TOPSHAM

The state high school soccer championships were contested this past Saturday, with the Mt. Ararat boys and the Richmond girls playing at Hampden Academy.

The Eagles dropped a 4-0 decision to Scarborough in the Class A title contest, while the Bobcat girls secured their third consecutive Class D championship with a 2-1 penalty kick victory over Washburn.

Mt. Ararat

Rick Renaud knew he had a talented team. In fact, the longtime coach felt the same thing over the past three years, with the Eagles failing to reach for the brass ring.

But, this season was different, especially after a 2-1 home victory over previouslyunbeaten Lewiston during the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference season. Renaud felt his team had bought into his belief that the Eagles were good!

“They definitely figured it out when they beat Lewiston (Oct. 2), especially after we had played horribly the first time against them (a 3-1 loss at Lewiston on Sept. 5),” said Renaud from Tucson, Ariz., where his son Jake will be married this upcoming Saturday. “We became an attacking team, and when we were doing that, the confidence was high. Our only real struggles occurred when we sat back, something we did against Scarborough.”

Having just one day to prepare for the talented Red Storm after a 2-1 overtime victory over the Blue Devils on Nov. 1 in the Eastern A title game, the Eagles fell behind early, trailed 3-0 at the half, and never really got untracked.

“We used to have a week after the regional championships to prepare, not just one day,” said Renaud. “I knew we would struggle against Scarborough. Figure, Scarborough plays all year long on a nice turf field. For us, we are a possession team and when we do that, we play like many of the talented teams in southern Maine.

“But, after the fourth game this season, the fields we play on were a wreck, so we had to change the way we played, and take a more direct approach rather than play possession. It is tough to change for the state title game, especially when Scarborough is just better than us to begin with.

“I had a conversation a few years ago with a Scarborough parent, and he asked me how many kids we have playing at the premier level,” Renaud recalled. “At the time, we had three or four, and he told me they have over 100. It costs a lot of money to play at the elite level, and they just have the resources to accomplish that.”

Mt. Ararat senior midfielder Will Hirnak was the lone Mt. Ararat player selected for the 2012 Maine Soccer Coaches Regional All-Star team this season. Renaud feels the way his team played this season is a reflection of the lack of Mt. Ararat players on the squad.

“We were a balanced team this year and very strong defensively with Dan (Purinton), Dylan (Michaud) and Alex (LaPierre) in the back, and it is tough to get selected for that team when you play well as a team in the defensive end,” said Renaud. “If the kids buy into my system, they do well, and it had been a while since that happened. Dan Purinton told one of my assistants, ‘I would run through a wall for Coach Renaud.’ That says something about the kind of kids I have.”

Renaud, admittedly a “tough motivator,” allowed that he does coach differently these days.

“Kids are more sensitive today, but I push the heck out of them and people think I am a jerk, but I care for the kids and they know it,” said Renaud, whose squad outscored opponents 54-15 this season with goaltender Gabe Pelletier picking up seven shutouts. “All I want is for them to do better. There are times I feel awful, that I was too hard on a kid. But, many of them come back and thank me. That is why I continue to coach. This was an awesome season, 14 wins in a row, and I am very proud of these kids.”

Richmond girls

His top scorer gone. Fouryear starting goaltender … graduated.

Richmond coach Troy Kendrick faced those challenges heading into this season, along with a tough schedule.

Kendrick’s Bobcats stared down those challenges, and guess what! Richmond is the Class D soccer champions for the third consecutive year after a 2-1 penalty-kick win over Washburn.

“My wife was counting a few more gray hairs on the ride home,” said Kendrick, who arrived with his team late Saturday night with the traditional fire truck parade into town. “We were met at the (I-295) overpass, and a mile long parade of cars escorted us in a loop around town. I was happy to have the extra hour of sleep (daylight savings time was Sunday morning), though I was up at 6 a.m. because I was still wound up.”

After a tough season-opening 2-1 victory over Class C Old Orchard Beach, Kendrick’s charges went on a roll, notching 11 consecutive shutout victories (outscoring those opponents 69-0) behind a balanced attack of goal scorers and the shutdown defense of seniors Bri Snedeker, Ciarra Lancaster and Marlena Carter, along with junior Haley Murphy.

“With eight starters back, the kids felt expectations coming into the year, and there was pressure on them,” admitted Kendrick. “It was a relief to win the title for them. It is difficult to win a state championship, and to three-peat is astronomical. It is hard to stay that focused.”

Kendrick had to find scoring after the graduation of Danica Hurley (38 goals last year).

“Amber Loon and Noell Acord scored more than 20 goals each this season, with Sadie Gosse chipping in 16, so we became a more balanced team,” said Kendrick. “I knew we had the horses to do it and score by committee. They took that on and performed.”

Goaltending was a different concern for the coach.

“It is always scary with the goalkeeper spot unsettled coming into the season, and I was nervous,” said Kendrick, who turned the reins over to Kelsie Obi. “Kelsie trained during the offseason, during the summer, and worked hard in the preseason, knowing we had to have solid goalkeeping to go where we wanted to go. She worked hard to win the spot, and came through when under fire, in games against Waynflete (Class C champs, 1- 1 tie), Old Orchard and against Washburn. When she allowed a goal, she refocused, and the defense in front of her didn’t allow a lot of looks and picked up Kelsie when they needed to, telling her to ‘just make the next save.’

“Defense wins championships, and that was our mentality all season.”

Kendrick now looks to the future, having to replace nearly his entire defense and several spots in the starting lineup.

“We have always taken pride in our depth, something most Class D schools do not have,” said Kendrick. “We have some talented players on our bench. We went six-to-seven deep off the bench this season. Where I am concerned is will we have the depth next year that we have had? We will see.”

Four Class D titles in a row? One never knows!