Dover-Foxcroft – “I was emotional knowing it was my last regular season home soccer game ever, but I knew if we played the way we were capable of playing, we had a great chance to win,” said senior Blake Arno. Following the presentation of flowers to the seniors parents, both teams took the field which was under beautiful conditions. “The sun was shining and it was just a perfect day to play soccer,” said Arno.

Foxcroft Seniors. Left to right: Antonio Ayala, Paul Birtwistle, Toan Bui, Harry Gong, Cameron Plourde, Dylan Harmon-Weeks, Blake Arno, Cooper Nelson, and Nate Church.

The game was played evenly for the first thirty minutes of the game until Arno took a cross from Junior Chandler Rockwell and deflected it over the goalies head into the upper right corner of the goal. Both teams went back forth for the remainder of the game with many scoring opportunities for both teams but the score remained 1-0 with just fifteen remaining.

 

Arno deflects the ball passed Hermon keeper for a goal.

 

Hermon mid-fielder James Peterson took a through pass and fired a shot on goal. Junior Logan Butera deflected the ball just over the top of the goal and this would be the last quality look that Hermon would get to score. Senior defenders Cooper Nelson and Nate Church shut down any look Hermon had on goal before they could fire a shot. Foxcroft was able to hold onto a 1-0 victory during the seniors last home game. During the game the Ponies outshot the Hawks twenty-seven to sixteen. The Ponies finish the regular season 10-3-1 while outscoring their opponents an incredible sixty-five to twenty-four and enter the playoffs ranked ninth place in heal points.

 

Foxcroft defender, Church chases down Hermon’s Peterson.

“This win gives us momentum entering playoffs knowing Hermon beat the number one team in the league,” (Ellsworth High school) said Arno. “We had a tough last couple weeks losing to MDI and Old Town but I believe this win is just what the team needed,” added Church. Both games were hard fought which the Ponies lost by one goal in each game. Ayala said that, “this win builds our team’s confidence entering the postseason and this confidence can propel us through the playoffs.” The Foxcroft boys believe that they truly have a special team and a great chance to do big things in the playoffs. “We had a great regular season but we haven’t accomplished any of our goals from the beginning of the season. We want to take it to the next step in the playoffs so people finally give us (Foxcroft boys soccer) the respect we deserve,” said Ayala. The Ponies will travel to Medomak this Saturday to play eighth seeded Medomak Valley at 3:00 P.M. who has a record of 9-3-2. “Nothing is given, but if we show up and perform the way we are capable, we have a chance to do great things,” explained Nelson.

                                          Photos taken by Angela Ayala