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Portland: Playoff time has arrived

Portland: Playoff time has arrived

We are on the cusp of playoff thrills in soccer, field hockey, volleyball and cross country, while football just had a championship-caliber matchup live up to billing.

The best part of the fall sports season has arrived and local teams will be in the middle of the excitement.

Here’s a glimpse at how it all shakes out:

Football

Portland’s Carter Lucca celebrates his go-ahead touchdown in Saturday’s 14-7 win at Thornton Academy in a rematch of last year’s Class A state final. Carl D. Walsh / Portland Press Herald

Saturday afternoon in Saco, Portland’s football team earned its biggest victory of the season, as well as a dose of revenge from last year’s state final with a 14-7 victory at Thornton Academy.

The Golden Trojans, winners of four straight games, took the ball to start the contest and drove right down the field, but just before going in for the game’s first score, they fumbled at the 2, Cordell Jones recovered and the Bulldogs dodged an early bullet.

After a scoreless opening period, Thornton Academy did strike first, as with 8:41 left in the first half, quarterback and Fitzpatrick Trophy candidate Wyatt Benoit broke free for a 13-yard touchdown. Portland answered after an acrobatic interception from junior Charlie Abramson-Thompson in Golden Trojans’ territory and with 1:45 on the clock, a 9-yard touchdown scamper from quarterback Louis Thurston forged a 7-7 halftime tie.

Despite horrendous field position for much of the second half, the Bulldogs hung tough and thanks to a stellar defensive effort, never allowed Thornton Academy to go back in front. Then, with just 2:30 remaining and overtime looming, Portland produced its biggest play of the season, stunning everyone on hand.

Carter Lucca, a senior captain, who transferred to Portland from Thornton Academy prior to this season, got open behind the defense, caught a long bomb from Thurston and broke a tackle before completing a 60-yard scoring catch-and-run to stagger the Golden Trojans and give the Bulldogs the lead.

“It was supposed to be a hitch, then I saw (Louis) almost get sacked, but he’s a peak athlete, so he got out of it, then I saw my guy bite in front of me, I turned on my left shoulder, ran down the field, made eye contact with (Louis) and he put it up there,” Lucca said. “Once I saw that pylon, there was no choice but to get in.”

“I saw (Carter) cut back and his guy was running the other way, so I decided to take a shot,” said Thurston, who completed 9-of-15 passes for 134 yards and a TD and ran 18 times for 78 yards and another score. “That was far from designed. We just play football until the whistle blows. That’s something I’ll remember forever.”

Thornton Academy hoped to answer, but immediately fumbled, Brody Viola recovered and Portland was able to milk the clock from there and prevail, 14-7.

The Bulldogs won in Saco for the second year in a row and improved to 6-1 with their fourth consecutive victory.

“Coming from there to here, it felt different, but it felt amazing,” said Lucca, who was a big part of Thornton Academy’s state finalist team his sophomore year before being sidelined most of his junior season by injury. “

“After we scored, we knew a great offense was coming back on the field and they have playmakers all over the field, but credit to our defense for bottling them up most of the game,” Portland coach Sean Green said. “We did a great job containing their quarterback, who is one of the best players in the state. We talked all week that it’s a regular season game and we approach them all the same way. Obviously, there are certain opponents where you’ll get a playoff atmosphere.”

Portland (which will be the top seed in Class A North) plays host to Exeter, New Hampshire next Friday, then closes with the Battle of the Bridge at South Portland on Nov. 1.

“We need to play our technique and not get tired,” Viola said. “We have to keep pushing. The fourth quarter is when we have to play our hardest.”

“All we have to do is lock in during practice 100 percent every day of the week,” Lucca said. “We just have to come out and play.”

“We just have to be consistent,” said Thurston. “I can’t put into words how badly we want to finish this off.”

“We need to do what we’ve done the past couple weeks,” added Green. “Earlier in the season, I think we kind of lost track at times of who we are and what it takes to win. We’ve got to be disciplined and go to work every day and have a maniacal sense of urgency. Talent sets the floor and character sets the ceiling. If we do those things every week, we’ll be in a good position. At the end of the day, our goal is to just win one game at a time.”

Deering also improved to 6-1 with a 42-6 home win over Gorham. Tavian Lauture’s early 29-yard run gave Deering a quick 7-0 lead. After the visiting Rams got on the board, Joey Foley’s 4-yard TD run made it 14-6 after one quarter. In the second period, Deering got a 1-yard touchdown run from Lauture, a 10-yard TD pass from Lauture to Zade Smith and a Dash Newhall 3-yard run to make the score 35-6 at the half. Foley’s 9-yard scamper in the third period accounted for the final score.

The Rams (who are second in the Class B South standings) wrap up the regular season at 2-5 Cheverus Saturday.

Cheverus suffered a 41-13 loss at Marshwood last Friday as its skid hit three games.

The Stags were ranked fifth in Class B South heading into Saturday’s finale versus Deering. The teams didn’t meet a year ago.

Boys’ soccer

Deering’s Ethan Fisher passes the ball past a Gorham defender during last week’s loss. Hoffer photo.

All four city boys ‘soccer teams appear playoff-bound.

In Class A South, Portland was 10-2-1 and fifth and Deering had a record of 7-5-1 and sixth entering their regular season-ending showdown Monday at Deering (see our website for game story).

Last week, the Bulldogs beat visiting Marshwood (3-1) and blanked visiting Noble (5-0) to post double digit regular season wins for the second year in a row. Baptista Muanda scored all three goals in the win over the Hawks. Against the Knights, Isaac Rodrigues-Nkanza had two goals and Paulo Joao, Felisberto Manuisi and Ronan Mas added one goal apiece.

The Rams, meanehile, last week lost at Gorham (3-0).

“We didn’t play well at all in the first half,’ said Deering coach Joel Costigan. “A lot of it was organization, guys doing things we didn’t want them to do. We corrected it and played much better in the second half. We made adjustments, controlled play and we generated opportunities, but we couldn’t score. That’s kind of been the story of our season.”

Deering and Portland met in the regular season opener, way back on Sept. 6, a 1-0 overtime victory for the Bulldogs at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“It would be great for momentum to beat Portland, but it doesn’t change anything,” Costigan said. “We’re where we’ll be in playoffs. We have fantastic players. We just have to put it together and generate some goals. Scoring is a mentality. That and we have to minimize mistakes in the back. We have to stay disciplined and have the right attitude in the box. We’ve got to put it together for 80 minutes. We’ll see if we have a run in us. I hope so.”

Cheverus will be the No. 12 seed in Class A South after finishing the regular season 5-9 after a 2-0 home loss to Windham and a 6-1 setback at Scarborough.

In Class C South, Waynflete was 6-6-1 and fifth following a 3-2 loss at Traip Academy, a 2-1 win at Gray-New Gloucester and a 7-0 home win over Sacopee Valley. The Flyers wrapped up the regular season at home Tuesday versus rival North Yarmouth Academy (see our website for game story).

The preliminary round of the tournament begins Saturday on the fields of the higher seeds. The quarterfinals are next Wednesday, also on the home pitch of the higher seeds.

Girls’ soccer

Cheverus’ Addison Rush fights for possession during last week’s loss to Gorham. Hoffer photo.

On the girls’ side, Cheverus was 9-2-2 and fourth in the Class A South Heals heading into Tuesday’s home regular season finale versus South Portland. Last week, the Stags eked out a 1-0 win at Thornton Academy, then lost at home to Gorham, 2-1. In the victory, Jillian Foley scored the lone goal and goalkeeper Evelyn Rush stopped 10 shots. Against the Rams, Sophia Monfa scored the tying goal, from Annie Vigue, early in the second half, but Gorham won it on a corner kick with 6:56 remaining in regulation.

“It was a much better effort and focus in the second half,” Cheverus coach Craig Roberts said. “I think we believed in ourselves a little bit more. We started playing the way we can. Annie’s pass to ‘Monf’ was beautiful. Against top teams, you can’t get all the way into the final third and play a perfect pass or get a perfect shot. You have to attack early when you have an opportunity and we did that better in the second half.”

When they hosted the Red Riots, the Stags hoped to post double-digit victories in the regular season for the sixth time in nine years.

“Ideally, we stay in the top four,” Roberts said. “We should have a home game, but it would be nice to be as high up as possible and get some rest. I think it’s a mentality thing, a grit and an edge thing. Defensively, we have to buckle down a little bit more. We’ve worked a lot on offense, so we’ll have to turn our attention to defense the next few weeks. We’re a good team and the idea was to make the playoffs. We’ll do that. Now, we have to correct correctable mistakes to give us the best chance to win.”

Deering finished 4-8-2 and appears to be the 12th and final seed in Class A South. Last week, the Rams closed with losses to visiting Gorham (5-1) and at Noble (2-1). Elsa Freeman scored on a penalty kick against Gorham.

Deering will play on the road in the preliminary round Friday or Saturday against a foe to be determined.

Portland finished 2-12 and 15th in Class A South after a 5-0 loss at Windham and a 2-1 home win over Noble in the finale. Anneliese Collin scored both goals in the victory. The Bulldogs fell short of the playoffs for the first time in a non-COVID year since 2017.

Defending Class C champion Waynflete was 5-7-1 and sixth in the South entering Tuesday’s finale at rival NYA. Last week, the Flyers lost at home to Traip Academy (2-0), then beat host Sacopee Valley (5-0). In the win, Fallon Culley and Lucy Mamone both scored two goals and Naomi Rice scored the other, as well as serving up a couple of assists.

The preliminary round of the tournament begins Friday on the fields of the higher seeds. The quarterfinals are next Tuesday, also on the home pitch of the higher seeds.

Field hockey

Cheverus’ field hockey team wrapped up a fourth consecutive undefeated regular season and extended its regular season win streak to 60 games after victories last week at Windham (4-0) and at home over Portland/Deering on Senior Day (9-0). Against the Eagles, Lucy Johnson scored two goals and Sydney Brunelle and Zoey Radford added one apiece. In the finale, Johnson scored three more goals, giving her 28 on the year and a state-record 146 for her nonpareil career. Sophia St. John added two goals and Brunelle, Radford, Jordan Drouin and Mary McCartney finished with one goal apiece.

The Stags (14-0) will be the top seed in Class A South for the fourth year in a row and will host a quarterfinal round playoff game next Tuesday.

Portland/Deering was 0-13 and 15th in Class A South (where just 10 teams make the playoffs) entering Monday’s finale at Gorham. Last week, Portland/Deering was beaten by visiting Bonny Eagle (2-0) and South Portland/Westbrook (1-0), then lost at Cheverus (9-0). Goalie Emma Walsh made 13 saves against the Scots and stopped 18 shots against the Stags.

In Class C South, Waynflete finished the regular season at 7-4-1 following a 1-0 loss at Traip Academy, a 1-1 tie at Sacopee Valley and a 1-0 win at Mt. View last week. Against the Rangers, goalie Mya Clark made four saves. In the draw, Clark stopped four shots and Ava Vander Schaaff scored the goal. Sumeya Hussein had the lone goal against Mt. View. It was assisted by Lucia Infantine. Clark made six saves.

The Flyers were ranked sixth in the region at press time (eight teams qualify for the playoffs). They’ll be on the road in the quarterfinals next Wednesday.

The semifinals are Nov. 2 on the fields of the higher seeds.

Volleyball

Cheverus and Deering’s volleyball teams are playoff-bound.

The Stags were 4-9 and ninth in the Class A statewide Heals at press time (12 squads qualify for the tournament). Last week, Cheverus won at South Portland in four games (25-10, 21-25, 25-19, 26-24), then dropped a five-set home decision to Kennebunk. The Stags closed the regular season at reigning Class A state champion Gorham Tuesday. A win in that one would move the Stags up the standings and allow them to host a preliminary round playoff match.

Deering was also 4-9 and was ranked 11th in Class A following a 3-0 victory at Westbrook and home losses to Falmouth (3-0) and York (3-2). The Rams closed at Portland Tuesday.

Portland was 2-11 and 15th in Class A after a straight sets (25-13, 25-19, 25-19) victory at Massabesic and a 3-0 home loss to Thornton Academy. The Bulldogs closed their season Tuesday at home versus Deering.

The volleyball playoffs begin Thursday with the state preliminary round. The quarterfinals are Saturday and Monday. Those matches will all be contested on the home floors of the higher seeds.

Cross country

The cross country regional championships will be held Saturday at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland. Portland’s boys will be battling Scarborough for top honors in Class A South, while the Portland girls will challenge Falmouth for the top spot. Cheverus, Deering and Waynflete also hope to qualify for the state meet, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 2 in Cumberland.

Waynflete took part in the Western Maine Conference meet last week in Standish. The Flyers girls were fifth and were led by Grace Alexander, who came in 11th individually in 21 minutes, 37 seconds. The boys’ squad came in 10th and featured Pi Crosby (sixth, 17:49).

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at [email protected].