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BANGOR—North Yarmouth Academy girls’ soccer coach Ricky Doyon had to sit home last year on Championship Saturday.

He didn’t like the feeling.

Suffice it to say that Doyon much preferred what ensued Saturday afternoon at Cameron Stadium, when he got to coach in the big game once again, lead his Panthers to another championship and along the way, earn a landmark victory.

Facing Fort Kent in the Class C state final, NYA needed less than two minutes to go in front to stay, as freshman Delphine Daniel crossed the ball and got a fortuitous bounce that resulted in a goal and a 1-0 lead.

The Panthers were then held in check for much of the rest of the first half, but in a span of just over three minutes, they scored three times to pull away.

First, Daniel scored on a rebound of a corner kick from senior Ella Giguere.

Then, it was sophomore Caroline Matusovich’s turn, finishing a feed from senior Emily Robbins.

Then, with 7:54 to go before the break, Daniel completed her hat trick.

The Warriors, to their credit, fought hard in the second half with the wind to their backs, but they never could find the goal and NYA closed out a 4-0 victory.

Daniel led the way with a hat trick and the Panthers rode (or in this case, Rohde) their defense to a clean sheet and another celebration.

NYA finished 15-3, ended Fort Kent’s campaign at 15-3, gave Doyon his 100th victory with the program and won its first Class C title since 2007 and its 12th overall championship in 12 tries.

“It’s a perfect day,” Doyon said. “I take a lot of pride in how far we’ve come. It’s all the kids and my assistant coaches. I’m just a small piece, the one leading the way. I knew with a chance I could build the program. From where we started to where we are today, we’ve done alright.”

Meet Steve

NYA bulled its way through Class D between 2018-22, winning the title every year but 2020, when the pandemic prevented a postseason.

Last fall, the Panthers, who returned to Class C, were upset in the regional final by rival Waynflete, the eventual champion.

Doyon then took the game ball from that contest and turned the disappointment of that loss into motivation for this year’s title run.

“Our whole season, we had the ball from last year’s regional championship game that we lost,” said senior captain and standout back Nell Rohde. “We named it ‘Steve’ and we wrote our goals for the season on it and we carried ‘Steve’ with us wherever we went. Not getting here last year was always in the back of our minds.”

“Last year, I grabbed the ball from when we lost and had the girls write their goals both short-term and long-term,” Doyon said. “It’s like our baby. They carried it everywhere we went as a reminder.”

This season, NYA returned to form, even if it wasn’t as dominant as year’s past.

The Panthers lost games to eventual Class B champion Greely, a Yarmouth team which had won the previous two Class B titles and Traip Academy, all in a four-game span, but won their other 11 outings, including their final three, to take some momentum into the playoffs.

There, NYA ousted No. 6 Waynflete in the quarterfinals (2-1), then needed penalty kicks to survive No. 2 Hall-Dale in the semifinals (4-3) before riding an early goal to a 1-0 win over top-ranked Maranacook in Wednesday’s regional final.

Fort Kent, meanwhile, went 12-2 in the regular season and earned the top seed in Class C North, then blanked No. 8 Mt. View (7-0) and fourth-seeded Central (6-0) in the semifinals before edging No. 2 Foxcroft Academy, 2-1, in its regional final.

The Panthers entered the game 11-0 all-time in state finals (see sidebar for results), while the Warriors were 1-5.

The teams had never met.

Saturday, on a brutally windy and chilly afternoon (44 degrees and dropping at kickoff), NYA took advantage of the wind at its back in the first half as it quickly took care of business and earned its date with destiny.

With 38:11 to go in the first half, less than two minutes in, Daniel ran a ball down on the right flank, crossed it in the direction of sophomore Natasha Godfrey and the ball ricocheted off a defender and went behind Warriors senior goalkeeper Anna Albert and into the net for a stunning lead.

“I was trying to cross it,” Daniel said. “I saw Tasha coming in and I hit it really hard, which helped with the deflection.”

“That was a huge goal,” said Rohde. “It lifted our spirits and got us pumped. That brought our energy up.”

“We’ll take it,” added Doyon. “We’ve given away some gifts this year, so it’s nice to get one back, especially with the wind.”

The Panthers appeared to be off and running, but the second goal would be a long time in coming.

After Albert saved a shot from Godfrey, Godfrey hit the post.

Fort Kent’s first foray into the offensive zone resulted in a corner kick in the 15th minute, but Giguere cleared the ball out of harm’s way.

Rohde then impressed by breaking up a rush by dangerous junior Madeline Martin, then knocking the ball away from sophomore Reese Doucette in the box.

“The defense all year has worked together,” said Rohde. “We came together for playoffs especially.”

After Albert saved shots from Matusovich and Daniel, NYA flipped the switch and erupted for three quick goals to pull away.

With 11:26 to go before halftime, Giguere served in a corner to the left of Albert. The keeper couldn’t reach the promising bender, but got bailed out, momentarily, when the ball hit the post.

The rebound then came right in front to Daniel, who buried it for a 2-0 lead.

“That was a great corner kick from Ella,” Daniel said. “We knew with the wind, she’d have to hit it a little differently than she normally does. It ricocheted right out to me and I just put it away.”

With 9:56 on the clock, the Panthers struck again, as Robbins touched the ball to Matusovich, who one-timed the ball over Albert and in for a third goal.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, just 2:02 later, junior Isabelle Hinkley set up Daniel, who beat a defender, ran to her right, then fired the other way, beating a diving Albert into the far corner for a 4-0 advantage.

“I turned with the ball from Isabelle,” said Daniel. “I saw a little opening between the two center-backs and just hit it hard.”

“(Del) hadn’t scored in a couple of games and was biting at the bit,” Doyon said. “She wanted it. I told her it was her game and to go show who she was. She’s quite a talent.”

While the Panthers had a 10-0 advantage in first half shots on frame and a 5-1 edge in corner kicks, the second half would be a different story once the Warriors got the wind.

Fort Kent tilted the field quickly and got shots in quick succession from junior Allie Fournier, senior Lily Werntgren and Doucette, but NYA junior goalkeeper Sadie Morgan saved them all.

After Morgan beat Martin to a feed from junior Emlyn Nadeau, Martin took a pass from Doucette, then missed just wide with Morgan out of position.

Midway through the half, a free kick from the top of the box from Nadeau came within inches of going in, but the ball hit the crossbar and the rebound was cleared.

With 13:20 left, Martin hit the far post.

Down the stretch, Morgan saved a shot from Martin and Nadeau missed just high.

At 2:12 p.m., the clock wound down to zero and NYA was able to celebrate its 4-0 victory.

“We wanted it really bad,” Rohde said. “It’s great to win Class C. Stepping up to Class C was the highest compliment we could have received and we showed we’re up to the task to win.”

“It’s so amazing,” Daniel said. “We came in expecting a tough battle. Being able to score early and contribute so much to the win was amazing. We’ve talked about winning the 18th game since the beginning of the season. It’s great to do it. I’m so happy I could help my teammates who lost last year.”

“It’s great to do it in Class C,” Doyon added. “We just played our game. Emily owned the center of the field. The girls know the backs are part of the attack. That’s how we play soccer. We’re dangerous. A lot of those balls started from the back. We worked through our mids and our strikers. We’re not a kick-and-run team. We knew going into the second half it was going to be 12v11 with the wind. We had to drop our backs a little more, but we didn’t sit back. We didn’t want to give up any goals. This team plays with heart. It’s a great group.”

The Panthers enjoyed a 13-7 advantage in shots, got seven saves from Morgan and had a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

NYA closed the postseason by shutting out its foes in both the regional and state finals.

“The defense was amazing against Maranacook and they had a great mentality coming in,” Daniel said.

Century mark

Doyon inherited an NYA program at a crossroads in 2016, when it stepped away from varsity play. After a 2-12 campaign in 2017, the Panthers quickly became elite.

“Playing under Ricky has been amazing,” Daniel said. “I’ve learned how to play differently. The way he rallies the girls and talks to us is amazing. It helps create such a strong community and team.”

“Ricky is the best coach I’ve had and ever will have,” Rohde said. “He’s so dedicated to the team. I’m just so happy we got him his 100th win at the state game.”

Fort Kent got eight saves from Albert and one more from senior Laila Forino, who came on late.

The Warriors made things interesting in the second half but couldn’t muster a comeback.

“We had a chat at halftime and the girls knew that to come back in this game, they had to give it their all,” said Fort Kent coach Mindy Forino. “We had a much better second half, but unfortunately for us, we went against the wind in the first half and it killed us. It’s hard at this level to come back from 4-0. We tried our best and I’m proud of these girls and hopefully, we’ll be back next year. I’m genuinely looking forward to next year. I think we can come back and do some damage and maybe you’ll see us back here.”

A look ahead

NYA will graduate a ton of talent but if you expect the Panthers to come back to the back in 2025, guess again.

“A lot of our starters are young and a lot of the players on our bench are strong,” Rohde said. “I think next year’s team will be great.”

“We’ll be good again next year,” said Doyon. “We’re losing a lot of talent, but we’ll build it back up. We’ll adjust and do what we need to do. We’ll try to defend this championship.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.