Time hasn’t healed all the wounds for the St. Dom’s boys’ soccer team.

After a heartbreaking loss to North Yarmouth Academy in the Western C semifinal last fall, the Saints are ready for another fall tournament with a little extra motivation.

“That’s what we’ve talked about since June,” said St. Dom’s coach Marty Bressler. “We were devastated by the loss to NYA. The kids are really hungry and really focused.”

The Saints finished the regular season 13-0-1, just a few points behind top-seeded Hall-Dale. After losing significant numbers from last year’s 13-2-1 team, St. Dom’s has rebuilt itself into another contender.

“The seniors have done a phenomenal job providing leadership and filling in for the (graduation) losses,” said Bressler, whose team beat Hall-Dale 2-1 in the MVC championship game Wednesday. “This group of seniors is a phenomenal group of kids. They’re excellent students. They’re real good with sportsmanship, and they’re great kids to coach. I’m very pleased with what they’ve done this year.”

The Saints won’t have an easy journey in the postseason. They’ll host Wiscasset, a team they’ve had a good rivalry with in recent years, in the quarterfinals. Then the winner of NYA at Waynflete would be the semifinal matchup. Then, of course, there’s top-ranked Hall-Dale for a possible regional final.

“Honestly, I like the way the brackets are,” said Bressler. “I think if we can get by that semifinal, we can be a pretty good challenge to Hall-Dale at Hall-Dale.”

Also in Western C, Dirigo (9-4-1) earned the fourth seed. They’ll host fifth-ranked Mt. Abram (8-4-2). The Cougars beat the Roadrunners 3-1 and tied them 1-1 during the regular season.

Lisbon (5-8-1) finished eighth and hosts Monmouth (4-7-3) in a preliminary matchup Friday. Those two teams tied, 1-1, in the season opener.

“I think it’s pretty open,” said Bressler. “It could be any of four teams. The reality is if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. That’s what we’re setting out to do.”

Lewiston is hoping to go a little further this year as well. The Blue Devils won their second straight KVAC title last year but lost to Hampden in the Eastern A semifinals.

Lewiston (11-1-2) finished second overall, behind Mt. Ararat. They’ll open the tourney with a quarterfinal against prelim winner between Messalonskee and Lawrence.

“I think we’re OK,” said Lewiston coach Mike McGraw. “There’s a lot of little things that we can do better, especially in dead-ball situations. We’re good in 75 percent of the field. It’s just been about reconnecting and finishing. We’re just off a little. We just need to work on that.”

Lewiston outscored opponents 58-8 in the regular season and posted eight shutouts. The Blue Devils still were held to one goal or less in four of their last seven games, including a 2-1 loss to Mt. Ararat and 0-0 ties with Hampden and EL.

“We’ve worked very hard to try to keep control of the game and trying to work in the box,” said  McGraw. “Every team is very well organized. We’re not going to surprise anybody. We’ve found a lot of teams are dropping back additional defenders.”

Eastern A has a solid field of tourney teams. Edward Little (7-6-1) finished sixth and plays at Hampden (8-5-1) in the quarterfinals. The Red Eddies beat the Broncos 2-1 in the regular season.

“When you look at the playoffs, you can’t have a bad game,” said McGraw.

In Western B, Gray-New Gloucester (6-6-2) finished sixth and plays at Falmouth (9-3-2) in the quarterfinals. Spruce Mountain (8-5-1) took the seventh spot and will host Freeport (3-9-2) in a prelim Saturday. Ninth-ranked Mountain Valley (5-8-1) also has a prelim and plays at Fryeburg (6-5-3).

In Western D, Buckfield (6-7-1) finished sixth and will play a quarterfinal at third-seeded Chop Point.

kmills@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link