Waynflete Flyers Fall Sports Preview

BOYS’ SOCCER

Last year was another season of celebration for Waynflete’s boys’ soccer team, which won a fourth straight Class C state title. The new-look Flyers hope to keep the good times rolling this fall. File photos.

Coach: Will Burdick (first year)

2022 record: 16-1-1 (Beat Fort Kent, 6-1, to win fourth consecutive Class C state title)

Top returning players: Dana Bigelow (Senior), Nico Kirby (Senior), Jacob Woodman (Senior), Jeff Adey (Junior)

Pivotal games: Aug. 31 @ Traip, Sept. 2 @ Hall-Dale, Sept. 12 @ Greely, Sept. 14 YORK, Sept. 19 YARMOUTH, Sept. 28 NYA, Oct. 3 @ Freeport, Oct. 7 @ Cape Elizabeth, Oct. 10 TRAIP, Oct. 17 @ NYA

Coach’s comment: “I’m super-excited to be back with the program. To return to a place I learned so much, where my career started and to give back to the school. The kids have been awesome. We were so deep with seniors last year, but there were good core guys behind them and they’re ready for their chance and to fill in gaps. We have to form a new identity. We have an extremely tough schedule, maybe the toughest schedule we’ve ever had. We want to get better on a weekly basis, learn more about ourselves and get ready for a playoff run. Everyone knows the success we’ve had. We want to be the team to beat in Class C again and get back to states.”

The Forecaster’s forecast: It’s a very different Waynflete team this fall, but the rest of Class C shouldn’t exhale, as the Flyers still have the pieces in place to steal the show at the end of the year. After 34 seasons, 332 victories and eight championships, Brandon Salway has retired and the program turns to a former standout as its new leader. Burdick, Waynflete Class of 2016, played collegiately at Emmanuel College in Boston and served previously as the coach at Gray-New Gloucester. He inherits a team that lacks the big-name stars of year’s past, but this group is eager to put its imprint on the program and keep the good times rolling.

Senior Jacob Woodman will be right in the middle of the action this fall.

The Flyers will miss Myles Culley, the most prolific scorer in state history, who tallied 52 goals last season while leading his team to the pinnacle, and the departure of all-state players Matt Adey and Roan Hopkins will also be felt. With that said, an introduction to the 2023 squad will inspire confidence. Woodman, a league all-star in 2022, is a captain and will be a top scorer either as a central-midfielder or forward. The offense will be further bolstered by seniors Andrew Johnson and Nestor Verdi (a foreign exchange student from Chile) and junior Lucas Plumb. Defensively, Jeff Adey and Bigelow will help fluster the opposition in front of Kirby in goal, a captain who has big-game experience.

Senior Nico Kirby will be one of the region’s top goaltenders this season.

While Waynflete won’t be as prone to steamrolling the opposition this autumn and its schedule will prove daunting, likely resulting in a lower win total than we’ve grown accustomed, by season’s end, this squad will be ready to do big things. Again. Sorry, Class C South, but until further notice, the Flyers remain the gold standard.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Senior Lucy Hart is close to unstoppable with the ball on her foot. Hart hopes to bow out as a state champion this season.

Co-coaches: Carrie Earls and George Sherry (sixth year, 33-37-4 overall record)

2022 record: 12-5 (Lost, 2-0, to Maranacook in Class C South Final)

Top returning players: Morgan Earls (Senior), Izzy Gleason (Senior), Lucy Hart (Senior), Fallon Culley (Junior), Lucy Olson (Junior), Grace Alexander (Sophomore), Liza Lawson (Sophomore), Ayla Stutzman (Sophomore)

Pivotal games: Aug. 31 TRAIP, Sept. 2 HALL-DALE, Sept. 12 GREELY, Sept. 14 @ York, Sept. 21 @ Yarmouth, Sept. 23 @ Freeport, Sept. 29 @ NYA, Oct. 10 @ Traip, Oct. 17 NYA

Coach Earls’ comment: “Our hopes are always to just compete in every match. We have a much tougher schedule this fall. We have a much deeper bench this season than in past seasons, so we will look to control possession and make teams adjust to our style of play. We expect Lucy Hart to have a dominant senior season and we will look to a number of other players to help balance our attack. If our defensive unit is anything like last season, we should be very hard to score against. We only allowed 15 goals all season, plus two in playoffs, and 13 of them were to NYA and Cape Elizabeth. We hope to return to the playoffs, battle-tested by our tough schedule, and playing our best soccer of the season.”

The Forecaster’s forecast: Waynflete continued its return to prominence last year, reaching the regional final for the first time in six years, while posting a dozen victories, which was last done in 2015. The Flyers have an abundance of veteran talent, some promising newcomers and they’ll need everyone on the roster to step up as the schedule is the most daunting in recent memory.

Junior Fallon Culley will be a top player this fall for the Flyers.

Hart was a first-team All-Conference, All-State and was chosen by The Forecaster as Waynflete’s Fall Athlete of the Year last season. She scored 23 goals and added six assists and figures to score with abandon this autumn. Hart will be the focal point of the opposition, but good luck slowing her down, especially considering what else the Flyers bring to the table. Earls (five goals, nine assists) and Gleason were honorable mention all-stars in 2022 and will score their share of goals. Olson turned heads as a freshman and could be in for an even bigger season. Freshman Naomi Rice is a newcomer to watch up front. Waynflete looks solid in the back as well, as Stutzman (a first-team all-star last year) returns in goal (senior Leah Noone and freshman Audrey Winch will also see some time) and is supported by Alexander (first-team All-Conference), Lawson (honorable mention), Culley and freshman Paige Alexander.

Waynflete last reached a state game in 2016 and captured the program’s last Gold Ball in 2013. The Flyers will be tested by some of the best teams in Class B, as well as Class C, as the season progresses and if their challenge wasn’t tough enough, rival and perennial Class D champion North Yarmouth Academy has moved up this fall, meaning Waynflete will likely have to go through the Panthers to get to accomplish its ultimate goal. Nothing will come easily, but this team will be one of the last ones standing and will be a lot of fun to watch from start to finish.

FIELD HOCKEY

Coach: Rowena Schenck (first year)

2022 record: No varsity team

Players to watch: Tilsley Kelly (Senior), Sara Levenson (Senior), Mya Clark (Freshman)

Pivotal games: Sept. 1 SACOPEE VALLEY, Sept. 16 FRYEBURG, Oct. 6 TELSTAR, Oct. 14 MT. VIEW

Coach’s comment: “We are excited to bring field hockey back to Waynflete and hope we have some competitive games and build the program this year.”

The Forecaster’s forecast: Waynflete, which last had a stand-alone program in 2014, returns to varsity play this fall and is excited about its opportunity. Schenck, who previously coached at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, has some promising athletes to work with.

The Flyers will be led by captains Levenson and Kelly (the lacrosse standout). Clark will face a lot of shots in goal and is ready for the challenge.

This season, Waynflete’s biggest concern will be getting up to speed at the varsity level and growing the program. A few victories would be a nice bonus.

CROSS COUNTRY

Lucy Olson helped Waynflete’s girls’ cross country team win a regional title as a freshman. She and her teammates hope to add a state championship this fall.

Coaches:
(Boys) Jim Millard (fourth year)
(Girls) Steve Withers (sixth year)

2022 results:
(Boys) 7th @ Class C state meet
(Girls) 3rd @ Class C state meet (Class C South champion)

Top returners:
(Boys) Will Barmby (Senior), Colton Nelson (Senior), Pi Crosby (Junior)
(Girls) Maeve Mechtenberg (Senior), Skylar Harris (Junior), Leah Kramer (Junior), Grace Alexander (Sophomore), Kestrel Linehan (Sophomore), Lucy Olson (Sophomore)

Coach Millard’s comment: “We are hoping to compete for the top spot in the region in October. We’ll need to get some strong showings in the three, four and five spots, so the challenge is out there. Of course there are a lot of miles between here and there, but the runners are ready and focused, so if things break our way, we should be up there when it comes around.”

Coach Withers’ comment: “Coming off our regional championship last year, we are returning five out of our top seven runners. We are still, however, a young team that is looking to gain experience in big meets. Our goals are always three-fold: learn something about yourself as a young woman, learn something about yourself as a runner, and improve. In recent years, we’ve seen steady improvement as the season progresses, culminating in peak performances at the end-of-season championship meets. We look to do the same this year.”

The Forecaster’s forecast: Waynflete will once again be one of the top programs in Class C this autumn.

The boys return state meet scorers and captains Barmby (14th a year ago) and Crosby (24th). Nelson is another captain who looks to move up the standings. That nucleus is joined by senior Che Rich, junior Wyatt Adams, sophomores Loren Rawlins and Soren Southall. Junior Kirby Douglas is new to the team and freshmen Asa Adams and Caleb Kramer hope to step right in and make an impact. Look for the Flyers to finish right near the top of the heap both at regionals and states.

On the girls’ side, the Flyers look to build on last year’s regional title and finish even higher at states. Olson was 12th at last year’s state meet as a freshman and will lead the way, along with Jenkins (13th). Grace Alexander (28th) and Mechtenberg (29th) also scored a year ago. Kramer and Linehan have big meet experience and Harris is another veteran. Freshman Paige Alexander will step right in and help the cause. Waynflete has a strong team on paper to start the season. If the Flyers develop as hoped, they’ll make late-season memories once again.

GOLF

Coach: Ben Boonseng (third year)

2022 results: Did not qualify for Class C state match

Coach’s comment: “Haven (Savory-Kreis) and Skiddy (von Stade) are promising golfers that can lead our small group to compete in the WMC and qualify for states. It’ll be a difficult road with our small numbers, but they are good enough to compete with everyone. My expectations for this year are to gain more interest immediately to help with our low numbers and hoping to gain a bigger group for the future.”

The Forecaster’s forecast: Waynflete has a very small team this fall, just four players. That group consists of seniors Sebastian Ogivele, Andrew Rogers (who also plays soccer), Haven Savory-Kreis and Francis “Skiddy” von Stade. All four players look to average in the 40s over nine holes. The Flyers do have enough players to qualify for states as a team and that’s the ultimate goal.