Since 2001, the Gold Ball in Class B girls soccer has gone to the Western Maine school. An Eastern B representative hasn’t won the state championship since Winslow beat Scarborough in 2000.

Waterville coach Ian Wilson knows first-hand the challenges a team faces when it emerges from a region that has been dominated in the state’s ultimate game for over a decade.

“I think there’s a little bit of psychology involved when you come from Eastern Maine and it’s been a long period like that,” Wilson said. “You have to sort of knock the giants down to size.”

Waterville came painfully close to slaying the giants last year. The Purple Panthers fell to Cape Elizabeth 2-1 on penalty kicks.

Their quest for redemption propelled the Panthers (17-0-0) through a regular season in which they outscored opponents 79-0. Impressive playoff wins over Caribou (7-1) and Camden Hills (4-1) preceded a white-knuckle 1-0 regional final win over Hermon.

As if it needed more motivation, Waterville’s final obstacle is last year’s nemesis — Cape Elizabeth (12-4-1). The match starts at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Deering High School.

Wilson is hoping the opponent and last year’s experience will remove any intimidation factor for the Purple Panthers.

“You have to make sure the girls don’t turn them into something they’re not,” he said. “When we got in that state game last year, I think we realized partway through the game… Most people from Eastern Maine say, ‘Oh, holy smokes! We have to go down and play this great Western Maine team.’ Then you realize in the game that they have flaws on the field. They’re not perfect. They’re not 10 feet tall.”

If the Capers have any flaws, toughness is not one of them. They’ve overcome early season struggles, injuries and difficult tournament tests from Yarmouth and Greely to reach the state final.

Second-year coach Craig Fannon said it took a couple of weeks for his team to mesh, particularly at the back end. A 3-0 loss to Greely served as an early season wakeup call. The Capers followed that with a 1-0 win over Yarmouth and are 7-1-1 since, allowing just six goals in that span.

“Right after the Yarmouth game, we picked it up a little bit,” Fannon said. “Towards the back end of the season, we started to become more consistent.”

Senior forward Kathryn Clark and junior midfielder Montana Braxton are two-way forces for the Capers.

“They have two or three really dynamic, game-changing players that you have to account for at all times on the field,” Wilson said. “So we have to be prepared for that. They’re well-coached. They’re a disciplined team. They’re really good across the field.”

Waterville will rely on junior goalie Gabi Martin and senior backs Brooke Ettinger and Morgann Tortorella to turn back the Capers’ attack.

Junior back Sierra Aceto and junior goalkeeper Tessa Goldstein anchor Cape Elizabeth’s defense. In last year’s game, the Capers limited the Purple Panthers to three shots, but Fannon expects seniors Pilar Elias, Sarah Shoulta and Lydia Roy, who scored Waterville’s lone goal in last year’s game, to pressure his defense.

“It looks like they’ve done exactly the same things they did last year, so they couldn’t be in better form going into the game,” Fannon said. “We’ve got another tough game on our hands.”

Staff writer Matt DiFilippo contributed to this report

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33

Copy the Story Link