With high school soccer season beginning on Thursday, here are five girls teams from the North to keep an eye on as they pursue state championships.
They are listed in alphabetical order:
Bangor (16-2, A North champion, lost 2-0 to Scarborough in state game)
The Rams will have to replace five starters but they return talented All-Class A North attacking midfielders Teagan Atherley, a senior who had 23 goals and 10 assists, and junior Clara Oldenburg (20 goals, 12 assists) and a speedy back line featuring returning starters in senior J.J. Williams, junior Avery Clark and sophomore JoJo Clukey.
The Rams won their first regional title since 2015 and have played in 10 regional title games over the past 13 seasons.
Junior Sophia Chase, another speedster, is the other starting outside back. She is taking Willams’ old outside back spot since Williams has been moved to center back to replace departed All-Region choice Mimi Quinn.
Sophomore Kyelin Atherley, sister of University of Maine-bound Teagan, has recovered from a nagging back injury that bothered her last year and will be an important addition in the midfield.
Mallory Tritt, a senior, and sophomore Gabby Gordon will be the holding midfielders.
“The midfield is all starting to jell a little bit,” said Bangor second-year coach Jay Kemble. “We still have a ways to go but they are starting to get an understanding for where each other is going to be.”
Senior Ayzlynn Gifford, who missed last season due to knee surgery, and junior Gabby Roy will be among several strikers. The Atherley sisters and Oldenburg are also capable of moving up front.
Impressive freshman Georgie Stephenson is another scoring option.
Senior Eva Coombs and sophomore Emily Caulkins supply Kemble with two reliable shot-stoppers in goal.
Camden Hills (14-2-1, lost to Bangor 2-1 in A North final)
The Windjammers have 12 seniors with a lot of experience and two of them are UMaine-bound attacking midfielder Britta Denny and back Rose Tohanczyn, both seniors who were Class A All-North Region picks.
“We have nine starters back so we have more experience and depth this year,” said head coach Meredith Messer.
Denny, a two-time All-Region pick, has scored over 50 goals the past two seasons and is also an excellent passer who creates scoring chances for teammates.
Senior Lea Snyder is also one of the state’s premier midfielders and another senior, Grace Wesbrock, is the seasoned holding midfielder.
Freshman Molly Williams provides quality depth in the midfield.
Senior Lea Zwecker and junior Izzy Debrosky are capable goal scorers up front with a lot of experience and, in the back, Tohanczyn, senior Harper Coburn and sophomore Lucy Ward will patrol the area in front of reliable veteran goalkeeper Maddy Tohanczyn, Rose’s twin sister.
Camden Hills of Rockport’s only two losses last season were to Bangor.
Camden Hills will be looking for its first appearance in a regional championship game since it won the last of its four consecutive state A titles in 2019.
Ellsworth (14-3-1, B North champion, lost to Yarmouth 2-0 in state final)
Head coach Eric Terrill returns nine starters from a team that won the program’s first regional title since 1999.
Goal scoring shouldn’t be an issue with virtually every one of Ellsworth’s 61 goals being scored by current returnees including Class B All-North Region picks Lizzy Boles and Miah Coffin.
Boles scored around 25 goals according to Terrill and Coffin had 10.
But defenses can’t just focus on Boles and Coffin because there is a strong cast of complementary goal producers including seniors Addison Atherton and Kelsie Lambert and sophomore Camryn Clough.
The midfield is solid with senior attacking mid Lily Bean and senior holding mid Emily King anchoring the unit and the Eagles are getting a nice boost from senior Abby Radel, the talented point guard on the basketball team who is returning to the program for the first time since her freshman season.
Sophomore Violet Ray will supply depth in the midfield along with junior Whitney Jordan.
Three of the four fullbacks return in seniors Sydney Libby and Layni Ray and junior Kennedy Lambert. Sydney Libby’s sister, Taylor, is the other starting back.
Senior Jayden Sullivan has been the longtime starting goalkeeper but is dealing with an injury that has sidelined her. Sophomore Allie Bivins has looked good in her absence, according to Terrill.
Hermon (12-4-1, lost to Ellsworth in B North final)
Last season was somewhat of a rebuild as the Hawks had to replace players who had led them to three straight Class B North championships.
The Hawks understandably struggled early but continued to improve and won seven consecutive games before losing to Ellsworth 3-2 in the B North final.
“We should be stronger than last year,” said Hermon coach M.J. Ball. “We have a lot of experience coming back even though it’s a very young team. But our young players have seen quality minutes and our talent is very strong.”
Ball has just two seniors on his roster: two-time All B North Region midfielder Brooke Gallop and left back Olivia Johnston, who was an outside midfielder last year.
The Hawks have a potent one-two attack up front in juniors Natalie Tardie and Madison Stewart.
The quick-footed and tenacious Tardie was an All-North Region selection.
Tardie had 22 goals and 20 assists a year ago and has now scored 37 goals in her first two seasons. Stewart had 24 goals and 19 assists after scoring 29 goals in 2022.
Gallop, who had eight goals and 12 assists, is joined in the center of the midfield by freshmen Maddie Muth and Payton Guerrette according to Ball.
Tessa Ewer, a junior, saw quality minutes a year ago after transferring from Hampden Academy and the other outside midfielders will also be freshmen: Ella Johnson and Mya Lancaster.
Ball said all four freshmen midfielders are talented and it bodes well for the future.
Johnston and junior veteran Erin Selleck will head up the back line where they will be accompanied by sophomores Lila Ryan, Hazel LeClerc and Devyn Stanley.
Long-time goalkeeper Bella Bowden has graduated and 6-foot-2 sophomore Becca Balmas will replace her even though she is new to the position,
Penobscot Valley(18-0, State Class D champs)
The third time was a charm for the Howland-based Howlers, who beat St. Dom’s of Auburn 1-0 in the state final after losing to North Yarmouth Academy in the 2022 and 2019 state title games.
“We’re looking good. On the offensive side of the ball, we have our top three weapons back from last year,” said head coach Jeremy Durost. “We only lost three seniors but three of our top bench players have also graduated so our depth will get tested a bit this year.”
Three of the Howlers’ four All-Class D North Region picks are back in attacking midfielder Lila Cummings, a junior; junior striker Rylee Moulton and senior back Allie LeBlanc.
Cummings is a two-time All-Region selection and two-time Penobscot Valley Conference Player of the Year and Durost pointed out that last year’s award was for C players as well as D players.
Cummings, the speedy and relentless Moulton and senior striker Ellie Austin all have over 50 career goals.
The highly-skilled and strong Cummings will be joined in the midfield by junior Savannah Durost and freshman Charlotte Brochu.
LeBlanc will be the leader of the back line with senior Shay Ireland and junior Eve McNally surrounding her.
Athletic sophomore Brooklyn Raymond had an outstanding freshman season and returns in goal for the Howlers.
Durost has six freshmen on his roster off an undefeated junior high team that won the Penquis League title.
He said his schedule is much more difficult this season because several teams on last year’s schedule have gone to eight-player soccer and the teams that have been added to the schedule include defending C North champ Fort Kent and a Houlton team that went 12-2 during the regular season and earned the third seed in the C North Heal Points standings.
