AS PRESSURE GROWS, PLAY TIGHTENS UP — Fryeburg Academy boys will host a first-round varsity soccer game this Saturday. Wyatt Andreoli (left) and the Raiders enter the Class B tournament as the sixth seed with a 9-5 record, winners of five straight including a 4-0 win over Waynflete.

There’s a saying in sports, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

Coach Bob Hodgman-Burns has to like what his Fryeburg Academy team is doing heading into the soccer post-season. The Raiders are playing their best ball, coming off an impressive 4-0 win over previously undefeated Waynflete to close out the regular season with a 9-5 record.

As the sixth-seed in Class B West, the Raiders will host a playoff game this Saturday against 11th-seed Oak Hill (3-11). Game time is 1 p.m. The winner advances to the quarterfinals next Wednesday, Oct. 26 against third-seed Maranacook (11-3) in Readfield.

Winners of five straight, the Raiders did something few teams were able to do this season — score multiple goals against Waynflete. The Flyers had allowed just 7 goals all season, but the Raiders touched up Waynflete (10-1-3) for four as Milos Mijokov had two, while Paul Kurnick and Wyatt Andreoli also found the net. Raider goalie Paul Dostie notched three saves.

Last week against Freeport, the Raiders blanked the Falcons 2-0 on goals by Andreoli and Stefan Sjekloca. Dostie had seven saves.

Girls Teams In

Lake Region landed the ninth-seed at 6-7-1 and will travel to eighth-seed Spruce Mountain (7-7) this Friday for a 3 p.m. prelim game at the old Jay High School. The winner advances to play top-ranked Morse (14-0) on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

The Lakers played a scrappy game Saturday against York (9-3-1), but fell to the second-ranked Wildcats 3-0. Goalie Emily Bartlett made several phenomenal stops, including a diving deflection to her right and a leaping tip on a ball headed for the top left corner. Offensively, the Lakers had a tough time engineering scoring chances against a solid Wildcat wall.

BATTLE WITH THE CATS — Lake Region played a scrappy game Saturday against highly-regarded York. Above, Sydney Hancock (right) battles for the ball.

The Lakers enter the playoffs coming off a 2-1 victory over North Yarmouth Academy. Sydney Hancock booted the game winner with two minutes left in double overtime. Jacqui Black gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead before the Panthers tied the game with 14 minutes left in regulation.

Unavailable at press time last week, LR goal scorers in the 6-3 loss to Fryeburg Academy were Rachel Wandishin (assisted by Sydney Hancock), Hancock (assisted by Theresa Butler) and Tianna-Jo Carter (unassisted).

“We came out very flat expecting Fryeburg to be weak. We need to understand that the game needs to be played hard from the opening whistle to the final horn,” LR Coach Lynne Harrison said. “Soccer games last 80 minutes and you have to play hard the entire time. We let them (Fryeburg) get ahead and we played catch up the rest of the way. Hopefully, we will carry the lesson from this loss with us the rest of the way.”

Fryeburg Academy placed 11th in the final Heal Ratings at 4-7-3, coming off a tough 2-0 loss to Waynflete (12-2). Maggie McConkey made 14 saves as the Raiders enter the playoffs playing sound soccer, beating Sacopee Valley behind three Carla Tripp goals. McConkey recorded the shutout over the Hawks.

Fryeburg travels to sixth-seed Yarmouth (6-8) on Friday for a 4 p.m. game. The Raiders beat the Clippers at home 3-2 as Sylvia Brooks scored on a shot from 18 yards out with six minutes left. Tripp and Nikki Shivers also had goals, while McConkey was stingy in net, recording 37 saves.

The winner advances to the quarterfinals Tuesday against third-ranked Falmouth (9-4-1).