No one likes to end soccer games with penalty kicks.

That much was clear when about 50 members of the Maine Soccer Coaches Association gathered before Sunday’s annual awards banquet in Bangor.

But games – specifically, high school playoff games – have to end somehow. And even though penalty kicks might not be the best way, it’s the only way Maine high school teams can determine a playoff winner.

The MSCA talked about the issue Sunday morning, and came up with a proposal to alter the current penalty kick format. MSCA president Mike Jeffrey is to present the proposal – which basically takes away the sudden-death aspect of the penalty-kick format – at the next meeting of the Maine Principals’ Association soccer committee. Jeffrey serves as a liaison to the committee.

“We’d like to do away with sudden death and keep [penalty kicks] at least as a team concept,” said Madawaska girls coach Ed Marshall, who is the MSCA’s vice president for Eastern Maine girls. “As it is now I hate it. I don’t know how many times we’ve gone to PKs, five, six times in the last seven years, and the pressure that’s put on these kids is more than anybody deserves.”

Under the current overtime system, in the case of a tie the two teams play four, 10-minute sudden-death sessions in the field. If there is no winner, the teams move on to PKs. Each coach chooses five players to take kicks, and the teams each get five kicks. The team with the most wins. If the two teams are still tied after the best-of-five, the teams move to sudden-death penalty kicks with five different players. If one team scores and the other team does not, the games ends.

The MSCA’s proposal would make the second round of kicks another best-of-five. If the game was still tied, there would be another round of five kicks.

“[Penalty kicks have] got very little to do with soccer as far as the rest of the game but we couldn’t come up with a better proposal so we’re all thinking and debating,” Marshall said.

None of the coaches at Sunday’s meeting were in favor of sudden-death penalty kicks, Marshall said, as no one raised a hand in favor of penalty kicks in any form. But the coaches are also aware that games have to end somehow, Marshall added.

The coaches also talked about extending the overtime periods from 10 to 15 minutes, but ultimately felt that the players would be too tired to make it much of a game.

In order for a new penalty kick system to be put into practice, the MPA soccer committee would have to vote to include the MSCA’s recommendation in its annual report to the general body of the MPA. The principals would then vote on the report at either a spring or fall meeting.

Marshall said the coaches will accept whatever happens at the committee level.

Other issues discussed Sunday included an interest in extending the season. However, one more week in November and the teams in northern Maine such as Madawaska would be plowing snow off frozen, hard fields, Marshall pointed out.

As it was, the Madawaska boys spent the week before the Class C state championship game practicing in the school’s gym because of cold and snow.

The coaches decided they’d like to have an extra week at the beginning of the season, but the issue was tabled for further discussion.

Portwine gains Stearns post

There have been quite a few girls basketball coaching moves between the two schools located in the shadow of Mount Katahdin.

In the latest of those changes, Mike Portwine, who co-coached the Schenck of East Millinocket girls basketball team with Greg Friel in 1999-2000, will take over this winter as the Stearns of Millinocket girls coach, replacing Friel, who coached the Minutemen for three seasons.

Portwine was hired this fall but coached the Stearns varsity and an AAU team with some of the same girls this summer, so the transition for both coach and team should be relatively smooth.

Portwine said this latest move came about when Friel asked Portwine if he would consider coaching the Stearns girls this summer because Friel was expecting to be busy with the guide service he runs.

“If I didn’t do it, nobody was going to do it,” Portwine said.

Friel, who coached the Minutemen to a 38-16 regular-season record and made three appearances in the Eastern Maine Class C quarterfinals, resigned this fall.

Portwine, who was laid off when Great Northern’s paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket shut down in 2002, is studying business administration through a University of Maine-Augusta program in East Millinocket.

He also coached the Stearns boys to a combined 20-16 regular-season mark in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

“I’ve coached the girls, I’ve coached the boys,” Portwine said. “Once it gets in your blood you can’t give it up.”

Portwine will be the second Stearns girls coach since longtime skipper Jerry Burleigh stepped down after the 2000-01 season. The Schenck girls have had four coaches since the 1999-2000 season.

Portwine has a promising lineup this year, having lost just one starter from last season’s team – although that starter, guard Leslie Osborne, was one of Stearns’ leading scorers. Osborne was a McDonald’s Senior All-Star and a member of the Penobscot Valley Conference Classes C-D all-defensive team.

PVC first-teamer Trisha MacDonald, however, is back for her senior year.

Calvary Chapel calls off season

The school may finally have a new gym in which it can host basketball games, but Calvary Chapel’s girls basketball team won’t be able to enjoy it this year. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the Sabers will not field a girls squad this year.

Athletic director Frank Bailey said the school had trouble finding a coach to replace Terry Hunt, whom Bailey said was unable to coach this year. And several girls decided not to play this year for various reasons.

With a strong 15-member team at the junior high level, however, Bailey said the school expects to get the program jump-started next year.

The school will offer a junior varsity team next year and a varsity team for the 2006-07 season.

“That’s the plan for now,” Bailey said. “We didn’t want to just completely drop it.”

The Sabers went 7-8 in Eastern Maine Class D regular-season play and finished 11th in the Heal Point standings. The Calvary Chapel boys team won the Class D state title last year.

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