Student-athletes welcome return of the Maine high school fall sports playoffs

Maine high school sports teams slowly returned to practice fields over the weekend after the body of Lewiston mass shooting suspect Robert Card was found Friday evening.

The resumption of high school sports — the Maine Principals’ Association on Friday afternoon recommended no games be played until Monday — was welcomed, student-athletes said.

“A big relief,” said Madeleine Roundy, a senior captain on the Nokomis field hockey team, which practiced Saturday in preparation for a Class B North semifinal game at Cony on Tuesday. “It’s weird, we’re always together. All of us were texting and face-timing just to stay connected. We were glad everything got pushed back, because we wanted everyone to be safe. … Getting back into the swing of things, it wasn’t a normal thing to come back from. It wasn’t super easy.”

Field hockey teams will compete in regional semifinal games Tuesday, before the regional finals are played Thursday. The state championship games are scheduled for Saturday.

“I’m extremely excited,” said Messalonskee senior field hockey captain Abby Stevens, whose team hosts Mt. Blue in an A North semifinal game Tuesday at 5 p.m. “It’s so nice to be back out with our team, have that camaraderie after such a horrible event happening. It was weird not having school on Thursday and Friday, and then obviously Saturday and Sunday. We went Thursday and Friday without practicing. It left us (as players) with a lot of fear and uncertainty, which is not fun. But on Saturday, we talked (as a team), we got back together. It was fun.”

The soccer playoffs were also pushed back. The Class A, Class D, and eight-person regional finals are set for Nov. 7. The regional finals in Class B and Class C were moved to Nov. 8. State finals will be played Nov. 11.

Many playoff football games scheduled last weekend were set to be played Tuesday. Gardiner and Skowhegan did play a B North quarterfinal game Monday night.

Furthermore, state championships for volleyball and cross country were rescheduled on Thursday. On Tuesday, the Class A final between Scarborough and Gorham will be at the University of Southern Maine, while the Class B final between Yarmouth and Washington Academy will be at Cony. The cross country state championships will be Saturday at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast.

“We were definitely anxious; I know we all wanted to play on Saturday,” said Winslow boys soccer midfielder Joey Richards. “But (stuff) happens, and we just have to push through. It is what it is, at the end of the day.”

Winslow boys soccer player Braden Rodrigue makes a pass during practice Saturday at Kennebec Savings Bank Field in Winslow. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

The No. 3 Black Raiders (12-2-1) will play at No. 2 Ellsworth (12-2-1) on Thursday night. Originally set for Saturday, the Black Raiders practiced Saturday and then again Monday on the indoor turf of the All Pro Sports Center in Waterville.

Winslow senior midfielder Jacob Owen added that he was eager to return to the field.

“I (don’t) have any uneasiness towards it,” he said. “The people that work for our government are here to protect us. I thought they would do everything they could; even if he wasn’t caught and we were playing, they’d still keep us safe.

The Messalonskee field hockey team (11-4) practiced Monday to prep for the Cougars (10-5). Messalonskee beat Mt. Blue 1-0 in its regular-season matchup Oct. 3 in Farmington.

“I think (Mt. Blue) is a really good team, there’s no question about it,” said Messalonskee senior captain Payton Alexander. “It’s (bittersweet) kind of, because I play with some of those girls for travel (field hockey). I know how some of them play. Seeing them come (around) from the last couple of years, they’ve really improved and done so much to get better. We just really need to be on top of the game and really put our all into it and go for it.”

The third-seeded Nokomis field hockey team (12-2-1) will play No. 2 Cony (13-1-1) in an A North seminal game Tuesday at 4 p.m. The teams played a scoreless draw on Oct. 10 in Newport.

“It was necessary to put the playoffs on hold,” Nokomis field hockey coach Shaunessy Saucier said. “It seemed trivial to be practicing or playing when something so serious was going on. Out of respect for the families who were going through this tragedy, I think the importance of playing field hockey seemed minimal.”