Playoffs jam wild weekend Lee, Van Buren girls first up on the crowded schedule

The Eastern Maine Class D girls soccer final at Lee Friday kicks off this weekend’s competition for regional titles in soccer and field hockey, while PTC football will enter its first week of playoffs and volleyball teams will be vying for the state championship.

The No. 1 undefeated Pandas will host No. 2 Van Buren, the three-time defending EM Class D champions, at 3 p.m. at Linscott Field. The winner of that game and the rest of the Eastern Maine soccer and field hockey regional finals head to the state championship games Nov. 3.

The rest of the girls soccer matchups feature Class A Northeastern division top seed Hampden hosting Southeastern No. 1 Mount Ararat of Topsham at 2:30 p.m.; No. 2 Bucksport at No. 1 Winslow, the defending state Class B champ, at noon; and No. 4 George Stevens of Blue Hill, last year’s EM winner, at No. 2 Penquis of Milo for a 2 p.m. matchup.

In boys soccer, undefeated Class A Mount Ararat, ranked first in the Southeastern division, will visit Northeastern No. 1 Waterville, the 2000 state champ, for an 11:30 a.m. game. In Class B, No. 2 Caribou heads to No. 1 John Bapst of Bangor for a 2 p.m. game. The Class C matchup features No. 1 George Stevens at No. 1 Piscataquis of Guilford, the defending EM champion, at 11 a.m. Top-ranked Van Buren hosts No. 4 Bangor Christian in the Class D game at 2 p.m.

Volleyball will be the second fall sport to crown its state champion (golf was held the last two weeks) when semifinal play opens with Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. semifinal matches at the University of Maine-Machias. The winner of No. 4 Calais-No. 1 Woodland and No. 2 Machias-No. 3 Bucksport will meet at 7 p.m. for the state final.

In Eastern Maine field hockey, Class C No. 1 Dexter will host No. 2 Piscataquis at 11 a.m. in a matchup of the undefeated and defending state champion Tigers and the Pirates, who lost just two regular-season games, both to Dexter. The Class B matchup at 1 p.m. features No. 2 Winslow, winner of four straight EM titles, at undefeated Belfast, which is No. 1 and has beaten Winslow twice this season.

No. 2 Messalonskee of Oakland heads to No. 1 Skowhegan for the Eastern Maine Class A field hockey game at 11 a.m. The Eagles won the regional title last year.

Eastern Maine cross country regionals for all classes are set for Saturday at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. The day will start with the Class C girls race at 11 a.m. The Class C boys will go off at 11:35 a.m. Class D will start at 12:10 p.m., Class A will begin at 1:20 p.m. and Class B is set for 2:30 p.m.

H. S. Heisman names released

Twenty Maine state finalists for the Wendy’s High School Heisman program have been announced.

The 20 Maine students, 10 boys and 10 girls, are among 1,020 students across the country picked from more than 12,600 nominees.

Each student maintains at least a B grade point average, participates in one of 32 sports sanctioned by the National Federation of State High School Associations, and is active in his or her community.

One boy and one girl from the group of 20 students will be named a state winner. From there the pool is winnowed down to 12 national finalists.

Last year two Maine students, Chris Patterson of Bangor Christian and Wisdom of St. Agatha’s Kelly Cyr made it as far as the national finals.

High School Heisman state finalists

Boys

Timothy Barker (Kennebunk), Michael Clay (Sumner), Alex du Houx (Carrabec), Charles Hale (Brunswick), Michael Kelcourse (Mountain Valley), Andrew Masella (York), Christopher Parker (Central), Dennis Sills (Mt. Blue), John Tuthill (Waterville), Tyler Wilson (Bangor Christian)

Girls

Sarah Belden (Presque Isle), Kristin Bosteels (York), Willa Brown (Morse), Nicole Corbin (Van Buren), Shauna Day (Old Orchard Beach), Jamie Manzer (Carrabec), Justine Pouravelis (McAuley), Jana Richards (Bucksport), Amy Rogers (Bangor Christian), Christine Serdjenian (Waterville), Katie Souviney (Winslow), Kristy Veazie (Dexter)