Paul and Sue King live in Oakland, and they have been regulars this season at Messalonskee boys soccer games. They especially love watching their grandson, Chris Hall, who scored the game-winning goal when the Eagles defeated Hampden on Wednesday in the Eastern A final.

But when Hall and his teammates take on Windham for the Class A state title at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Falmouth High School, Paul and Sue are clear: They absolutely will not be rooting for Messalonskee. They just can’t.

Additional Photos

Messalonskee High School’s Chris Hall, right, battles for the ball with Hampden Academy’s Sam Lebel in the Eastern Maine Class A boys soccer championship game Wednesday at Hampden Academy. The Eagles will face Windham for the state title on Saturday in Falmouth. Staff photo by Michael G. Seamans

It’s not because of some ugly family incident. It’s simply a matter of being unable to choose between their two grandsons. Hall’s cousin, Dana King, is also Paul and Sue’s grandson, and he happens to be Windham’s goalkeeper.

“I want both of them to win, but I know that’s not possible,” Sue said. “I love both of those boys. I’ll be happy for the one that wins, and so sad for the one that doesn’t.”

Chris and Dana are only nine months apart in age, so they had common interests as kids, including soccer.

“We’ve known each other forever,” Chris said. “I’ve probably known him since I was 2. We’ve always been close.”

They played together on travel soccer teams, but the last time they played against each other in a competitive setting was about five years ago, when Chris’ U-13 Waterville Novas team played a friendly game against Dana’s U-12 team from Windham. Who won that game is not in Chris’ memory bank.

“I honestly can’t remember,” he said. “I know it was a close game.”

“I’m pretty sure we beat them, but I’m not 100 percent sure,” Dana said. “I’m 90 percent sure.”

Chris is a center back who has scored 12 goals this fall, and he will sometimes warm up Dana before Windham games. He did that Oct. 1, when, in a preview of the Western A final, Windham knocked off Scarborough, 3-2.

Since Chris stuck around to watch the games, he has a decent scouting report on Saturday’s opponent. Dana, meanwhile, hasn’t been to a Messalonskee game this year.

“It’s a little unfortunate, because Chris has gotten to see us play,” Dana said. “So it’s a little bit of an advantage, but it’s all right.”

Messalonskee was the sixth seed entering the Eastern A tournament and won the regional title by beating No. 3 Mt. Ararat, No. 2 Bangor and No. 4 Hampden in succession. As both teams kept winning in the playoffs, Chris and Dana started talking about possibly meeting for the state title.

“I’d send him Facebook messages, saying, ‘It’d be pretty sick if we saw each other in states,’ ” Chris said.

Just before the regional finals, Chris was confident Messalonskee could knock off Hampden, so he sent another message to Dana. This one said, “We’d better be seeing you on Saturday, November 5th.”

Paul and Sue have been following all along, and since Messalonskee’s regular-season games usually started around 3:30 and Windham’s games around 7, they were able to see both teams play a lot this season. But on Wednesday, the teams played in different parts of the state, and the games ended about 10 minutes apart.

“We had to divide and conquer,” Sue said. “I went to Messalonskee, and my husband went to Windham. We were texting city.”

Come Saturday, Paul and Sue will be rooting hard for both grandsons, but to do so, they realize they will have to be a safe distance away from the fans of both teams.

“I am going to be by myself someplace. I’m sure my wife will, too,” Paul said. “How do you choose? You can’t, and you shouldn’t. I almost don’t want to go, but of course I will.”

“I’m going to say, ‘Go Eagles!’ ” Sue said. “Both teams are the Eagles, so I’m all set.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

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