The Greyhounds didn’t start the season with a goal of being unbeaten.
Funny how that works out sometimes.
Lisbon field hockey followed up its best season on record — and a trip to the Western Class C semifinal against state champions NYA — with one that may turn out to be even better.
The Greyhounds put the finishing touches on their season Monday with a 2-0 triumph over St. Dom’s, capping a 13-0-1 regular season. The lone blemish was a 1-1 tie with Winthrop.
“The girls are pretty excited,” Lisbon coach Julie Wescott said. “The focus really never was to go undefeated of anything like that. We just wanted to go out there and play the next game every time.”
Lisbon outscored its opponents 51-8 on the season while pitching eight shutouts in 14 games. In the Greyhounds other six games, they allowed more than one goal only once, in an 8-2 win over Boothbay.
And the Greyhounds have done the damage on offense by committee.
“You never know where it’s going to come from each game, and we like that,” Wescott said. “It makes it hard for teams to really focus on one or two players. It’s fun to see which player is going to step up in every game. We’ve really done well to spread out the scoring.”
Perhaps fueled by last year’s loss to NYA in penalty corners, this year’s Lisbon squad is even more driven.
“We played them and they went on to win states, and that gave us a bit of a fire,” Wescott said. “We want to build on what we did last year.”
Part of the Greyhounds’ success this season was also derived from the difficulty of the competition they faced. MVC championship game opponent Winthrop will start the Eastern C playoffs as the No. 2 seed, while Spruce Mountain, Mountain Valley and Oak Hill are all playoff-bound in Western B.
“The game this week against Winthrop will give us a good chance to get ready for that playoff atmosphere. They’re really a good team,” Wescott said.
Lisbon’s first opponent in the postseason will be Old Orchard Beach, a mainstay in the Western Maine Conference and the No. 8 seed. Dirigo also qualified for the Western C field in the No. 6 position, and will travel to No. 3 Waynflete in the first round. NYA, which missed out on the No. 1 seed to Lisbon by mere tenths, will host Sacopee Valley.
Winthrop, meanwhile, lost only one game all season, and will host Boothbay in the Eastern C quarterfinal round after facing Lisbon in the MVC game.
Fryeburg toppled No. 1 Lake Region on the final day of the season to vault into second place in Western B, sliding Leavitt Area High School into third and Spruce Mountain into fifth, with York sandwiched in between.
The Hornets completed their KVAC schedule at 11-3 to earn the No. 3 seed, and will host the winner of Falmouth-Poland in a quarterfinal game. The Phoenix settled in at No. 5, and will travel to York in a quarterfinal. Mountain Valley and Oak Hill will also play in the postseason, with the No. 8 Falcons hosting Yarmouth in a preliminary-round contest this weekend, while Oak Hill travels to Cape Elizabeth as the No. 10 seed.
Lewiston completed its resurgence under first-year coach randy Richardson, and were one win over Mt. Ararat away from securing a home playoff game. Instead, it’s the Blue Devils who will take to the road to face the Eagles in the 4-5 matchup in the quarterfinal round. The winner of that matchup will likely move on to face perennial powerhouse and top-seeded Skowhegan.
Oxford Hills used a late-season charge to earn its way into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. The Vikings will travel to Messalonskee for a quarterfinal matchup next week.
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