Hard work helps Poland land Hermon girls soccer position

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Ben Poland has paid his dues, and been rewarded with his first varsity soccer coaching job.

The five-year Hermon High boys junior varsity coach was named last week to be the girls varsity coach.

Poland, a 1998 Hermon graduate who spent five years as the school’s track and field coach, said his long-term coaching goal had been at the varsity level for soccer.

“I really enjoyed coaching track and field but soccer is really what my passion is in terms of coaching,” Poland said. “When I was coaching JV I always thought, if anything opened up for the varsity, I would jump at it.”

Poland was officially hired at a school board meeting last Tuesday.

Poland was the track and field coach from 2002 to 2006, only giving it up last year because he thought he would be sent to Washington, D.C., for his job. Poland is in personnel readiness for the Maine Air National Guard, which means he helps people prepare for deployment and provides assistance to those overseas.

But the move didn’t pan out, which meant Poland would be around to coach this fall.

A member of the 1998 and 1999 Husson College teams that won Maine Athletic Conference titles, Poland applied for the boys varsity job two years ago when it came open. He wasn’t hired but came back to coach the JV team again under new coach Kurt Mathies.

That impressed athletic director Paul Soucy.

“We told him, we like you as a candidate, but we just felt he needed more seasoning,” Soucy said. “He came back, coached the JVs, and when the girls job came open he was eager to apply. … He’s been loyal to Hermon, he loves Hermon, he’s coached here. I believe in rewarding loyalty and dedication.”

Poland has a big job ahead of him as he replaces Amy Luce, who coached the Hawks to a 1-12-1 record last year and 0-13-1 in 2005. Luce and Poland are actually flip-flopping positions – she was hired as the school’s track and field coach when Poland resigned under the assumption he was leaving the area.

Poland didn’t get a chance to watch many of the girls’ games last fall because he was busy with his own boys JV team, but saw a lot of potential in the girls.

“I have high expectations,” said Poland, who transferred to the University of Maine and graduated in 2002. “From watching the few games I saw last year, the talent is there and I think they can be a playoff-caliber team. I don’t think they had a lot of team chemistry. And I want them to be students of the game and learn the skills.”

Poland said after five years of coaching at the JV level, he’s sure he can teach the sport. So is Soucy.

“[He’s a] great teacher of soccer skills, and he’s demonstrated that in the years he’s coached here,” Soucy said. “[He] has the technique and strategy to be competitive.”

Poland isn’t sure how many of the 13 juniors on last year’s varsity and JV teams will return to the squad this year, but he held a team meeting Monday to discuss his plans for the summer, including twice-weekly practices and scrimmages with local teams.

The older players, he said, are eager to put the past few years behind them.

“The seniors who have been playing for the last few years are ready to win,” Poland said. “They want to win. It’s been a tough couple of years but it’s a new clean slate and I think they’re really excited.”

Things got even busier last month when his son, Liam, was born on June 11.

“It’s very exciting,” he said.

Breton eager to walk on at Maine

Greenville’s Hannah Breton got one major summer goal out of the way this week. She played in the U.S. Youth Soccer Region I Championships with a 19-and-under team from the Blackbear United Soccer Club.

That was what her future soccer coaches at the University of Maine instructed her to do as she prepares to walk on to the program this fall.

“They wanted me to play in one premier event this summer, so they worked me into this,” she said Monday afternoon after Blackbear United fell to a team from Virginia 6-1 in a semifinal. “It was a great experience. I’m happy I did this and I learned so much.”

Breton, a five-sport star – yes, Breton did soccer, cross country, basketball, skiing and track and field – for the Lakers, plans to focus on soccer and track and field while at UMaine.

That’s when she’s not doing classwork in her civil engineering major.

“[UMaine] civil engineering is amazing which was what led me to decide to go to Maine,” said Breton, who found the time to be Greenville’s valedictorian this year. “Then track and soccer were just bonuses. In later years one [sport] might go to the wayside but hopefully not.”

Breton was named to the Western Maine all-star soccer team, won the 300-meter hurdles at the Class C state outdoor track and field championships, was a McDonald’s basketball senior all-star, placed in the top 10 in two events at the Class C state skiing championships, and third in the Eastern Maine Class C cross-country meet.

All in her senior year.

For the summer, though, Breton’s focus is soccer. She had a chance to play a lot Monday as Blackbear United starting forward Laura Martel, who also plays for the University of Maine, was dealing with a stomach illness. Breton started the second half of the game.

“I was excited,” she said. “I’m a take-it-to-’em kind of person.”

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.