Both Scarborough’s soccer teams headed to Bath Saturday hopeful of returning home with a Gold Ball.

Ultimately, they both came home with a runner-up trophy instead.

While it wasn’t the result the Red Storm boys and girls had hoped for, their seasons were spectacular nonetheless, featuring unforgettable playoff runs.

Here’s one last look back at what Scarborough soccer accomplished in 2024:

Magic runs out

The Red Storm boys appeared to be a team of destiny right up until the noon hour last Saturday.

Scarborough, which was knocked out in the quarterfinal round last season, for just the fifth time in two decades, returned to form this fall, losing by a goal at Falmouth and tying visiting Portland, while winning its other 12 contests, which gave the Red Storm the No. 3 seed for the Class A South tournament.

After downing No. 6 Deering, the reigning regional champion, in the quarterfinals (2-0), Scarborough won a pair of games in breathtaking fashion to emerge as the top team in Class A South.

First, in the semifinals, the Red Storm needed a dramatic save from goalkeeper Seamus Corry on a penalty kick with under a second to go to survive No. 2 Falmouth, 2-1. Then, in the regional final, Scarborough downed No. 4 Portland, 1-0, in overtime, on a header off a corner kick from EJ Herrick.

Saturday, in the state game, the Red Storm went up against Camden Hills and finally met their match.

With the wind at its back, Scarborough nearly struck in the first half, but Denver Bachman’s shot hit the crossbar. The Red Storm were then on their heels in the second half, but held the Windjammers at bay and it was on to overtime, where 30 extra minutes didn’t produce a goal, or a winner.

The Gold Ball then came down to a penalty kick shootout, which Camden Hills won, 5-3, to capture the game, 1-0. Corry made eight saves and Carter Blanche made a defensive save, but Scarborough couldn’t finish, as their season ended at 15-2-1.

“The defense, they were incredible,” said Corry. “Everyone. The strikers came back and defended. The wind sucked, but they fought so hard. I’m proud of them.”

“We played fantastically defensively and I couldn’t be more proud,” said longtime Scarborough coach Mark Diaz.

No three-peat

Scarborough’s girls came into the year as the two-time reigning Class A state champion and hoped to produce a three-peat for the first time in program history, but it wasn’t to be.

The Red Storm, ranked second in the South, knocked off No. 7 Marshwood (4-1) in the quarterfinals, third-seeded Gorham (4-2) in the semifinals and top-ranked Windham (3-1) in the regional final.

Saturday, Scarborough had to get past Bangor in the state game for the second consecutive year, but this time, couldn’t do so.

After a scoreless first half, Maggie Booth gave the Red Storm the lead and it appeared they were on their way to another coronation, but instead, the Rams tied the game with 27 minutes left, went on top with 9:11 remaining, then added an insurance goal for a 3-1 victory, ending Scarborough’s season at 14-2-2.

“You have to give it to Bangor,” said longtime Red Storm coach Mike Farley. “They put us under as much pressure as we’ve been in this year. They did a really good job in the second half of settling the ball, getting it wide, getting crosses in, making us kind of scramble around. They really did win it in the second half. They turned up the pressure through the midfield and really kept us trapped in our own end for a good amount of the last 25 minutes. Our kids played hard, I think we just lost our way slightly after we scored the first goal and when we tried to get the game back under control we couldn’t get away from Bangor’s pressure and when we did, we just didn’t play the final ball we needed to in that moment.

“This season was a lot of fun for me personally. I had some visions on what this team could be with some big changes, starting with playing with three backs and playing a much more direct style then we have in the past. I was worried about how as a group we would handle it and my players continued to show they are really high IQ soccer players and not only did they embrace the changes, all players that were directly affected by the changes really took off this year and had great seasons. I couldn’t be prouder of what this team accomplished getting through a very tough region and we just came up short in the last game of the season, but it wasn’t for a lack or effort.”

As usual, Scarborough will lose some key contributors, but the Red Storm will be poised to make another run at the championship in 2025.

“(Next year) will bring some more changes as we will lose a very big senior class and some very important players in our program’s history,” said Farley. “No one will be feeling bad for us, as we have a ton of younger players that are really being held back because of age, but they could be playing significant minutes for this year’s team. Those players will need to have a strong offseason, but I would imagine we will come back with another strong group.”

New England results

Scarborough’s boys’ cross country team, fresh off winning the Class A state title, ran at the New England championship meet last Saturday in Manchester, Connecticut. The Red Storm came in 24th and were led by Ethan Keller, who had the 72nd-best time (16 minutes, 47 seconds). Also taking part were Atticus Merriam (143rd, 17:26), Landen Springer (181st, 17:50), Baxter Merriam (189th, 17:57), Nicholas Koziell (228th, 18:47), Noel Heath (233rd, 18:51) and Griffin Heath (254th, 20:33).

Laurel Driscoll competed as an individual for the Scarborough girls and posted the 67th-best time (19:49).

Press Herald staff writer Steve Craig contributed to this story.