By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

HAMPDEN – There was really no reason to panic as far as the North Yarmouth Academy girls’ soccer team was concerned.

Even though Madawaska had taken an early lead on its first shot of the game, the Panthers shrugged it off and got back to business.

“It doesn’t happen to us often, but when we have (fallen behind), we’ve remained really composed,” said NYA keeper Emily Staszak. “We know that we can comeback. It doesn’t phase us that much because we know we just have to step our game up.”

That’s exactly what the Panthers did to claim a third straight Class C state title Saturday. NYA answered with three goals in the first half and held on for a 3-2 win over the Owls. It was the fifth state crown for NYA in the last seven years.

“This is awesome,” said Staszak, a senior from Auburn who has been part of the last two title teams. “It’s like nothing else. It’s really great to be part of this team.”

It was the fifth loss in the state game for Madawaska. The Owls only state title came in 1997 with a win over Georges Valley.

Things were looking up for the Owls (15-3) early on at Hampden Academy. Though NYA (16-2) had dominated the early going, a cross by Ashley D. Cyr for Nicole Daigle resulted in a high shot to the right corner and a 1-0 lead at 8:03.

The lead wouldn’t last long, however. Marni Briggs had a shot hit the crossbar, and Alex Mack had a threat moments later. It was a preview of things to come for the Panthers. With 20:54 left in the half, freshman Cayla Marvil tied it. Erin Lachance’s pass found Marvil sneaking to the inside of the defense on the left side for an open shot.

NYA continued to pressure and got bids from Meghan Meintel and Alison Carpenter. Mack made it 2-1 with 10:32 left by splitting two defenders in the right corner, and deking the goaltender before putting a shot into the open net. Briggs made it 3-1 with 6:02 left on a pass from Liz Culver.

“One nice part about this team is that we do have different people that score,” said NYA coach Jeff Thoreck. “If Alex Mack is having a tough day, we have kids like Meghan Meintel, Mary Longley, Marni Briggs, Cayla Marvil. That’s a lot of girls.”

Madawaska had a direct kick by Beth Gerard late in the half and a shot by Jamie Nadeau, but Staszak made the stops.

“I just tried to make sure I stayed composed the whole game,” said Staszak. “I had to make sure I had my head in the game no matter what the score was.” The Owls managed to get within 3-2 with 25:46 left in the second half. Nadeau’s corner kick was put in by Girard, but Madawaska couldn’t get much in the way of shots the rest of the way.

“We went into halftime talking about not going into a defensive game,” said Thoreck. “I thought the girls started playing a little tentative, but with the defense we have, we have Emily in goal and the four defenders we have, they stepped up and helped take that pressure off.”

Boys’ soccer

Yarmouth 3, Presque Isle 0

HAMPDEN – Tim Murphy scored the eventual game-winner as Yarmouth cruised to a 3-0 win over Presque Isle to take its fifth state title in boys’ Class B tournament soccer action Saturday.

Murphy notched the Clippers’ (13-2-3) first goal by converting a throw-in from Francis Ellis. He took the chip shot with 21:10 left in the first half.

Yarmouth extended their lead when Andy Jacques, who was alone in front of the net, blasted the ball past goalie Adam Kingsbury. Ellis added an insurance goal with 7:21 remaining in regulation.

Kingsbury made 11 saves for Presque Isle (16-2), their first appearance in a championship game, while Jon Planer earned the shutout victory with four saves for Yarmouth.

NYA 5, Dexter 1

HAMPDEN – Scott Carpenter and Taylor Gorman each scored two goals to lift North Yarmouth Academy to a 5-1 win over Dexter in the Class C state boys’ soccer final held at Hampden Academy Saturday.

It was the eighth state title for the Panthers, which last won in 2002 during a span of four titles in five seasons. Dexter (15-2-1) had lost in the state game in 2003 to Georges Valley.

Carpenter, who had the game-winner on a penalty kick in overtime in the regional final against St. Dom’s, scored the first two for NYA (15-2-1). He gave the Panthers the early lead when his shot slipped through the legs of Dexter keeper Chris Eastman. With just 1:11 left in the second half, he converted a cross and scored from the left wing for a 2-0 lead at the half.

Gorman got the first of his two off a Kevin Catir pass early in the second half. A Harry Hanson goal made it 4-0 before Dexter scored when Dan Beatham knocked the ball from NYA keeper Alex Pilitsis and into the goal with 18:05 left. Gorman added his second with 10:06 remaining.