Keith Bosley went to practice Tuesday afternoon with his hair.

Bosley left practice with no hair.

“I promised them at the beginning of the year that if they made the playoffs, I’d shave my head,” Bangor boys soccer coach Keith Bosley said after a post-practice scalping by the team. “It was fulfilling a promise. It was actually kind of an idle promise in the beginning but they have long memories.”

The team would need long memories to recall the Rams last postseason appearance, which came three years ago against Brewer. Tony Caristi, who was a freshman called up to varsity for the playoffs, is the only holdover from that team.

Without a win against Old Town Friday, the Rams’ streak might have continued and Bosley would still have his crown of thinning hair.

But the Rams’ final regular-season win gave them life in the postseason with an 8-6 record, good enough for ninth place by a .19 of a point in the Eastern Maine Class A standings, and a 4 p.m. game at eighth-seeded Cony of Augusta today.

Girls and boys soccer preliminaries begin today as teams vie for the right to face their class’ number one seed Saturday. Field hockey quarterfinals begin today and Thursday.

Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield travels to Rockland in the Class B boys preliminary, and Penquis Valley will entertain Fort Fairfield’s boys in the Class C game at Milo.

On the girls side, Brewer faces a long bus ride and a tough game with eighth-ranked Caribou in the Class A opener, and John Bapst must beat Camden-Rockport to keep their Class B postseason dreams alive.

The Rams were on life support after a demoralizing 5-1 loss to then 10th-seeded, now sixth-ranked Hampden Academy Thursday. But after the game, Hampden statistician Dewey Martin assured Bosley Bangor would wind up in ninth place if the Rams could beat Old Town.

“He has the computer program that does the Heal Points and we were going back and forth [over the weekend] because we needed a couple of scores,” Bosley recalled. “My program’s not that accurate, I’m off by a point in one direction or the other.

“So I went around Sunday morning looking for the scores,” he said.

Friends have scored Cony as a tough, physical team, something Bosley feels his team is ready for.

“The report on them is their pretty big and physical, and in fact, they pretty pointedly play a physical style,” Bosley said. “Apparently, they shoot quite a bit because they wind up with 20-30 shots a game. I don’t know if they penetrating a lot or just whaling away from a distance.”

In field hockey action, 8-5-1 Brewer may face its toughest competition of the year in fifth-ranked Skowhegan.

The perennial Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference power sports a 7-7 record and is the defending Eastern Maine champions.

“I really haven’t heard much of anything except that they play a lot like us,” Brewer coach Shelley Drillen said.

Brewer may be without varsity keeper Trishia Boone, who has been battling the flu, but two-year backup Kristy Kimball should be up to the task if necessary, Drillen said.

“It’s one of those things where I’m looking for all of the kids to step up,” she said. “Everyone’s made a determined effort to play their own position and this is one of the teams where I see a lot of desire.

“I think these kids really do want to win, so we’ll see if they can do it” Drillen said.

High school playoffs

Wednesday’s games

PRELIMINARIES Eastern Maine Boys Soccer

Class A: No. 9 Bangor at No. 8 Cony, 4 p.m.

Class B: No. 9 Maine Central Ins. at No. 8 Rockland, 3 p.m.

Class C: No. 9 Fort Fairfield at No. 8 Penquis, 3 p.m. Eastern Maine Girls Soccer

Class A: No. 9 Brewer at No. 8 Caribou, 2:30 p.m.

Class B: No. 9 John Bapst at No. 8 Camden-Rockport, 3 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS Eastern Maine Field Hockey

Class A: No. 8 Oxford Hills at No. 1 Cony, 2:30 p.m.; No. 5 Skowhegan at No. 4 Brewer, 3 p.m.

Class B: No. 8 Nokomis at No. 1 Old Town, 3 p.m.; No. 5 Hampden at No. 4 Foxcroft, 3 p.m.

Class C: No. 8 Winthrop at No. 1 Hall-Dale, 3 p.m.; No. 5 Georges Valley at No. 4 Mattanawcook, 3 p.m.

Thursday’s games

QUARTERFINALS Eastern Maine Field Hockey

Class A: No. 7 Lawrence at No. 2 Gardiner, 3 p.m.; No. 6 Brunswick at No. 3 Mt. Blue, 3 p.m.

Class B: No. 7 Lincoln Acad. at No. 2 Messalonskee, 3 p.m.; No. 6 Camden-Rockport at No. 3 Winslow, 3 p.m.

Class C: No. 7 Dexter at No. 2 Orono, 3 p.m.; No. 6 Central at No. 3 Piscataquis, 3 p.m.