FIELD HOCKEY

Lake Region, the top-ranked team in Class B West, advanced to the semi-finals Wednesday with a 2-0 victory over Yarmouth. Meghan Skarbinski put the Lakers up 1-0 with a putback after two of her shots were blocked by the Clippers' goalie. Lucy Fowler had the assist. The Lakers added an insurance goal in the second half when Fowler made a strong push along the right side, beat a Yarmouth defender and crossed the ball across the crease where Elizabeth Schreiber was able to knock the ball into the net. The Lakers (14-1) will meet York this Saturday at Linda Whitney Field at 1 p.m. The Wildcats advanced to the semis with a double-overtime victory over Spruce Mountain Wednesday. The Cats dropped both regular season meetings to the Lakers, but both games were very tight.

FOOTBALL

• Fryeburg Academy: The Class B playoffs may be a week away, but for Fryeburg Academy, this Saturday IS their playoff.

The Raiders had a chance to lock down a playoff berth, but lost 20-8 on the road against Cape Elizabeth. Devine Dockery put the Raiders up 8-0 in the first quarter on a 2-yard run (he added the conversion). But, the Capers scored in each of the final three quarters. The victory moved the Capers (3-4) into the sixth spot.

Both FA and Spruce Mountain — the Phoenix lost to Mountain Valley 33-12 enabling the Falcons to take the seventh seed — enter the Homecoming game at the Academy with 3-4 records and 87.54299 Crabtree Index points.

Simply, the winner heads to the playoffs and the loser stays home.

Fryeburg not only lost the game to the Capers, FA senior quarterback Andrew Rascoe suffered a hip injury, which likely forces him out this week.

Spruce Mountain will bring a double-edged offensive threat into the key showdown. Running back Austin Schmidt is just 5-foot-5, but he has serious wheels. Quarterback Peter Theriault can throw the deep ball, but also has nice touch tossing the screen. The FA defense will have its hands full.

The Phoenix hold wins over Falmouth (18-0), Gray-NG (40-8) and Lake Region (35-6).

Game time is 1:30 p.m.

• Lake Region: Coming off a 49-7 loss to Wells, the Lakers can avoid a back-to-back 0-8 season by claiming a victory Friday night at home against Gray-NG.

The Patriots (1-6) opened the season with a 22-14 victory over Falmouth, but then lost six straight, including a 34-14 loss to York last week.

Ironically, these two schools this past year discussed dropping to Class C to enable the programs to redevelop. Gray-NG needed a partner to make the move, but the Lakers balked at the idea. A Laker win would snap a long losing skid and likely propel the team out of the Campbell Conference basement.

Game time at Art Kilborn Athletic Complex is 7 p.m. Friday.

BOYS’ SOCCER

With victories over Freeport (4-2) and Lake Regionn (4-0), Fryeburg Academy locked down a home playoff game this Saturday against Mountain Valley at noon.

Luka Modric notched the game winner on a through ball from Nico Mauer in the second half against Freeport. Christian DeMiranda scored off a Josh Rounds’ corner kick. FA built a 2-0 lead on a Mauer unassisted goal and a Gabe Perry penalty kick.

FA goalie Paul Dostie had five saves.

Against Lake Region in the finale, Forrest Stearns scored twice, while Josh Rounds and Ben Davis each found the net in the shutout.

Now, the Raiders face an unknown opponent, Mountain Valley of the KVAC. The Falcons sport a 3-4 away record, and are coming off a 2-0 loss to Dirigo. The Falcons scored 30 goals in the regular season, but 16 of them came in wins over Telstar. MV has surrendered 40 goals, and has been shut out five times.

SQUEEZED OUT OF THE PLAY — Lake Region's Brittany Perreault tries to squeeze past Fryeburg Academy players Anna Mahanor (left) and Oriango Inirio during last week's regular season finale. Mahanor scored for the Raiders, who downed the Lakers 2-0. (Rivet Photo)

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Lake Region did enough early in the season to make the playoffs.

Fryeburg Academy started to find themselves a little too late and just missed sneaking into the tourney.

The Lakers claimed the final Class B West tourney spot with a 4-9-1 mark, and will travel to Gray-New Gloucester to meet the sixth-ranked Patriots (4-6-4) this Friday night at 6 p.m.

The Pats beat the Lakers in their only meeting, 2-0. Coach Lynne Harrison’s club struggled mightily down the home stretch as inconsistent offensive play and injuries resulted in a four-game losing skid, which they were out scored 19-0.

Neither the Lakers or Patriots have been offensive juggernauts this fall. LR has 11 goals while the Pats scored 23. LR has allowed 45 goals, GNG just 20. LR has been blanked seven times, GNG just 3. The Patriots sport an identical home/away record at 2-3-2.

Another streak staring the Lakers’ in the face is a 0-7 record away from Naples. LR dropped a 2-0 decision to the Raiders last week as freshman Anna Mahanor and Esme Hernandez each scored.

WHO WILL MAKE CONTACT FIRST? — Watching the ball make its flight downward are Breanna Wilkenson of Lake Region (left) and Anna Mahanor of Fryeburg Academy during last week's varsity girls' soccer game. (Rivet Photo)

LR goalie Isabel Scribner recorded 10 saves, while FA netminder Carla Tripp had four.

The Raiders won their final two games, including a 3-0 victory over fourth-seeded Poland. Goal scorers were Mahanor (converting a cross from Julia Quinn), Olivia McDermith and Sam Nardone.

CROSS COUNTRY

For  the first time in 14 years, the Fryeburg Academy boys captured the Western Maine Conference crown last Friday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.

Senior Silas Eastman set a 5K course record in 16:10 to lead the Raiders, which nearly doubled up over second place Yarmouth, 35 points to 72.

Eastman’s time was 26 seconds faster than last year’s winner. He was 12 seconds quicker than Jack Pierce of Merriconeag.

Logan Gerchman placed 17th in the field of 99 with a 18:05, which earned him second team All-Conference honors.

Here’s how other Raiders finished:

24. Thomas Rose, 18:34

32. Luike Yang, 18:52

38. Patrick Carty, 19:05

39. Eric Hannes, 19:06

49. Jonathan Burk, 19:26

In the JV race (winning time was 18:27):

19. Liam LeConey, 19:48 (he will serve as the alternate to the varsity State Meet team)

22. Tyler O’Keefe, 20:00

36. Kyle Barboza, 20:45

68. David Powers, 22:20

107. Reed Wales, 26:13 (a personal record)

On the girls’ side, Elizabeth Grzyb and Ariel Fogden each posted personal records and finished 19 and 20 to earn second team All-Conference honors. The Raiders placed fourth as a team with 77 points, behind Yarmouth 37, Waynflete 60 and Merriconeag 64.

Here’s how FA girls fared (Kirstin Sandreuter of Greely won the race in 19:28):

19. Elizabeth Grzyb, 22:14

20. Ariel Fogden, 22:15

41. Abby Davis, 23:17

61. Juliet Fink, 24:30

90. Maddie Davis, 34:01

91. Jane Imdieke-King, 34:07

For Lake Region, Mark MacDougall posted the best time of 19:22, which put the senior in 46th place. Here’s how other Lakers fared:

78. Kyle DeSouza, 21:29

85. Mason Kluge-Edwards, 22:26

91. James McCann, 23:59

93. Benjamin Roy, 24:14

For the Laker girls, Kari Eldridge was the  highest finisher in 68th at 25:02. Maude Meeker was 70th in 25:28 and Julia Carlson 80th in 27:26.

Up next, the Raiders and Lakers head to the Regionals at Twin Brooks in Cumberland this Saturday.

GOLF

The Raiders ended the regular season at Lake Region scoring a 5-2 victory, FA’s sixth win which was the most in four years, Coach Chris Dutton reported.

Earning victories were Andrew Berg, Cody Smith, “Little” Van Nguyen and sister “Big” Van Nguyen.

Next up was the qualifiers held at Willowdale. On the boys’ side, it was a tough day as FA golfers failed to make the cut for the state finals. Andrew Berg was the low man on the day.

The girls’ qualifier was held on a different day, and the expectations were high for all three participants — Liz Dyer and the Van sisters from Vietnam, since the threesome qualified for States last year.

Liz got off to a horrible start as she recorded a 9 and 8 out of the gate.

“She dug in and she played well the rest of the way and slowly got herself back under the number to qualify and did so with a 108, like her score from last year,” Coach Dutton said. “Liz started the back nine with a par on a tough par 4 and added another par shortly after. Her back nine was more relaxing for her. I was proud of the fact she never panicked or seemed worry about the score. She just kept trying to string some good holes, and she did.”

Little Van (a senior) carded an 86, which placed her third on the day in the Western Conference.

“She continues to amaze me with her poise and control during the pressure of tournament play. She builds momentum easily if she can get a few good holes behind her. Her ball striking was on as she had three or four good birdie chances that just didn’t fall which would have gotten her score in the low 80s,” Coach Dutton said.

Big Van (a sophomore) had the driver working great.

“She was long and accurate all day and her irons were smooth. She struggled with the putting,” Coach Dutton said. “She easily got under the cut number with a 90, which placed her ninth for the day.”

With all three heading back to the States at Natanis, the ladies got a practice round in on Monday, facing wet soggy conditions. Liz was battling illness, which limited her during the week.

Last Saturday’s final was cold and windy. The FA girls dressed warm and had plenty of hand warmers. Liz Dyer finished 38th overall.

“I was please to see Liz get in for two years in a row. Two years ago, she wasn’t sure about competing in the qualifier, and now she had the chance to play in two straight state championships, which is cool and a great achievement for her,” Coach Dutton said.

Big Van Nguyen finished 15th with a score of 98.

“She was happy but disappointed at the same time. She was proud of the fact she improved on last year’s score of 102 and beat that by four, especially with the scoring conditions,” Coach Dutton said. “However, her putting was the culprit again leading to her struggles to shoot the lower score. Greens seemed too fast and lead to some frustrating times.”

Little Van made her mark yet again earning herself another top 10 as she finished seventh overall just six shots back from the overall champion.

“She actually ended up playing with the eventually champion from Bangor. Little Van was solid all day, stringing a lot of 5s on the scorecard with some pars. The closing stretch seemed to pose a little troublesome as she recorded two double bogies. She also improved her score from last year by three strokes and earned herself another top 7 finish,” Coach Dutton said. “Overall it was a great success for all three of them to qualify for two straight years and overall earned five top 20 finishes and two top 7 finishes out of six tries.”