Bears hope to build on success of 2011
EASTON — The Easton Bears boys varsity soccer team had one of its most successful seasons ever in 2011, finishing with a 14-3 record and making it all the way to the Eastern Maine semifinals before losing to the eventual state champion Bangor Christian Patriots.
Repeating this success will be a difficult task with the depth of Class D this season, but fourth-year coach Ryan Shaw is confident that the potential for his squad is there.
“Our success, or lack of will be determined by how hard we are willing to work,” he said. “We have to have leaders step up and be willing to do what it takes to get on the same page as a team.”
Gone from that 2011 squad are graduates Holden Turner, Reid Clark, Jonah Bacon, Cody Tomkins and Codie Stewart and they take with them a depth of talent and experience. In small schools, big losses like this are sometimes hard to overcome, but the Bears are bringing back a core of players ready to step up.
“We are young and inexperienced at a lot of positions, however most teams are this year. We have a talented core of (returning) players,” Shaw said.
Leading this group will be senior Carl Mullen, who will see action in both offensive and defensive roles, and senior Jared Hafford who will be the goalie – his first year in that role. Juniors Hunter Turner, a defender, and Ian Sotomayor, a midfielder, return to the starting lineup, while sophomore returnees include backfielders Connor Bartt and Nick Clark and midfielder Logan Dickinson.
The new additions to the squad include three seniors. Tyler Gadaire and Harvey Brown will play in the backfield, while Logan Sutherland will see action as a midfielder. Junior Colby Pangburn will also be primarily a defensive back, while the freshman class includes midfielder Logan Halvorson and forwards Trevor Hathaway and Drew Sotomayor.
Shaw sees his team working an uptempo style this season. “We are always going to strive to play a fast paced, possession game,” Shaw explained. “When we do this, we can play with anyone. If we get away from this, however, we can get clobbered by anyone.”
The Bears have struggled in the early going of the season, which may well be a reflection of the youth of the team. Through the first seven games, Easton is 2-5 having suffered two losses each to Wisdom and Ashland, as well as a single loss to Washburn. Their wins come at the hands of rivals Fort Fairfield and Limestone.
There are still a lot of games left however, and as Shaw explained, Class D is wide open.
“Every game is big this year,” Shaw continued, “as it looks like anyone can beat anyone on a given day. Every team is fairly young this year, and that is going to make things interesting down the stretch.”
