One problem with being in contention in more soccer games is that it makes it that much harder to lose them.

The Livermore Falls boys team is finding itself in closer games this season only to watch them slip away in the second half.

“I’m really proud that we’ve been in every single contest, but it just seems the last 20 minutes we fizzle,” said Livermore Falls coach Larry Thornton.

The Andies are still winless this season, but the club hasn’t gone down as meekly as in past seasons.

“We’re busting our butts and something’s going to come for it,” said Thornton.

The Livermore Falls club has only won two games since starting the program in 1997. The Andies have been much more competitive this year. Despite a very young club built around sophomores and freshmen, the Andies are a hard-working bunch that don’t go quietly.

“This is an unbelievable situation,” said Thornton. “I’ve got 13 kids here playing soccer. Five of them are freshmen and three are sophomores. I’ve got two subs and these kids are running 80 minutes of soccer.”

Four seniors are the anchors on this squad. Charles Lake, Corey Flagg, Matt Labbe and Megan Jackman provide experience and leadership. All four are key contributors to the Andies effort. The rest of the club is still learning but the potential is there. The freshmen played together in middle school and had great success there.

The Andies were down 2-1 against Mt. Abram and Hall-Dale and were tied with Telstar 0-0 at the half.

“The year before we were down at halftime 4-0, 5-0 or 6-0,” said Thornton. “At least now we’re in games.”

Too familiar

When Skowhegan nearly tied the EL boys this week with a last-second breakaway, Coach Dave Morin couldn’t help but have his memory jarred.

In 1996, Bonny Eagle seemingly had its semifinal game with EL won. As the Scots celebrated in the final seconds, the Red Eddies managed to catch Bonny Eagle’s defense asleep and scored the tying goal into an empty net. The game couldn’t be finished in overtime and was replayed the following day, with EL advancing to the regional final with a 1-0 win.

Monday, with a 2-1 lead, EL’s midfield chased the ball into its own end while the defense got caught up field. EL keeper B.J. Levasseur was alert though and had the angle on shooter Ryan Johnson, who shot wide.

“That reminded me of the Bonny Eagle game,” said Morin. “It was the exact same scenario. We kicked the ball down there long, all of a sudden the ball is kicked through and we’re all ball watching, and the guy gets a breakaway.”