Let's Start the Football Playoffs
Here we go!
Let's start in Windham, where the 1 seed Eagles trail #9 South Portland 1-0 late in a quarterfinal matchup. The pressure mounts. Maybe things get a little chippy. Finally...
TIE GAME IN WINDHAM: @rsu14athletics ties it with just over 3 minutes left in regulation against South Portland #mesports @MEBBallRankings
— Ethan Snow (@TheEthanSnow) October 30, 2024
The game goes to Overtime (one of many quarterfinal soccer games to go to OT) and then, the Peter Webb All-Stars intervene.
I feel like I'm a broken record on this, but if you're going to make a call that essentially determines who wins a playoff game, it's got to be a no-brainer of a call. This looks like something you might call at midfield in the first half. Not in overtime to award a penalty kick.
We ask high school kids to understand the impact of their decision based on the situation in front of them. Shouldn't we ask the same of the adults? Time and score!
I got into that a little bit in the podcast intro before my conversation with Ryan McLaughlin of the Ellsworth American.
We talk about Stearns football, preview the soccer playoffs a bit, and a lot more.
My thinking with the podcast, based on some conversations with readers, is that a short audio version of the newsletter would be a welcome addition to the morning commute. So I'm toying with that idea, which still doing some longer interviews. If you've got an opinion on it, let me know!
The Model in the playoffs so far...
Boys Soccer: 44-7 (86.3%)
Girls Soccer: 43-8 (84.3%)
Field Hockey: 25-1 (96.2%)
Normally it gets less accurate during the playoffs because, you know, the games tend to be closer, but it's doing quite well this year.
We have a new record in girls soccer.
Hodgdon High School's soccer star Ava Ezell scored 4 goals yesterday afternoon to lead the Hawks in a quarterfinal victory over Woodland. Ava's fourth goal of the game was also her 62nd goal of the year! Ava is now the state record holder for most goals scored in a season!!
— Hodgdon High School Athletics (@HodgdonHawks) October 30, 2024
62 goals in 14 games! Ezell scored 4 goals in a quarterfinal and it brought her average down.
To put that in perspective, Camden's Kristina Kelly, who was a 2-time Gatorade POTY and the 2019 United Soccer Coaches National High School Player of the Year, scored 49 goals in her senior year
Gold Ball Odds are updated for Soccer and Field Hockey and as of 12:32 this morning, football, which is to warn you that it might be missing something. I've been fighting with it a bit (spreadsheets, man).
Game of the Day
The last time Oceanside's football team played Hampden, the Broncos shocked the region, snapping their 3-game losing streak and knocking the Mariners out of first place with a 31-18 victory.
The teams have gone in different directions since then. Hampden added a win over Brewer, but Oceanside has lost 3 in a row, falling all the way down 4th in the Crabtree for C North.
They meet again in the quarterfinals, with the winner getting another chance against a Hermon team that beat them both (but only beat Hampden by 1).
Or if soccer is more your thing, the Gorham girls only gave up 19 goals all season, but 4 of them came in the season finale against Scarborough, a 4-0 drubbing that broke a 7-game winning streak. They'll try for some revenge against a team they tied 1-1 all the way back in September.
The Model's picks for all of today's games are after the jump.