driscoll was third (19:12.0) and qualified for New Englands as an individual. Also scoring were Emma DuEst (32nd, 21:52.44), Grace Lavoie (45th, 22:45.37), Rowan Driscoll (56th, 23:12.15) and Bridget Flannery (77th, 25:24.23).
Girls’ soccer
On the pitch, the Scarborough girls, the two-time reigning Class A state champions, are now one win from a third consecutive crown.
The Red Storm, ranked second in Class A South, beat No. 7 Marshwood (4-1) in the quarterfinals, then downed No. 3 Gorham in a wild semifinal last Friday, 4-2. The Red Storm who won at Gorham, 4-0, just a little over a week before in the regular season, knew that this time around the Rams would give them a much more difficult test and sure enough, Gorham had some great scoring chances early, but Scarborough’s big-game senior goalkeeper and captain Sophia Rinaldi came up huge and stopped them cold.
In the game’s 25th minute, the Red Storm’s unrivaled speed was first on display, as senior Emmie Flaker sent a ball ahead to sophomore Abby Roberts, who ran it down and finished. The Rams would respond in the 34th minute and the game was tied, 1-1, at the half.
Just 47 seconds into the second half, Scarborough went back in front, this time to stay, as senior captain Delia Fravert out-ran a defender to a ball from Flaker and put it in the net. With 34:02 remaining, freshman sensation Josie Duncan buried yet another free kick with a mighty boot and the Red Storm appeared home free, but Gorham refused to buckle.
Just 27 seconds later, the Rams earned a penalty kick, but Rinaldi made a diving save.
“That was scary,” said Rinaldi, who was the winning goalie in the state final as both a sophomore and a junior. “We practice PKs a lot and I was hoping my practice would pay off and it did. I kind of looked at her positioning and she looked at the opposite side of the goal, so I thought it might be a dead giveaway that she wasn’t going that way, so I went the other way and it worked out.”
The Rams did get back within one before Fravert’s second goal, with just 46.1 seconds left, put the game away.
“I think people underestimating us from the start gave us motivation to do as well as we’ve been doing,” said Fravert. “It’s been fun to prove to everyone that Scarborough is always going to be a good team. People need to stop looking at us from a player perspective, but as a team. We knew that everyone’s a different team in playoffs, especially Gorham, and after we beat them, they’d want revenge. Being on our homefield, we wanted to protect it. We wanted it more.”
“It’s awesome,” said longtime Red Storm coach Mike Farley, after his 272nd win with the program. “When you go through what we’ve gone through the last two years, the winning gets in your blood. When you win big games and know how to win, that’s what we have to rely on.”
Tuesday, in Waterboro, Scarborough met top-ranked Windham in the Class A South Final and again, never trailed.
Just 48 seconds in, senior Grace Carlista ripped a shot off the far post and in to put the Red Storm in front, 1-0.
“I had the opportunity to drive forward and I took the shot,” Carlista said. “I was just trying to get it on net. It was amazing.”
Duncan, the fabulous freshman, stole the show from there.
In the 17th minute, Duncan lofted in a free kick from just inside midfield, the ball bounced in the box, then hit the underside of the crossbar and went in for a 2-0 lead.
“I was trying to score,” Duncan said. “I was close enough and I said, ‘It’s going in.’ Anywhere past half field, I say go for it. That’s happened a couple times lately. The confusion of the ball in that perfect spot. Delia does a great job swarming the goal.”
The Eagles got a goal back to pull within one at halftime and had some chances in the second half to pull even, but Rinaldi stood tall. Then, with just 8:04 to go, Duncan’s 35-yard free kick clinched it.
“It’s an amazing outcome,” said Carlista. “We’ve been working so hard all year. From the beginning, we knew we could do it again, but after the Falmouth game, we picked it up. The first (Windham) win was important. We had a little edge on them, but we know they’re a good team. We just had to work hard. It was definitely tough in the second half. We knew we had to play good defense.”
“I told the kids that they had to earn it and I think they did that,” Farley said. “This team has overcome a lot. I’ve thrown so much at them and they’ve handled it so well. I couldn’t be more proud of them. The little things we did today made the difference in the game and made the win happen.”
The Red Storm won their 11th straight postseason contest, improved to 14-1-2 and advanced to meet Bangor (16-1) for the second year in a row in state game Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Morse High School in Bath. Last year, Scarborough blanked the Rams, 2-0, to improve to 3-1 against them in state finals.
The Red Storm are 6-5 all-time in state games, but have never won three straight Gold Balls.
Now, Scarborough has that opportunity.
“We don’t need to change a thing,” Duncan said. “We just need to come together as a team and keep up our energy and our chemistry. I’m thrilled to play in a state game. There’s going to be a lot of adrenaline. I’m excited.”
“We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Carlista said. “Keep working hard. Keep passing. Teamwork will make it happen. We feel good about our chances.”
“This group knows they’re in a really good spot and they’re playing really well,” Farley added. “We’ll get prepared. It’s hard to win one, not to mention three. We’ll try to do our best in that game and see if we can get another one.”
Boys’ soccer
Scarborough’s boys navigated the high-wire and will join the girls’ team at the state final.
The Red storm, ranked third in Class A South, blanked No. 6 Deering (2-0) in the quarterfinals, then advanced Saturday with an unforgettable, down-to-the-wire 2-1 win at second-seeded Falmouth in the semifinals. The Red Storm took a 1-0 halftime behind a goal from Khalil Ghosheh, set up by Denver Bachman. The Navigators drew even early in the second half, but EJ Herrick’s header, from Bachman, put Scarborough back in front with 24 minutes to go. The Red Storm ultimately had to dodge one final bullet, as Falmouth was awarded a penalty kick with 0.4 seconds showing. Goalkeeper Seamus Corry then made the biggest save of his career to preserve the victory.
Tuesday, in Waterboro, Scarborough met No. 4 Portland in the Class A South Final. After a scoreless first half, Corry made one more huge save late in regulation to force overtime.
In the first 15-minute, “sudden death” OT, Corry went diving for another jawdropping save to extend the contest.
“That was just reaction,” Corry said. “I knew I didn’t want to give a rebound there, so I just smothered it. I trust the guys in front of me and they trust me when they time comes. I love these guys like brothers. Our defense was incredible. I didn’t have to do much. There’s always pressure, but I have the best defense in the state and when the time comes, I know I can make the save.”
Then, 68 seconds into the second overtime, Bachman served in a perfect corner kick, which Herrick headed home, for a 1-0 victory.
“I usually go to the same spot every time,” Herrick said. “I wait for my moment. I saw the ball go over the defenders and I was waiting for it. I knew it was going in. I was excited. We knew we’d get one. We just had to keep working.”
“I was just hammering it that spot and EJ was in the right place,” said Bachman. “It was a great header.”
“No one picked us this year,” added longtime Red Storm coach Mark Diaz. “This group in particular is a lot of smart players who gets along well. It’s a fun group to be around. It’s as unselfish a team as we’ve had. I’ve got five or six guys with five or more goals. That’s the kind of team we have. They just want to win and they don’t care who gets the credit.”
The Red Storm (15-1-1) will seek their first Gold Ball in 11 years when they battle Camden Hills (15-1-1) in the state game Saturday at 10 a.m., at Morse High School in Bath.
The Red Storm’s last Gold Ball came in 2013. They lost late to Brunswick in the 2022 final and are 10-4 all-time in the big game.
Scarborough and Camden Hills (which dethroned reigning state champion in penalty kicks in the Class A North Final Tuesday) have no playoff history, but Scarborough did beat Camden-Rockport in the 1973 Class A state final (2-1, in double-overtime).
The Red Storm are ready for one final date with destiny.
“We have to stay focused,” Corry said. “This is great and after today, we’ll lock in. A lot of these players were on the team two years ago and we lost. We don’t want it to happen again. We’ll go out and have fun.”
“I think we just have to prepare and if we do that, we can compete with any team,” said Bachman.
“We’ve fought all season and we’re excited,” Herrick said. “We’ve been through so much adversity this year. We’re so mentally strong. I think we’re ready.”
“We have to play better than we did today,” added Diaz. “Offensively, we didn’t play great. We’ll work on that the rest of the week. I just want to win for these kids. We’ll miss each other, so we’re going to make this last as long as we can.”
Football
Scarborough’s football team wrapped up its season last Thursday with a 69-0 loss at reigning state champion Thornton Academy to finish the year 2-7.
Press Herald staff writer Steve Craig contributed to this story.
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