Van Buren adjustments paved way to title run

It’s an interesting way to build a team bound for a state championship game. Lose seven starters from last season’s team. Including the whole defense.

Then rotate players in and out before finally finding the right mix – six games into a 14-game season.

That’s the path taken by the Van Buren boys soccer team, which won the school’s third Eastern Maine Class D title Saturday.

Eastern Maine’s third-seeded team, Van Buren will play 13-3 Monmouth Academy at Schenck High School in East Millinocket in a 1 p.m. state championship game on Saturday.

The Crusaders, who have used a 4-3-3 alignment and put together a 10-5-2 record through Saturday, were about to enter Harvest Break with a jumbled defense and a worried coach.

“There was a six-game period of pulling people out and putting in new people,” coach Steve Lapierre said. “I usually like to have everyone set after the first three or four games.

“When harvest comes around you start worrying, `Is this going to work here?’ We had to make sure everyone started to come together,” he said.

Forwards and halfbacks were moved back and juggled in an effort to come up with a solid combination.

Juniors Hank Sirois and Jesse Cormier both moved from striker to fullback positions. Junior halfback Kurt Castonguay became a sweeper. Backup goalie Nathan Marquis became a first-year starting keeper as a sophomore.

“These kids accepted their roles well,” Lapierre said. “They could’ve said `I don’t want to do this.’

“It’s a completely different role and there’s no glory in it. You don’t get your name in the [game] write-ups,” he said. “But everybody knows it’s defense that wins games.”

Junior Brian Pelletier and freshman Chanel Wright lead the team in scoring, but it’s the seniors – midfielder-forward Travis Lajoie, center mid-halfback Ben Laplante, and striker-mid Isaac Cote who must provide the leadership for success Saturday.

“These three people have to have solid games for us,” Lapierre said. “We’ve got a lot of young players – juniors, sophomores – and two freshman who start.”

For all their youth, the Crusaders may have the superstitious advantage. After all, the Crusaders won their only state championship in 1994 at the Schenck field.