The Boothbay Region High School soccer team faced stiff (and frequent) competition last week, as it battles for a playoff berth. In the last week of play, the team lost three out of four games, despite solid performances. Goalie Jackie McLoon has been sidelined with an injury, a large loss for a small team. 

On Sept. 27 against league leader Madison, Boothbay faced insurmountable odds. Trailing 9-0 with 10 minutes left to play, Coach Ben Powell decided to throw caution to the winds at the chance for a morale-boosting goal. 

“(We) pushed almost all offensive players up in the last 10 minutes in order to try and get a goal, and it worked out great. Reagan Cola beat a few defenders in a run to the end-line and crossed it to Olivia Paolillo who finished with authority. I think this is the first goal we’ve scored against Madison since I’ve been coaching, and it was a beautiful one, “ Powell wrote in an email. 

Back at home on Sept. 29, Boothbay easily prevailed over Mountain Valley, 5-2. Reagan Cola scored a hat trick and Evy Case and Olivia Paolillo both scored.

 “A great win for the Seahawks who controlled the game from start to finish. The girls moved the ball well and got contributions from everyone on the field. A few people had to play positions they typically don't with Hannah Cola stepping in goal for an injured Jackie McLoon and ReAnna Heino and Summer Chamberlin playing new defensive roles,” Powell said.

On Oct. 2, the Seahawks faced Carrabec, in a makeup game squeezed into an already full schedule. Boothbay fell 4-0.

“Carrabec started the game very strong, possessing the ball for the first 15-20 minutes of the game and getting two quick goals. At the end of the first half Boothbay had a couple of great chances created by Evy Case, but unfortunately could not capitalize,” Powell reported in an email.

In the second half, Powell pulled  goalkeeper Hannah Cola and moved her up to forward to create more offense and moved Summer Chamberlin into the goal. 

“This change created some great chances for all the forwards, Olivia, Reagan, and Hannah, but the back of the net was elusive for us tonight.  Summer Chamberlin filled in admirably in goal despite getting absolutely no warmup and not having played it once during the season. Carrabec put the game out of reach in the middle of the second half with two more goals,” Powell said.

On Oct. 3 at home, Boothbay fell to Hall-Dale in a close match, 3-2. Paolillo scored for the Seahawks in the first half on a cross from Reagan Cola and Lovely Uberita in the second half, again on a cross from Cola. 

“Despite the loss it was a good bounce back game for the Seahawks who had not played well the night before in a bad loss at Carrabec. The main focus of the game was to make the simple passes and moving as a team to make easy passes available. After really struggling to connect passes in the previous game, Boothbay did a much better job this game and routinely was able to move the ball up the field with good passing and communication,” Powell said.

“I was very proud of how the team responded today and it just shows that we can play with most teams when we work together. Unfortunately we still need that big win to make it into the playoffs, so just like last year it will come down to Lisbon, who we play Thursday (Oct. 5) and then again on Friday of next week,” Powell said.