The Busline League North Division soccer championships were held Wednesday with the girls, Camden-Rockport and Oceanside being played in Thomaston, while the boys teams, Camden-Rockport and Medomak Middle School played in Camden.

The CRMS girls and the Medomak boys will advance to the Busline League Championship Saturday, Oct. 20 at Point Lookout in Northport.
 
Girls Soccer
CRMS2, OCEANSIDE 0… The Oceanside 8th grade girls hosted the CRMS 8th grade girls in the Busline League North Championship Wednesday.

The pitch was dry, the sun was out and there was little wind on a perfect day for a match. The game ended with CRMS emerging from the fourth contest between the two teams with a 2-0 victory.

Oceanside won the coin toss and elected to defend the goal. CRMS started with the ball and 1:29 into the game Izzy Gutheinz crossed the ball from the inside left of the box back to the right to about the 22 to Charlotte Messer. Messer cut once to the right and lofted a ball over the keeper high into the far corner of the net for the first score.

At that point Guthienz moved back to sweeper with Erin Dowd and CRMS moved into a possession game with five defenders. The game was played in between the 18s for the rest of the half. Both teams had opportunities to score, but the defense and keepers for both teams were dominant. Cassie Butler stopped several high-quality shots and controlled the box for Oceanside. Julia Holt the CRMS keeper was also very active and went all through the box racing Oceanside forwards to through balls.

The most excitement of the half came from Lara Cazemajou, the speedy right midfielder for CRMS,  made several long runs down the sideline and took hard shots on goal, but Butler made excellent stops on all attempts.

In the second half Messer sent a low hard shot at the keeper, Butler deflected the ball with a great effort, and Abby Chamberlin kicked the ball into the left corner for the net for the second goal.

Both teams continued playing primarily at midfield with Oceanside gradually applying more pressure and keeping the ball on the CRMS end. There were several direct kicks from 20 to 30 yards, but  the new keeper in the net for CRMS, Emma “V” Vannorsdall, displayed great hands and caught all shots without a bobble. “V” also had to track down loose balls in the outer edges of the box and made several diving grabs in a spectacular performance as keeper.

With 6:39 to go Oceanside earned a penalty kick, but the shot was sent high. After that CRMS defenders played for control and managed the clock trying to keep Oceanside players on the edges of the field.
 
Rachalle Thompson, the stopper for Oceanside played an outstanding game. She was a dominant force on the defense controlling the ball and sending it up to the forwards with booming kicks throughout the game.

The defensive players for CRMS, Erin Dowd, Izzy Gutheinz, Emma Brownawell, and  Ellie Spizuoco managed to control the exceptionally fast and great-passing Oceanside forwards and midfielders denying breaks into the goal and forcing long shots.

Cassie Butler faced 11 shots and made 7 saves for Oceanside.

The CRMS keepers Julia Holt and “V” faced 15 shots and made 12 saves.

CRMS will play Great Salt Bay girls at Point Lookout Saturday at 2:00pm for the Busline League Championship.

Click here for a photo gallery from the girls soccer game

Boys Soccer
MEDOMAK MIDDLE SCHOOL 3, CAMDEN-ROCKPORT 2… In a game played at Lincolnville Central School because of field conditions at CRMS the Medomak boys were able to hold off a veery good CRMS team for the Busline League Northern Divisional championship.

"It was a great game today and we knew it was going to be a very close game," said CRMS coach Dwight Pitcairn. "Camden and Medomak had some great games against each other all season. All the games were close and physical. Although our team did not go through I am extremely proud of the efforts from each and every player. My captains Colby Arau and Calvin Cameron were excellent leaders all season and never gave less than 200 per cent."   

Medomak got on the board first after Zidane McMurrin waltzed through the Camden defense and finished with a rocket shot that gave Camden keeper Connor Davies no chance. The game was pretty even throughout the half, but Medomak managed to double their lead when a shot from Maty Moore came from outside the box and was just too much for the Camden keeper giving Medomak a 2-0 half time lead..

In the second half Lucas Boetsch out jumped the Medomak defense and buried a header into the top of the net after a cross from Simon Morin. The game was a little edgy as both teams did not want to make any mistakes and Medomak pounced on a rebound and Adam Eutsler found the net to give Medomak a 3 – 1 lead.

Camden continued to push and after some pressure were awarded a penalty when Boetsch was shoved down in the box. Boetsch scored from the spot to give Camden a lifeline. Camden pushed hard for an equalizer leaving the defense exposed, but just could not manage to get the tying goal.

"Today was Medomak’s day and they deserved it," said coach Pitcairn. "I wish them all the best in the final and I have really enjoyed coaching against them. Their coach and players were very respectful in victory and I think highly of their program. Camden had a great season and we can look back and be proud of our achievement. I also want to thank Lincolnville Central School for allowing Camden the use of their field."

Coed Soccer
LINCOLNVILLE 6, HOPE 0… In a dramatic reversal of their regular season match up, the No. 3 Lincolnville Central School booters traveled to Hope to take on the No. 2 Hawks on Wednesday, Oct. 18 and put on an overpowering display of soccer prowess to defeat the Hawks 6 to 0.  

This win sends the defending champion LCS eleven to the Busline Coed Soccer League championship game for the fourth year in a row and the fifth time in six years.

LCS's offense showed their firepower from the starting whistle, coming within a whisker of two goals very early, but the Hope keeper made great saves to keep the game scoreless. At the five minute mark, however, striker Dawson Allen alertly challenged the Hope keeper who had come to the top of the box to clear a ball. The ball bounced off Allen to striker Morgan Mercier, who fielded it, cut center to lose his coverage, and lofted his shot over the keeper's head for the score.  

It took another eight minutes for Allen and Mercier to strike again, this time on a corner kick fired in by Mercier.  Allen met it just inside the near post and popped the ball just inside the post with a waist high right foot.  

After another five minutes, Allen popped a ball up into the air from outside the box. Mercier established excellent position up near the penalty line to control the ball with his head after the bounce and placed the ball over the coverage.  Mercier darted around his defender and fired his shot immediately for the score.  

It was Mercier again at the twenty-two minute mark, started this time by a great upfield feed on the left from midfielder Avery Grindle.  Mercier beat a defender with a dribble, then outran the rest of the defense to go in on the keeper all alone, cooly sliding it past the keeper. With that, the scoring for the first half ended with Lincolnville up 4-0.

Lincolnville came out for the second half determined to preserve their lead and promptly widened it.  At the three minute mark, Grindle once again fed the ball out of the LCS defensive zone to Mercier.  Mercier proceeded to work a nice give and go with midfielder Matt Czuchra and outran the defense to go in alone with the same result.  

The final goal of the game came at just shy of eight minutes when Czuchra fed Mercier on the left side deep in the Hope end.  Mercier adroitly dribbled in along the end line, passing two defenders on the way, moved to his right to buy some room and then fired a point-blank shot that the alert keeper blocked, but could not hold.  A short scrum developed in front of the net as both sides attempted to control the ball, ultimately won by Allen who popped the ball in from just a few feet out.  The rest of the half played evenly, but the LCS keeper, Jacson Mooers, who had a great day in the nets—was forced to make two great, almost simultaneous saves to preserve his shutout.
        
The entire LCS team played exceptionally well. Sweeper Kieran Lydon, moved back from his typical midfield slot to steady the LCS defense, not only accomplished that job, but dominated LCS's defensive zone of play and was a major factor in LCS's victory. Stopper Dan Lydon, working very nicely in tandem with his older brother, helped LCS dominate the center field defensive area. The wings were covered well by defenders Tora Decker-Griffith and Sam Novak. The midfield line of Andy Pitcairn, Matt Czuchra, Avery Grindle, and Jesse Grindle did an exceptional job controlling the mid field area while providing the necessary support for both offense and defense. Allen at striker showed exceptional coolness as he racked up two goals and two assists, but the unquestioned dominant player of the game was Mercier, who, with his four goals and two assists, now becomes Lincolnville's career leading scorer, passing his exceptional teammate from last year's championship team, Josh Pitcairn, who is currently playing with the Camden varsity soccer team as a freshman. If the two reunite next year for Camden, supported by LCS's other star, Kieran Lydon, look for an unbelievable offensive fireworks display!
        
LCS will continue to defend their championship title this Saturday, Oct. 20, at 10:00 a.m. at the Point Lookout field against the winner of the Appleton and Bristol semifinal also played Wednesday.

PenBayPilot sports reporter /photographer Ron Hawkes can be reached at ronhawkes@penbaypilot.com; or by phone at 207-956-0079 (home office) 975-2311 (cell)