By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

It may show that the nighttime truly is the right time.

Saturday night, the Mt. Abram boys’ soccer team will host its first evening soccer game.

It may sound odd, seeing as the high school in Salem doesn’t even have stadium lights, but the Roadrunners have done something about that and hope to illuminate soccer this weekend.

“The kids are absolutely thrilled,” said Mt. Abram coach Darren Allen. “My guys want to play every single game under the lights. It’s a playoff game atmosphere, and the (junior varsity) team gets to get in a full game.”

Mt. Abram will host Winthrop on Saturday night. The junior varsity game starts at 5 p.m., while the varsity matchup kicks off at 7 p.m.

The school has a five-year plan for installing lights for its athletic fields. So Saturday’s game could provide a taste of the future. Allen is renting six portable light stations from Kennebec Rental.

“It’s a novelty thing,” said Allen. “It’s not going to be perfect, but it opens up the field tremendously. It gives us more options. You don’t have to stop games because of playing time.”

Allen came up with the idea last winter while talking to a parent he knew at Hall-Dale, where he was once an assistant soccer coach.

“They did it with field hockey, and they said it went very well,” said Allen.

He also talked to Bob Towne, the Lawrence soccer coach. He had tried the same thing before the Bulldogs got their lights. Towne works for Kennebec Rental.

Allen brought in one light station to test. Each station has four 1,500 watt bulbs. Allen says that is similar to what Wiscasset has on its field.

“I got one for a demo and tried it out,” Allen said. “It illuminated a lot of it.

The rental of the lights costs between $600 and $700. Allen says the finances will come from fund raising and gate receipts. Tickets will be $2 for adults and $1 for students.

“Financially, we’ll be OK,” he said. “I budgeted for $700.”

Three trucks will transport them Friday. Mike Carleton, an electrician and father of players on both varsity teams, will help with the setup.

After working on the idea for three months, the game is nearly a reality. Winthrop agreed to be part of the event, and the game coincides with Homecoming.

The girls host Lisbon earlier that day. The idea of having both varsity teams play under the lights was discussed, but Lisbon preferred the afternoon time.

It allows the boys’ junior varsity to play a full game, something Allen says his kids don’t often get. After many varsity matches, his JVs are often getting what minutes they can before darkness calls.

“I’ve got 22 freshmen that came out,” said Allen. “Those guys are going to get hurt because of a lack of sunlight.”

The lights also allow friends and family to attend. Quite often, during weekday games, people can’t get out of work.

“They miss half the games,” said Allen. “That’s why we have no large crowds at our afternoon games. It’s been that way, and I’d like to change that.”

By turning the game into a nighttime event, Allen hopes the community embraces the game more. At Mt. Abram, it can be difficult to generate community excitement because the students are from a variety of towns.

“It would allow the school to have more of a community atmosphere,” said Allen. “That way, the school would have its own identity.”

The hope is it will spark interest to put up permanent lights for the fields. Paying for that won’t be easy because resources for such an expense are already limited.

“We’re trying to make people aware that we can do this,” said Allen. “The funds are out there, and the grant processes are out there. It has to be a group effort and a team effort, but money is always an obstacle up here.”