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Soccer teams from Winslow High, John Bapst of Bangor and Falmouth will get an unusual and unprecedented experience when they play in the boys and girls Class B state championship games this weekend.
The two state finals will be held at the MBNA-owned Point Lookout Field in Northport, which has an artificial surface made of FieldTurf.
Falmouth boys coach David Halligan said the games will be the first Maine soccer state championships held on an artificial surface.
“It’s always nicer to play on natural grass but this time of year in Maine you never know about field conditions,” said Halligan, who has coached at Falmouth for 15 years.
John Bapst boys coach Evan Frace said he didn’t agree with the decision to have the games on turf, although it will be a good experience for the players and may enhance the kind of game the Crusaders play.
“None of the kids are used to it,” he said. “They’ve been playing on grass for four years. … From what I heard it caters to a good passing team, which is both Falmouth and us.”
The Falmouth boys have played on turf this season in games against Yarmouth, which installed artificial grass at its high school field this year. Halligan said several of his boys have played on turf in indoor soccer and at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. But he doesn’t think the Yachtsmen will have a significant advantage.
“Once the teams get on the field, it’ll be a non-factor,” he said. “I think it’ll be the same for both teams.”
Halligan said teams tend to get fewer bad bounces on turf because the ball has a truer bounce. Also, the ball can roll faster if the surface is wet from rain or snow.
Frace is hoping to find an artificial surface on which the Crusaders can practice this week, and he’ll investigate what kind of cleats the team will need.
FieldTurf is made of a mix of polypropylene and polyethylene. The individual blades of grass are three-quarters of an inch to one inch in length. Point Lookout is also slightly larger than most fields (the minimum size field for state games is 110 yards by 65 yards; the MBNA field is about 120 yards by 75 yards).
The Camden Hills boys and girls teams hosted regular-season games at Point Lookout, and Camden girls coach Meredith Messer said at the time that her team “loved” the field.
Osage fighting through pain
Anastasia Osage woke up Sunday morning so sore that she had trouble getting out of bed. After the kind of effort the George Stevens of Blue Hill right wing put in during Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class C final, it’s no wonder.
Osage has been struggling this year with a myriad of kneecap problems, tendinitis and flat feet. She was in such pain before Saturday’s game against Penquis in Milo that she couldn’t do the pregame warmups.
But she wanted to play – and the junior scored the Eagles’ first goal of the game. Osage played in regulation and all the way through four 10-minute overtime periods and was on coach Steve Bemiss’ list of players to take penalty kicks.
“I couldn’t run or do any of the drills but once I got into the game it felt a little bit better,” she said Sunday night. “It’s what I love to do. I have to play soccer.”
Still, once the game went into overtime Osage said she was so exhausted that she felt lightheaded. She missed her penalty kick, sending the ball wide to the right.
“I think it was that I was tired, and also that I missed practice for almost a week because I was going to physical therapy, so I hadn’t taken a penalty kick in all that time,” she said.
Osage had ultrasound heat therapy on her legs last week and will likely do the same this week.
No matter how badly she hurts, Osage said, there is no way she won’t play in Saturday’s state game against Traip Academy of Kittery. Osage was a sophomore on last season’s GSA team that lost to North Yarmouth in double overtime.
“I don’t care what I have to do, I’m going to play,” she said. “… [Last year] I was the stopper and I was supposed to guard North Yarmouth’s best player, and she’s the one who scored in overtime. I kind of blame myself for what happened.”
Clark among honorable mentions
Two current Maine high school basketball stars and a former standout were named as honorable mentions in Street & Smith’s High School All-America teams.
Nokomis of Newport junior Danielle Clark is an East region honorable mention. Clark, a 5-foot-11 forward, was the Eastern Maine Class A tourney MVP and a first-team All-Maine player after leading the Warriors to the Class A state title.
Deering of Portland senior Nik Caner-Medley was on the list of boys national high honorable mentions. Caner-Medley, a 6-7 forward and All-Maine first-teamer, has verbally committed to Maryland.
Deering graduate Jamaal Caterina, who was named Mr. Maine Basketball last year and is currently attending Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, was named a national honorable mention.
Jessica Bloch’s High School Report is published each Tuesday. She can be reached at 1-800-310-8600, 990-8193 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net
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