Art Chamberlin watches his Dirigo girls’ soccer team and can’t quite understand it.

“They keep their heads, and they pass well,” said the Cougars coach. “We can run with most any teams. I haven’t seen any teams we can’t stay with.”

The talent is there. There’s some experience there. The only problem for the Cougars is that they haven’t been winning. Dirigo was 12th in Western C in the latest Heal Point standings and were 3-5 after another hard-luck loss to Mt. Abram Monday, 1-0.

“By this time of the season, we’re not where we want to be,” said Chamberlin. “I’m not sure whether we can make the playoffs at this point. We still have Winthrop at Winthrop. That would probably put us in if we could get that, but that’s a tall tale there.”

The Cougars were hit hard by graduation on defense last year but have been formidable in that area. Melissa Porter, Courtney Derouche and Jenn Harvey have helped anchor things in front of veteran keeper Jessica Blaisdell. All-state midfielder Kassi Putnam and Alexa Kaubris give the Cougars a fine set of playmakers in the midfield with Kayleigh Daley and Mallory Child. Dani Glover, Brooke Weston, Katie Hutchinson, Shawn Plante and Ryanne Brown give Dirigo some speed and balance up front. Still, the Cougars have been able to play well in games, outshooting most teams, only to fall short.

“Team-wise we obviously need the goals to win games,” said Chamberlin. “We need the confidence. They’re really beginning to question what’s going on.”

Meeting of top seeds

The top four seeds in the Western C boys’ standings could take a turn next week. The top four squads pair off in key games that could determine the top ranking as well as home field advantage. Next Wednesday, St. Dom’s hosts North Yarmouth Academy. The Panthers beat the Saints 3-1 last week.

Those two clubs met in last year’s regional final and are favored to be top contenders in Western C. St. Dom’s was ranked third at 7-1, right behind NYA at 6-2.

The top-ranked team is Mt. Abram, now 8-0-1.

The Roadrunners travel to Thomaston Saturday, October 11 to face four-seeded Georges Valley, also unbeaten at 7-0.

Poised for the future

The Oxford Hills girls’ soccer team has just three seniors on its club. So while the Vikings are chasing after a playoff spot this year, they’re building a solid core for the future.

“We’re as young as we’ve ever been, but we continue to get better,” said Oxford Hills coach Kyle Morey.

The Vikings only seniors are keeper Mary Darcy, defender Jamie Jones and midfielder Janaya Millett.

The rest of the starting lineup includes just four juniors – Darcy Herrick, Annie Foster, Stephanie Piirainen and Abby Chouinard – and five sophomores – Caitlin Stauder, Trena Moccia, Heather Hudanish, Kellie Sunderland and Jenny Pietroski.

The Vikings were hit hard offensive with the graduation of McKayla Bell, Danielle Farrar and Lindsey Piirainen. That leaves Oxford Hills without an experienced go-to player up front, but the Vikings have still been solid defensively and been competitive with much of the KVAC. The Vikings were ranked 13th in the latest Heals and are 4-5 after a solid outing against top-ranked Lewiston Tuesday, a 2-0 loss. The Vikings finish the season with some winnable games and a chance to make a push for the postseason. They host Mt. Blue today and play at Edward Little next Tuesday followed by Lawrence, Leavitt and Waterville.

“We’re young but skillwise we’re actually better in some positions,” said Morey. “We’re just not physically strong as we have been and that will come out.”