As local high school fields and courts come alive for the autumn season, community pride takes center stage with a full lineup of student-athletes ready to represent our town.
Volleyball: Coach Tirrell shared, “We defended our way to the state title last season. We had a winning record but some losses along the way that helped us make changes to being stronger in the playoffs. We graduated senior captains Lauren Dunbar, Addyson Simcock, and Emily Fluet.”
Coach Tirrell added, “We have 10 seniors playing as well as a senior manager. Senior captains are Abigail Stevens, Adyson Hutchins, Liana Edwards, and Luna Button. Many seniors will have an impact on our team: Abigail Stevens, Adyson Hutchins, Annabelle Gilman, Cassidy Hjort, Emily McLean, Jordyn Fotter, Larissa Moore, Liana Edwards, Lindsay Farquer, Luna Button, Kailey Hanscom. Liana Edwards, 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year, is definitely a player to watch. Up-and-comer sophomore Sophie MacIsaac will hopefully make an impact for us, as well as our returning sophomore Ava Scott.”
This season challenging opponents for the defending state champs will continue to be Scarborough, TA, and Cheverus. The team is expected to make it far into the playoffs again.
The coach added, “A huge strength of our team is their dedication to each other and competitive nature. Our seniors have been a part of a state championship every year so far, which is incredibly special, and drives them to want to win this year. I can’t wait to see what we do.”
Boys Soccer: Coach Viola shared, “Last year, we achieved a 12-3-1 record and made it to the SMAA semi-finals, losing 2-0 against Falmouth. We lost only two seniors from last year’s team. We will be returning 17 players to this year’s roster.”
Coach Viola continued, “This year’s seniors will have a significant impact on our team. Our returning captain from last year is senior defender Antoine Dube. Other impactful seniors will be Corbin Wilson (goalkeeper), Liam Delaney (defense), Will Andreasen (midfield), Cohen Landry (forward), and Rowen Reed (forward). Players to watch plus the following returning players from the junior class include Moises Ntango (midfield), Sawyer Wheaton (midfield), and Ty Caron (midfield), all of whom saw significant minutes last year as sophomores.
New players include juniors Ahmed Abdulzahra (forward) and Brayden Logan (defense).
Coach Viola concluded, “As always with this program, expectations are high, particularly with the number of returning players to this year’s team. We embrace that challenge and seek consistency every day in the way we perform to exceed those expectations.
“The strength of our team will be our defense. We return our entire defensive lineup from last year. We also have a number of dangerous attacking players who can score at any time.”
Girls Soccer: The 2025 regular season schedule ended with a 10-4-0 record. In postseason play, the Rams beat Deering 4-0 in a Prelim game and lost to Kennebunk 2-1 in PKs.
Incoming head coach Andy Higgins shared, “We have five seniors leading this year’s group: Anna Nichols, Adriana Russo, Kara Nygren, Kennady Peary, and Erica Donnell. Players to watch and impact newcomers include Russo (Sr.) (All SMAA 2nd Team in 2025), Courtney Cyr (Jr.) (SMAA Honorable Mention 2025), Haley Chandler (Jr.) Lauren and Taylor Chadburn (So.), and Tessa White (Jr).”
Coach Higgins added, “The preseason is off to a good start, with the kids learning a new staff and style of play, but they are competing and working very hard to push each other to get better every day. The team is committed to remaining positive and being the best teammates they can be.” Challenging opponents in Coach Higgins’ opinion will be “Scarborough, Windham, Falmouth, Kennebunk and the entire SMAA.”
Field Hockey: Head coach Rebecca Manson reported that last season her team finished in the semi-final game, losing to the eventual state champs, Cheverus. Her team graduated four seniors, including Annie Collier, now playing at Sacred Heart, and Reece Leclerc, now playing at St. Michael’s. Their overall record was 8-8.
Coach Manson shared, “This season’s top returning players include Sydney Quimby (Sr. forward captain) with 10 goals and 4 assists last season. She may be small but she’s mighty. Very quick and has the ability to beat opponents multiple times down the field. She can play the whole game at a high level of play and has the competitive edge to withstand tough opponents. She scored the game-winning goal in our quarterfinal game last season to send us to our fifth straight semi-final game. She was All-Conference honorable mention last season; she’s looking at first team this season and has a high potential to make All-State. She has 22 career goals and 6 career assists. Acadia Sylvia (Sr. defender) This will be her third year anchoring the defense and she’s been a huge part of our success defensively during that time. Eva Wandell (Sr. goalkeeper) returns in goal as a two-year starter.
Last season she made 80 saves off 110 shots, giving her a 73% save rating. Wandell is tall, athletic and quick to the ball and easily a top goalie in SMAA. Haylie Nicely (Sr. midfield) is a two-year starting player moving from attack to center-mid this season, filling an integral role for the team in distributing the ball with excellent passing ability. Bryn Cunningham (Jr. forward/mid captain) will be a two-year returning member of the team. She will go between attack and midfield this season with excellent leadership. Also making a huge impact on our team and strong returning players are Maia Downing (Sr. captain forward), Hazel Dolley (Sr. forward), Jenny Miner (Jr. defender), and Luella Dolly (Jr. midfield). We have two newcomers, Adi Spiller and Alyssa Lampen, who stand to impact the offense and scoring ability with amazing speed and endurance. Freshman Maddy Chaisson is a newcomer and defender who will impact the backfield with strong defensive play.”
In Coach Manson’s view, six teams stand out as top contenders: Biddeford, Cheverus, Sanford, Gorham, Scarborough and TA.
Coach Manson added, “Gorham is strong again this season with seven returning starters and a strong group to fill in the open spots. Newcomers provide depth on the bench, allowing Gorham to be a tough opponent and a top team in the SMAA.”
Football: Coach Morrison provided the following: “The team finished up last year 2-7 with multiple close losses, including a game in overtime at Scarborough and games down to the wire, which included a 12-10 loss to the eventual State Class B champions, Westbrook. We graduated key seniors, including four-year starters Atticus Whitten and Lucas Graham, as well as three-year starting quarterback Garrett Poulin. We have a roster above 50 for the fourth straight year, which has been awesome this preseason; it’s been very competitive on the practice field.”
This year’s senior leaders/captains, coach Morrison explained, will be anchored by an experienced offensive line, including Alden Whitten (captain), Jack Feldhaus, Gracin Bunch, Ryan Wheeler (captain), and Dustin Densmore, with Nick Harrington and Logan Rench most likely getting some time up front. “Our skill positions will be led by returning All-Conference football player Isaac Vail (captain) at the free safety and wide receiver position and Cooper Whitehead at running back, our fourth captain. Wyatt Walker will take over at the quarterback position and has had a great offseason and preseason thus far. Players to watch will be Cooper Whitehead, Isaac Vail, Alden Whitten, and Ryan Wheeler, along with the veteran line group already mentioned.”
Coach Morrison added, “I would argue B South is top-to-bottom one of the most challenging conferences in football. So every opponent will be tough and it starts off with a B North Crossover and blueblood program like Lawrence. Then we will hit the road for Biddeford and return home to host Marshwood on Pooch Night [an annual GHS football tradition dedicated to honoring Officer Wayne “Pooch” Drown and benefiting the Pooch Memorial Scholarship]. Every week we will get to measure ourselves against the rest of the league as we have all B South teams on our schedule along with Lawrence and Scarborough.”
Coach Morrison concluded, “The strength of our team so far this preseason has certainly been leadership, offensive line play, and competitiveness. These guys have hit the ground running and have set some goals and changed some standards within the program, with goals to be highly competitive this year, night-in and night-out.”
XC Teams: Coach Tanguay (year 18), Coach Knowlton (year 3) and Coach Kibler (year 1) have a deep dedication to investing time in safe training, mental toughness, and personal goals for each athlete. This year’s captains/leaders include Owen Cummings (Sr.), Harry Crider (Sr.), Harvey Crider (Sr.), Kevin Munyaneza (Sr.), Anna Johnson (Sr.), Nara Holland (Jr.), and Julia Giguere (Jr.).
Coach Tanguay shared, “This year on the girls side, we return our top three runners in Anna Johnson, Abigail McCrillis and Nara Holland. On the boys side, we return all of our top seven runners in Owen Cummings, Harvey Crider, Harry Crider, Abe Palme, Nick Sallinen, Jackson Lavertu and Evan Fletcher.”
Coach Tanguay added, “Both the girls and boys teams return many runners from last year and are hopeful that the work put in during the summer will pay off with more success in the postseason. The girls are looking to qualify as a team for the state championship and the boys have their eyes on fighting for a top position both in our league and potentially the state.”
The team’s home meet, the Southern Maine Classic Invitational, will be a meet to put on your calendar for Saturday, Sept. 12, starting at 10 a.m.
Golf: Precision and focus will be on display as our student golfers hit the local fairways to compete in regional match play. Will Provost, Graham Staples, and Charlie Sands are among the key returning golfers for the Gorham High School Rams team this fall season. The team outlook: The Rams placed 5th at the Maine High School State Championship team event with a round score of 327. The team opened regular-season play in late August, securing a strong win against Kennebunk.
Good luck to all of the athletes and coaches this season.