The Winslow girls soccer team has registered consecutive shutouts thanks to a defense led by a young back four.

“Our back four are have been really solid,” Winslow coach Sean Carey said. “We have a lot of speed in the back and we are starting to play more as a unit and team.”

Winslow’s defense consist of freshman Mackenzie Carlow, sophomore Krista Moody, sophomore Meg Nadeau, with junior Emma Saletta and freshman Jordan Labrie splitting time in front of freshman goalkeeper Hillary Libby.

The Black Raiders are 4-2-0 and play six to eight freshmen at a time.

“As a team we need to do the little things, like pass to the feet, take some time with the ball and move to space,” Carey said. “I think if we can do that we are playoff bound.”

After slipping to eighth place last season, the Black Raiders, a perennial title contender in Class B, have set their sites higher this season. Winslow is pushing for a top four finish, which would were them a home game in the first round of the Eastern B tournament.

“We are extremely talented and when we are clicking we have been really good,” Carey said. “We certainly would like to get a home game in the playoffs.”

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The Mt. Abram girls soccer team gained confidence in a pair of 1-0 losses. The Roadrunners are 3-2-1 after losses to Western C leader Monmouth (7-0-0) and No. 2 ranked St. Dominic (6-0-1). Playing well against those teams has proven to Mt. Abram it can play with the top teams in the Mountain Valley Conference.

“Monmouth was a big game for us,” Mt. Abram coach Marc Keller said. “We had a game plan and the players stuck with it the entire game.”

The Roadrunners lost to the Mustangs in the closing seconds of overtime.

“Even though we lost, we came out of that game knowing we played well,” Keller said. “We’ve worked hard to get where we are.”

Experience, particularly in the back, has been key for the Roadrunners. Junior goalie Allie Lopez has been solid thanks to her quickness and ability to read the play. Joining Lopez on defense are seniors Lyndsay Beane and Jen Rowland and junior Elise Luce.

“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect this season. We had players returning with experience with would be filling key roles,” Keller said. “We are playing pretty well, surpassing all expectations.”

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The Lawrence girls soccer team has shown the ability to find the back of the net, scoring 21 goals in six games this season. The Bulldogs have yet to be shutout.

Sophomore Faith Forsythe (8 goals, 6 assists) and senior Lindsay Morris (7 goals) have given the Bulldogs plenty of offensive punch.

“We’ve gotten our offensive formation down,” Lawrence coach Michael Hinkley-Gordon said. “We’ve turned some corners and understand how far we can go if we work as one. The potential is there.”

Lawrence opened the season with back-to-back losses against two of the top three teams in Eastern A (Bangor and Hampden Academy). Since then the Bulldogs have registered three shutouts earned a tie with Waterville, a team the Bulldogs have not beaten since 2006.

“We are constantly talking about how we can get better,” Hinkley-Gordon said. “We can’t take anything for granted and need to play our best each game.”

The Bulldogs face three tests in the next eight days when they face Mt. Ararat, Mt. Blue and Erskine Academy, three teams ahead of them in the standings.

“This is a big week,” Hinkley-Gordon said. “Things have been going very well, we need to put together a complete game.”

 

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