During the preseason, his Mt. Abram boys’ soccer team resembled a bunch of puzzle pieces.

Darren Allen hoped to find the right fit and make something from the batch of potential before him. Little did he know how well it would all come together.

“I had no idea it was going to turn out this way,” Allen said. “We didn’t have all the pieces together early on. We went through the preseason, and we still didn’t have two of the starters.”

The Roadrunners finished the year 12-2 and earned the top seed in Western Class C. Mt. Abram reached the regional championship game before losing a nail-biter to Waynflete, earning it the Sun Journal’s Boys’ Soccer Team of the Year.

“I knew we had a lot of talent,” said Allen, who finished his eight-year tenure at Mt. Abram this fall. “I didn’t know how we’d gel together. I knew we had the ability, but we had to come together. That’s always a challenge every year, to get kids into the role that you think they should be in.”

Putting the pieces together was slow going at the start. Exchange student Dimitri Popovic arrived during preseason, but Allen wanted to make sure his paperwork was in order so he’d be eligible to play. Alex Tuttle transferred from CVA, and Alex Crossman, last year’s leading scorer, missed the first few games of the season with an injury.

It wasn’t until a victory over previously unbeaten Lisbon that the Roadrunners began to see it blossoming.

“After the Lisbon game, that was when we said ‘Wow, we can really do things,'” Allen said. “The kids started to believe in themselves.”

Allen shook up the lineup that day and tried a new formation. He went with four backs, five midfielders and a striker. He went into the game hoping for a tie, but the Roadrunners handed Lisbon its lone regular-season loss.

“The game plan worked to perfection, which in soccer, that rarely happens,” Allen said. “We scored right off the bat and, defensively, we held. Everybody played their role, and everybody did what they were supposed to do. It opened up the kids’ eyes, and they gained confidence from that.”

The Roadrunners proved to be deep, versatile and one of the most balanced club Allen has seen.

The coach used four different formations during the season, shaping his lineup to match the opposition.

Popovic, Crossman and defender Mike Bonney were named to the Western C all-star team and the MVC first team. Phalen Barry was also an all-conference pick.

The players set the goal of reaching the state championship game, but getting past the top Western Maine Conference teams has always been a challenge. After beating Traip and Georges Valley, Mt. Abram’s season ended in the regional final. Waynflete scored early and held off the Roadrunners down the stretch for the 1-0 victory.

“Our goal was to get to the regional final and have the opportunity to play,” said Allen. “That was our goal. We did that. It was a hard-fought game and a hard-fought loss. We had opportunities, and that’s all you can ask for.”