FREEPORT — The Oxford County Soccer Club Under 12 Girls team won the Soccer Maine Division 2 State Championship in Freeport Oct. 29, capping its first-ever season with an overall record of 11-2-3, after going 6-2-2 during the season and 5-0-1 in the playoffs.

The 5th seeded Lady Vikings avenged its only regular season defeat against Brewer (on Brewer’s home field) in the bracket finals on Oct. 22 to advance to the Soccer Maine Final Four, and then dominated top-seeded and undefeated Scarborough with a 3-1 score and a huge margin of possession in the Semifinals to reach the title game.

Oxford County then beat Gardiner Fire FC for the second time this season to earn its Championship. Gardiner, which had lost 1-0 to OCSC back in September, had also enjoyed a great run to the Finals, defeating Cape Elizabeth Sevilla in its bracket finals and Cape Elizabeth Everton in the Semifinals.

CHAMPS — The Oxford County Soccer Club Under 12 Girls team front from left, Lidia Melanson, Bridget Sapak, Sylvia McClure, Lyla Levesque, McKinley Soehren, Charlotte Lambert, Gianna DeVivo, Ella Pelletier, and Coach Stacie Melanson. Back, Coach John DeVivo, Makenzie Eliot, Meredith Harthorne, Morgan Zetts, Bayleigh Young, Maddy Miller, Tristen Derenburger, Anna Frost, Quinne Jerome, and Coach Kasey Jerome.

“What a magical run we’ve been on in our first season,” said John DeVivo, OCSC coach.

“We knew we had something special here with these girls, but prior to mid-August, most hadn’t played club soccer before, and many hadn’t ever met most of the others. They gelled quickly within the first two months as we kept on experimenting with positions and playing time, and then they all peaked at the perfect time.”

DeVivo noted that the first year Under 12 Girls team is comprised of eight girls from Bethel, three each from South Paris and Norway, and one each from Waterford and Otisfield.

The team was also coached by Stacie Melanson from Waterford and Kasey Jerome from Bethel, and the coaching staff stressed team play all season long in all four aspects of the game. Oxford County benefitted from solid offensive, midfield, defensive, and goalkeeping play, and outscored its opponents 44-25 during its sixteen games.

In addition to winning the Division 2 State Championship, the Lady Vikings took second place at the Patriot Soccer Club Crossroads Challenge in early October, finishing with an overall 2-1-1 record after tying a Division 1 Final Four Lewiston-Auburn team in pool play and bowing to a top five Division 1 Freeport team in the Finals.

DeVivo noted that as many as 12 of this year’s Under 12 players may step up to Oxford County’s Under 14 team next season, and that the Under 12 team will be looking for many new players in its second season.

The goal of the Oxford County Soccer Club is to field competitive boys and girls teams at the Under 9 to Under 14 level within the Soccer Maine framework, and to improve the overall development of soccer athletes within the Oxford Hills and Telstar school districts.