There may be a different outlook entering the tournament this year for the Lisbon girls’ soccer team.

After facing the uphill climb of the Western Class B playoff field, the Greyhounds are now in Class C. That makes a world of difference as far as Lisbon is concerned.

“It’s more realistic now,” senior midfielder Brooke Lawrence said. “Last year, it was a little more of a fantasy, but we did our best.”

The Greyhounds went 10-2-2 last year, but were bounced by Falmouth 4-0  in the quarterfinals. That’s been an annual occurrence for Lisbon, who’d often get matched up with some of the best teams in the Western Maine Conference has to offer.

“When we were in Class B, we were always matched up with a York or Falmouth or Yarmouth,” said Lisbon coach Jake Gentle. “Those schools are unbelievable, and we don’t get to play them very much playing a Class C schedule.”

This year, Lisbon is 10-3-1 and likely to land in the fifth spot in Western C. That could earn them a quarterfinal game with St. Dom’s, an 11-3 team that edged the Greyhounds 2-1 in the regular season.

“There’s a little less weight on our shoulders because Class B, we played amazing teams,” Lawrence said. “It was like a college league we were playing.”

That always made for a steep road in the tournament.

“Knowing we’re playing Class C teams we played in the regular season, it’s going to be a great feeling for us,” Gentle said.

Lisbon has played three of the four teams ahead of it in the standings. In addition to St Dom’s, Lisbon lost to top-seeded Dirigo, 1-0, and beat Madison, 5-1. Waynflete is the only team in the top five Lisbon has not played.

Tough act to follow

After winning 12 games and winning their first playoff game last fall, Leavitt realized it would be tough to improve upon that, especially with the graduation losses.

Still, the Hornets were not planning on taking a step back.

“I think they really challenged themselves,” Leavitt coach Chris Cifelli said. “They wanted to establish themselves that we are a program and not a flash in the pan of one or two years. I think this was big. It’s a big deal.”

Leavitt finished the regular season 8-3-3 after a 2-1 win over MCI on Tuesday. The Hornets were fifth in the latest Western B standings, but Cifelli is hoping Leavitt could end as high as fourth.

“We’re definitely wicked excited,” senior midfielder Tori Zupancic said. “It’s really great for Leavitt soccer. It’s my senior year. Starting my freshman year, we were in Class A. It was really hard. We’ve definitely picked it up since then. It’s exciting to be a senior and to have that opportunity to be in the playoff s again.”

Leavitt lost all-state midfielder Bri Hammond as well all-conference players Abbey Randall and Kayla Richardson.  With so many veteran players to replace, the Hornets had holes to fill. That was a mere stumbling block.

“A lot of people thought we lost too many key players,” Zupancic said. “We did, but we kept pushing hard and kept practicing a lot. We tried to fill those positions and tried our best.”

MVC championship games rescheduled

The Mountain Valley Conference championship games slated for Wednesday have been rescheduled to Thursday at St. Dom’s.

The girls’ game will be at 3 p.m. while the boys’ match is slated for 3:45.

Dirigo (12-0-2) and Madison (12-1-1) meet for the girls’ crown. The teams played to a 2-2 tied in the regular season. Natalie Bolduc had a pair of first-half goals and had two cracks at breaking the tie in the second half. She had a penalty kick saved by Madison keeper Savanna Kandiko and had another shot hit the crossbar. The Bulldogs got goals from Nathalie Michaud and Cristie Vicneire.

Madison coach Mike Herrick has some ties to the Cougars. His wife, Mary Gill Herrick, was a standout athlete for Dirigo.

The boys’ game will feature top-ranked St. Dom’s (12-0-2) against Hall-Dale, currently ranked fourth in Western C. The Saints won the regular season matchup 1-0.

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