Morgan Chasse’s move to John Bapst of Bangor is working out well for her in several ways.

Not only is she able to take some advanced classes not available to her at Bangor Christian, where she spent her freshman and sophomore years, but she has excelled for the Crusaders on the soccer field.

Chasse has become a goal-scoring machine with six goals in five games in helping Bapst to a 4-0-1 record one year after the Crusaders failed to make the playoffs with a 7-6-1 mark.

Chasse is taking advanced placement statistics and honors chemistry classes this year. She thinks she wants to go into engineering.

“I wanted to take some more courses that weren’t offered to me at my other school,” she said. “I thought about it this spring at the end of school and I thought, OK, I’ll give it a shot, I’ll come as a junior instead of a senior and get a head start on things.”

Chasse, who was a Maine Soccer Coaches Class D regional all-star and a Penobscot Valley Conference Class D first-team all-star last fall, said the change from Class D soccer to Class B has been a challenge even though Bangor Christian has traditionally played a tough schedule with a lot of Class C squads.

“It’s a lot quicker pace and a lot more passing,” she said. “You definitely have to have good footwork and pass the ball very well. And you have to take care of the ball.”

Chasse also plans to play basketball, in which she was also a PVC all-star last year, and softball.

Chasse’s presence has also freed up Bapst senior Whitney Sinclair, a dynamic forward who is used to being double- and even triple-teamed by opposing defenses.

“Next time we play I have a feeling it’ll be just single because after they play us once they’ll realize there’s two of us,” Sinclair said. “It helps me a lot.”

Chasse got used to her new teammates thanks to some time with them on a travel team last winter.

“We clicked right away,” she said. “I love playing with these girls.”

State championship coach dies

Carroll Smith, who coached the Greenville girls basketball team to the 1978 Class D state championship, died Friday in Greenville after a battle with cancer.

A 1969 Greenville High graduate, Smith played basketball and baseball at the University of Maine-Machias.

Smith, 56, taught and coached at Washington Academy of East Machias for four years before returning to Greenville in 1977.

He coached the Laker girls in 1978 and 1979. The 1978 team went 16-2 in the regular season and beat Buckfield 51-29 for the Class D state crown.

Smith was also the Greenville boys basketball coach for 11 years and the athletic director for four, and he was the athletic director for one year at Penobscot Valley of Howland.

He was also an assistant principal at the high school for 11 years and a member of the Greenville Board of Selectmen.

Smith’s son, Navy aviator Jerry R. Smith, was killed last month during a training mission off the coast of North Carolina.

A scholarship fund has been set up in Smith’s name at Greenville High. Donations can be sent to the Carroll J. Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 744, Greenville, ME 04441.

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