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By the end of the 2005 high school soccer season, the four northernmost boys teams in Eastern Maine Class A were up and down the Heal point standings from No. 4 to No. 14.
Flash forward a year and Bangor, Brewer, Hampden Academy and Old Town are bunched together much more closely.
The most recent Heal points released last week have the four teams at Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Bangor leads the way, followed by Hampden, Old Town and Brewer.
“There’s more parity in the league, there’s no question,” Old Town coach Mark Graffam said Friday after the Coyotes picked up their fourth win, a 2-1 victory over Skowhegan.
“Messalonskee beat Hampden 1-0, we beat Hampden 2-1,” said Graffam, ticking off recent results. “Messalonskee beat us 1-0. Brewer lost to Bangor 4-2, tied us 3-3, and beat Mt. Blue. We beat Mt. Blue. So there’s way more parity.”
Things could shake out even more this week. Hampden and Old Town were to play Monday night while Bangor, whose only loss this year came in a 1-0 defeat against Hampden, will face Brewer Tuesday night.
Hampden and Brewer play Saturday.
“Bangor truly is the best team up here,” Graffam said. “[Bangor coach Adam Leach has] got a phenomenal team. We’re in there. We’ve just got to play better. We haven’t really played a complete game yet.”
Certainly the play of senior goalie Sam Petrie is a big reason the Coyotes are where they are.
Petrie showed a lot of promise last year, earning two assists from the goalie position in his first two games. But he was diagnosed with mononucleosis and wasn’t cleared to play again until the final game of the season.
Back healthy this year, Petrie is considered one of the top ‘keepers in the state.
Graffam said opposing coaches have told him Petrie is the best goalkeeper they’ve seen, and referees have commented on his booming goal kicks, which easily clear midfield.
Petrie reminds Graffam of a flashier version of Tyler Tracewski, who was Old Town’s goalie in 2003 when the team advanced to the quarterfinals and finished with a 10-3-2 record.
Petrie, who is also an all-star high jumper and pole vaulter for Old Town, has been especially important as the Coyotes are relatively inexperienced this season.
“I have guys who’ve played at the varsity level but not many guys who have started game after game, 80 minutes,” Graffam said. “We were fortunate to tie Brewer [3-3]. We didn’t play well there and if it wasn’t for Sam we would have lost.”
Bangor boys a family matter
Leach jokes he’ll know it’s time for him to retire from coaching the Bangor boys soccer team when he runs out of Larochelle brothers.
At that rate, Leach will stay with the Rams for at least the next six years.
This year, the fourth and fifth of the six Larochelle boys, junior Christian and sophomore Ryan, are playing for Bangor, with one more, Jacques on the way. Matthew was the first, followed by twins Nicholas and Michael.
“We know that our older brothers left a good legacy here and we wanted to be able to continue that, play well as a team like they did,” Christian Larochelle said after a recent game.
Leach has two other sets of brothers on the team, along with four other players who had older brothers go through the program recently.
The other sets of brothers are goalie Aaron Taft and striker Dan Taft, and midfielders Cody Cormier and Cam Cormier. The younger brothers are fullback Greg Lenz, brother of Erik Lenz, fullback Ross Allen (Ryan Allen), midfielder Matt Goodell (Nate Goodell) and forward Nick George (Dylan George).
“When you talk about building chemistry, they already come in and know each other,” Leach said. “It’s great, too, because not only are they brothers but they’re like best friends. Dan and Aaron, you can see a little bit of the rivalry in practice. But it’s all fun. It’s great. I enjoy those families.”
Brothers always pop up now and then, but Bangor’s sheer numbers are reminiscent of smaller schools like Ashland, where Leach played his high school soccer.
He followed in the footsteps of his brother, Mark Leach, who was five years older.
“We never got to play together, but he was a little bit of my inspiration because I was the little brother,” Adam Leach said. “I kind of watched him play and made up my mind that that’s what I wanted to do.”
It’s no accident that talent runs in families, he added.
“It’s like they hand down their secrets and what they’ve learned,” Leach said with a smile, “which means Jacques should be better than all of them.”
New Bangor caps available
Bangor High sports boosters are selling new baseball caps designed by football coach Mark Hackett and athletic director Steve Vanidestine.
The caps, which commemorate two relatively recent honors for the school, are available for $10 each. Proceeds will benefit the boosters.
One side of the hat notes Bangor’s selection as a National School of Excellence in 2001-02. The other side notes that Bangor was picked by Sports Illustrated in May 2005 as the top high school program in Maine.
“Mark wanted to make sure we had the academic piece in there, too,” Vanidestine said.
The caps are beige with a maroon B on the front and an American flag on the back. They’re purposely ambiguous in terms of sports.
“We wanted it to be general and not just for football or soccer,” Vanidestine added.
The school ordered almost 600 hats with at least 100 already sold, mostly to the school’s football team. That’s because Hackett included the hats in each football player’s equipment package.
Vanidestine said the baseball caps will likely be on sale at the football team’s next home game, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 29 against Lawrence of Fairfield.
Hats can also be purchased at the school during regular hours.
Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.
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