The Gorham Times, Gorham, Maine's Community Newspaper

Sports Editor

Football: Coach Andy Hager said the football team finished the year with a 3-5 record, beating Noble, Deering and Westbrook. Gorham had a 1,200 yard rusher in Tyler Rollins, who along with senior OL/LB Kyle Ouillette, is exploring opportunities to play football at the next level. Senior LB Henri Kuntz finished the season with 99 tackles, second most in a single season. The Rams graduate 17 seniors, leaving 18 sophomores including Landon Bickford and Elijah Wyatt who can step into key varsity positions next year.

Volleyball: “We had a great second half of the season, playing good strong games at home and also performing well on the road,” Coach Emma Tirrell said. Though the girls lost a couple of hard fought five-set matches to Scarborough and Cape, they remained tough. Players of all classes contributed to wins, from sophomores to seniors, with the upperclassmen stepping up as leaders. “Our quarterfinal at home against Deering was a memorable game because lots of players were able to contribute to our win, proving the depth down our bench,” Tirrell shared. The team ended the season at 12-4, losing in the semifinals to Scarborough on the road. Senior captain Meg Perry had 197 kills and 182 digs on the season, Ursa Steiner finished the season with 447 assists, and Haley Burns with 131 digs and 34 service aces. There were other significant stats on the season: senior Caralin Mills with 90 kills, sophomore Ellie Perry with 120 digs, and Talia Catoggio with 214 serve receive passes and 231 digs.

Boys’ Soccer: The boys ended the regular season with six straight wins, out scoring opponents 20-1 and finishing first in Heal Point standings. They defeated Westbrook 5-0 in the quarterfinals (avenging an earlier 4-2 defeat during the regular season). Travis Matheson had two goals and an assist and Brady King contributed with one goal and three assists. In the semifinals, the team defeated Portland in a rematch of the last three Regional finals with goals from Travis Matheson and Javin Stickney. In a hard fought game, the team lost to Falmouth 2-1 in the Regional final, the lone goal scored by Nolan Gava.

Coach Tim King said the team showed tremendous growth during the season and played with 100% effort right to the final whistle. “I am proud of the accomplishments of this group, including playing in four straight regional finals,” King said.

Several players were recognized for outstanding play. Captains Travis Matheson, Brady King, and Kyle Hamblen were all voted as 1st team SMAA All Stars. Ryan Farr and Romain Salvi were 2nd Team SMAA selections, and Andrew Farr received Honorable Mention. Andrew Rent was also recognized with an Honorary 1st Team SMAA selection after being voted 1st team SMAA for his first three HS seasons before losing his senior year to injury. Brady King and Travis Matheson were also voted to the Maine State Southern Maine Regional All-Star team and will attend the all-state banquet on December 8 in Bangor.

Girls’ Soccer: Girls’ soccer went on an 11-game unbeaten streak after losing to Cheverus on Sept. 19. Coach Jeanne Zarrilli said the girls finished fourth in Heal Point standings. The team went on to beat Windham 2-1 in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal game against Cheverus, the girls played a physically and emotionally draining 110 minutes. After a double overtime, the teams went to penalty kicks; the Rams went 0-3 and the Stags went 3-1 ending their strong season.

Golf: The GHS varsity golf team finished its season with a record of 7-3, and finished in 8th place at the State Championship at Natanis. Coach Scott Nevers said, “We improved in almost every category; each athlete improved their scoring average, and improved our team scoring average by seven strokes versus last year.”

The Rams had two athletes qualify for the individual championship; Nicole Walker who finished 10th, and Bryce Lumbert who finished 12th. The JV team finished 3rd in the JV Jamboree tournament that was held at the end of the year as well. “We have a large program that will continue to be exciting for the years to come.” Nevers said.

Cross Country: Coach Jason Tanguay said the girls’ cross country team showed they were contenders finishing 3rd out of 17 teams in the league at the Class A Regional Championship. Individually, the Rams had top performances from Kate Tugman in 2nd, Iris Kitchen in 12th, Rachel Cummings in 24th, and Elisabeth Loranger in 25th. The boys’ cross country team had a strong showing finishing in 5th place out of 17 teams. Individually, the team had top performances from Calvin Cummings in 6th place, Reed Henderson in 9th, and Josh Lehmann in 22nd.

In the Class A State Championship, the girls’ team battled over the 5K course until the bitter end. They finished in 3rd place closing ground on the teams that beat them the previous week. Individual top performers that day were Kate Tugman in 3rd, Iris Kitchen in 17th, Elisabeth Loranger in 36th, Rachel Cummings in 37th, and Bailey Wentworth in 44th. The boys’ team finished in 8th place. Individually, top performers were Calvin Cummings in 10th, Reed Henderson in 11th, and Josh Lehmann in 27th. “Our runners definitely showed their grit again in the post season,” Tanguay said.

The season continues as the girls’ team qualified to compete in the New England Championship in Manchester, Connecticut on November 9. Calvin Cummings and Reed Henderson will also participate. Tanguay said, “They did this through their outstanding performances at the state championship.”

Field Hockey: This year’s team was the first to go to the semifinals since 2009, finishing with a record of 10-6. The Lady Rams went on a five-game winning streak to make it all the way to semifinals. Coach Becky Manson-Rioux said the team was much improved over the course of the season to finish 3rd in their conference.

Gorham hosted a quarterfinal game and beat Falmouth 3-1. Some of the incredible accomplishments on the season are as follows: Faith Dillon had three goals and 13 assists, Molly Rathbun had 12 goals and one assist, Molly Murray had 12 goals and three assists, Lydia Gaudreau had one goal and seven assists, and Sydney Connolly had five goals and two assists.