After a successful run as a Class D South (formerly West) team, the Mustangs struggled with low numbers and stiffer competition in a jump to Class C due to higher enrollment figured.

When Joe Fletcher took over as coach in 2009, the team was a shell of its former self.

“We were on the verge of collapse,” Fletcher recalled. “We had to do some heaving recruiting my first year. We only had 13 players to start the season and we finished with 14. And most of them were not ready to play varsity soccer. Against the quality teams, we were getting pounded.”

Six years later, you’d never know it.

The Mustangs have made significant progress, and they made it very clear this fall that the program was now among the top teams in Class C South, earning a berth in the regional final.

Monmouth plays at Waynflete on Wednesday in its first regional final of any kind since 2000, the second of back to back Class D West regional titles. The Mustangs also won those Class D state championships.

“The whole school is really excited about it,” Fletcher said. “There’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm. It has been quite a while.”

When Monmouth won its second consecutive state title in 2000, the boys’ program, coached by Gary Trafton, shared the experience with the girls’ team, which also won states in 2000,

This fall, Trafton, now coaching the girls’ team, has also taken his team to the regional final. The Monmouth girls will host Waynflete on Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s the first time in 15 years,” said Trafton, whose team stunned top-ranked Sacopee Valley last Friday. The Monmouth boys upset Hall-Dale earlier that day. “The boys were down there for our game. After the game, they came out and congratulated the girls. There were a lot of them there.”

Though it is the girls’ team’s first trip to the regional final in Class C South, the Mustangs have been relatively consistent since that 2000 season, even after the jump to Class C. The program has been competitive in the MVC and a regular in the regional tourney.

Building from scratch

The boys, on the other hand, struggled. In 2009, Fletcher left Oak Hill High School and took the Monmouth job, knowing the program needed to be revived.

“We thought it would take a while” said Fletcher, whose son Kyle was an up-and-coming middle school player at that time. He went on to become the school’s all-time leading scorer. “We had some young players that played Premier Soccer and some others that played a lot, but it’s been a work in progress.”

Fletcher said establishing some consistency in the program, from the lower levels on up, helped build a foundation in which the team is still rooted today. Russell Neal and Jim Grandahl were instrumental at the middle school and youth levels, for both boys and girls.

“The stability was the key, having a middle school coach that was there year in and year out, and having me at the high school year in and year out,” Fletcher said. “I’m very involved in the middle school and the youth programs. “

The team started to win more games and compete within the conference. The Mustangs started making the playoffs. Monmouth didn’t have any long tourney runs, but after reaching the prelims one year, the team reached the quarterfinals the next.

After last year’s loss in the quarterfinals, Fletcher wasn’t sure what to expect from this year’s club. He had just four seniors, Chandler Harris, Gage Cote, Nick Sanborn and Ben Larson. 

After an opening day loss to Mountain Valley, the Mustangs won 10 straight before a 1-0 loss to Hall-Dale. That loss knocked the Mustangs out of first place, and a subsequent loss to St. Dom’s left them in fourth. Still, the Mustangs had learned their potential.

“After that Hall-Dale game, we knew we were as good as we think we are,” Fletcher said. “We can beat (Hall-Dale). We knew going in that we could compete with them and could beat them.”

The Mustangs first had to get through North Yarmouth Academy — no easy task, especially since the team was shorthanded. Harris has missed six games with an injury. Monmouth had to rally, but defeated the Panthers in overtime, despite the fact NYA controlled most of play.

“We were very fortunate to come out of that,” Fletcher said.

That set up the rematch with Hall-Dale. Monmouth had to come from behind again, but eked out another overtime thriller.

“We played extremely well against Hall-Dale,” Fletcher said. “I think in the first half, they might have outplayed us a little bit, but in the second half, I think we definitely controlled and in the overtime, I think we certainly controlled the game.”

The Mustangs head into Wednesday’s regional final knowing that they can compete and make a game of it against the second-seeded Flyers.

“Other coaches have contacted me and told me that because of our tenacity we can stay in every game,” Fletcher said. “We play hard and we’ve adopted an attitude of not giving up. We’re going to look each other face-to-face and be able to say we left it on the pitch. That’s been our battle cry for us from day one.”

Girls on the defensive

Defense has been the mantra for the girls’ team this fall. Monmouth has had teams in the recent past that could score. And while this year’s edition had balanced scoring from the likes of Sidney Wilson, Haley Fletcher, Sammy Grandahl and Tia Day, the defense has been the team’s staple this fall.

Monmouth allowed just 11 goals during the regular season and posted eight shutouts. Friday’s 1-0 win was one of its most impressive efforts. Monmouth scored early in the game and then held off a potent Hawks team in South Hiram.

“The defense played very well,” Trafton said. “All the girls played really tough defense. Sacopee was getting very frustrated because they weren’t getting the shots off that they wanted. The whole defense played well.”

Goalie Mikayla Cameron was outstanding behind defenders Emily Grandahl, Cheyenne Gray, Taylor Spadafora, Hannah Anderson and Abby Allen.

“It wasn’t one girl,” said Trafton, whose team played with just 12 players. “The whole team, all 12, were working really hard and working for each other and having each other’s backs.”

Like the boys’ team, the Monmouth girls were atop the standings for much of the season, but a late season loss to Hall-Dale and then a loss to Madison dropped them down to fourth.

“We’ve had a few bumps in the road,” Trafton said. “A lot of people wrote us off in that (Sacopee) game.”

Now the Mustangs play a Wayflete team that dispatched No. 3 St. Dom’s and No. 2 Madison.

Family affair

Wednesday’s schedule also creates a bit of a challenge for the Fletcher family. Coach Fletcher will be with his boys’ team in Portland, while his daughter, Haley, will be playing in Monmouth.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but she understands what I have to do,” Fletcher said.

He said there was even discussion about trying to play the boys’ game Tuesday but even Coach Fletcher didn’t like the idea.

“I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to, and if I wanted to it would have been for selfish reasons,” Fletcher said. “What’s best for my team is that we have two days to prepare. I’ll be with them in spirit and hopefully, I’ll get to watch them play in Presque Isle (in the state championship game).”

No matter what happens Wednesday, tournament runs like this year’s can have a tremendous impact on programs. Fletcher said the way to create an atmosphere that gets kids to play soccer is to make it fun and exciting. Right now, both Monmouth teams are enjoying their soccer season to its fullest.

“Right after we won (at Hall-Dale), we had a group of young soccer players, middle school and youth soccer players, charge the field with us,” Fletcher said. “That was awesome.”

kmills@sunjournal.com