Former Lewiston High School head coach Butch Dow was in search of a coaching opportunity this fall.

The longtime coach found a place in Monmouth. He was hired as the junior varsity coach for the Mustangs.

“It’s basically as a goaltender coach right now because the JV’s numbers are down,” Dow said.

It has allowed him to work regularly with Monmouth’s two keepers, Mikayla Cameron and Maddie Neal.

“He’s worked a lot with the goalies,” Monmouth coach Gary Trafton said. “He works a good hour every day. Then he moves on and does other things for us. It’s really showed. Mikayla made five or six unbelievable saves (in a 3-1 win over Mountain Valley in Friday’s season opener).”

Dow has already seen great improvement in his two keepers. Their positioning is better and their vertical game has improved. Both can leap to reach the crossbar, something they weren’t able to do earlier. It has helped make them better keepers while also making the Mustangs a better club.

“I think it makes a big difference for teams that have a keeper coach,” said Dow, who also does work with the Mustang fullbacks. “I’m hoping in the future that soccer teams will have a specialty coach like a lot of other sports teams do.”

Dow was a longtime assistant and keeper coach at Lewiston. He took the varsity girls head coaching job in 2010, and held that position until resigning last March.  He had hoped for a stipend position with the Bates womens’ program, but that didn’t work out.

That left Dow mulling over options. He had recently been certified as an official but wasn’t sure he wanted to go that route. Then he heard the Monmouth job was available.

“When that opened up, I was thinking, ‘I’ll apply for it,'” Dow said. “I had to find something.”

Per Henrikson had worked with Monmouth during the summer but chose not to pursue the JV coaches position. Instead, he’s working at Lewiston. That left the opportunity to Dow.

“I’m just leaving it up to him,” said Trafton, who enjoys the luxury of having a coach that can work with his goalies. “It’s a great big plus. It’s one burden I don’t have to worry about.”

Low numbers

Having a promising group of newcomers is always a positive, but not when they make up half your team.

The Rangeley boys’ soccer team has struggled to field a full team this year and has just 10 players on the roster. Five of those players include four freshmen and one eighth-grader.

“This is my third year coaching and we have struggled to get numbers to field a team each year,” Rangeley coach David Jensen said.

The Lakers were 0-13-1 last year and lost four regulars from that club. Tim White, Orrin Mitchell and Ricky Thompson are the most experienced returning players, even though all but one player on the roster was on the varsity squad last fall.

“It looks like we are starting an uphill battle again this year,” Jensen said. “I was excited about this year as we had a large athletic freshman class coming in, but a few of the kids who I anticipated being on the team have moved away or decided not to play.”

Rangeley opened the season with a hard-fought 1-0 loss against Greater Portland Christian.

Challenging start

Coming off a 4-1 win over Brewer Saturday, the schedule gets challenging in a hurry for the Lewiston boys’ soccer team.

The Blue Devils host their rivals from Mt. Ararat on Monday night. Lewiston lost to the Eagles in the Eastern A final two years ago and the teams typically butt heads each fall in a competitive battle for positioning in Eastern A.

Then Lewiston hosts another rival with a girls’ and boys’ doubleheader Thursday with Edward Little. The boys’ game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

As if that weren’t enough, Lewiston plays at Hampden on Saturday night at 6 p.m. The Broncos are the defending Eastern A champs and beat the Blue Devils in Hampden last fall in overtime for the title.

For a team hoping to be among the top team in Eastern A again, the Blue Devils face a pretty significant test this week.

Lewiston coach Mike McGraw said the pieces are coming together, but the Blue Devils have some preseason rust to shake off. With high expectations and a tough schedule, he’s emphasizing that any success that follows comes from hard work.

“We’re going to be a good team and if we play together, with intensity and determination, it is a squad that can go deep in the playoffs,” McGraw said. “But teams don’t win games or tournaments on paper. They will have to earn victory.”

kmills@sunjournal.com