In an effort to increase awareness and interest in Maine Youth Soccer, Keith Bosley of Winterport hopes that young soccer fans, families, and friends will be on hand for The Apple Fest Invitational Soccer Tournament to be held Saturday in Winterport.

Teams participating in the tournament include Orono, Westbrook, Hampden (with players from Hampden, Winterport and Newburgh) and the Sebasticook Valley Club, which includes players from the Greater Newport area.

Played in a round-robin format, games begin at 10 a.m.

“The tournament is part of Maine Youth Soccer’s fall schedule, heading toward the State Cup Tournament,” Bosley explained.

The MYS North Division finals will be held Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at the Hampden Academy facilities. The top two teams from the north will met the top two teams from the Southern Division the following weekend for the MYS championship. Brunswick Coastal is the defending champion.

Saturday’s games, for those 12-and-under, will feature Hampden and Sebasticook at 10 a.m. followed by Westbrook and Orono, 11 a.m.; Westbrook and Hampden at noon; Sebasticook and Orono at 1 p.m.; Westbrook and Sebasticook, 2 p.m.; and Orono vs. Hampden at 3 p.m.

Currently, Bosley said, there are no Northern Division teams for girls 14-and-under, but there are 12 teams in the 12-and-under division.

The growth in popularity of the sport can be documented by the fact there are three new clubs in the north this year, Bosley said.

“I’m hoping people will come out and watch the kids, and hoping soccer organizers from other towns will see what is going on here so we’ll get more teams from this part of the state to participate,” Bosley said. “We need the visibility. We’re thinking ahead because the sport is really growing.”

The tournament coincides with Winterport’s Applefest weekend.

The St. Joseph’s College women’s soccer team heads into an important weekend in Vermont following a Wednesday loss to the University of Maine-Farmington. St. Joe’s has a 6-1-1 record.

Saturday, St. Joe’s visits Green Mountain College (Poultney, Vt.) which is ranked in the top 20 in the latest NAIA national poll. St. Joe’s is second of teams also receiving votes which, if it were ranked, would make it 22nd, according to Sports Information Director Curt Smythe. Sunday, St. Joe’s meets Castleton (Vt.) State.

Smythe said a win over Green Mountain might well earn St. Joe’s a national ranking since the Green Mountain coach sits on the ranking committee.

Through Wednesday’s game, sophomore Neile Joler of Fort Kent was the Monks’ leading scorer with 10 goals and four assists.

Last week, the Monks were a perfect 3-0 with wins over Thomas, Johnson State and Lyndon State.

Although the University of Maine women’s soccer team went 0-2 at the Stony Brook tournament in New York last weekend, both Jen Farina and Christina Contardo were named to the All-Tournament team. Maine takes a 1-8 record to Providence on Saturday before meeting Canisius on Sunday.