WALES — So close yet so far away.

That’s the way it has felt for the Oak Hill girls’ soccer team this
year. The Raiders are currently 2-7-1 but have had a number of close
games go the wrong way. They’ve been competitive in just about every
outing but struggled early on to secure the victories.

“We’ve had so many one-goal games,” said coach Brant Remington.
“Before we played Winslow, we started 0-4-1 and every game was by a
goal. The overtime game was 0-0 and that was with Gardiner, who is
(6-1-3) in Eastern Maine.”

The Raiders outplayed Nokomis at home but gave up two goals in a 2-1
loss when the same player scored for the Warriors on nice plays.
Against Lincoln Academy on the road, Oak Hill lost 1-0. The Raiders
missed a penalty shot and had the game-winning goal get a little help
from a wet ball that squirted away from the keeper.

“There’s a couple games that if they went the other way, we’re a little bit closer to making the playoffs,” said Remington.

The first-year coach told his team that they had to win the rest of
their games to put them in the playoff chase. After Wednesday’s
comeback win over Belfast, the Raiders have surged up the standings and
feel a boost of confidence. Oak Hill scored twice in the final minutes
to beat the Lions in the slop.

“This means we have a possibility of playoffs,” said sophomore
forward Darby Beaulieu, who scored the game-winner against Belfast and
set up Abby Goulet’s tying goal. “This means we have a chance and that
means a lot. We’ve been playing really well, but we haven’t been able
to get that one goal. We’ve always lost by one. This win means a lot
and shows that we can go so far.”

The win bounced the Raiders up to 10th in the Western B standings
and puts Oak Hill within reach of a possible playoff berth if the team
finishes strong.

“The top seven teams are pretty solid,” said Remington. “If you go
from eight to about 13th, there’s very few points separating us. ”

Oak Hill has just five seniors and a good young nucleus that has
been improving all season. With all-star keeper Maggie Sabine leading a
solid defense, the Raiders have shown promise offensively but just
struggled finishing chances at times. The teams is showing progress and
the win over Belfast could be signs of great things to come.

“I’ve got a core of sophomores and a freshman that’s playing really
well right now,” said Remington. “It’s almost like they’re a year away.
Every game it’s like they’re about there but not quite.”

Rebuilding Eddies

After  losing a wealth of talent from last year’s club, the EL
girls’ are still matching last year’s success. The Red Eddies are
eighth in the latest Eastern A standings at 3-4-1. That’s after a 3-0
loss at Brunswick and a heart-breaking 1-0 loss against Morse. That’s the
second 1-0 loss to the Shipbuilders this year.

“Being a rebuilding year, which is what everyone considered us to be
after losing nine seniors, to be (3-4-1) and have our losses to be
Brunswick and Morse, which are in the top five and Cony, which is right
behind us in the Heals, there’s nothing to be upset about,” said EL
coach Val Ackley.

Brown, who took last year off for maternity leave, is pleased with
the hard work and the progress her younger club has made this year. It
has many players in increased roles but the team has been giving all
its foes a battle. That will come in handy as EL has a rematch with
Mt. Ararat Friday in Topsham and also have return matches with Cony and
Brunswick down the stretch.

“The kids have had a great first half of the season,” said Ackley. ”
They’ve come out and played hard every game and have been competitive
in every game. Every game has been a one-goal game except Brunswick.”