Windham varsity boys’ soccer tops South Portland

By Matt Pascarella

For their final home game of the regular season, Windham’s varsity boys’ soccer went up against South Portland on Thursday, Oct. 17. It was Senior Night and Lukas Hammond, Garrett Crossman, Levi Hayman, Luke Cunniffe, Carter Engelman, Layth Jabbar, Zachary Noonan, Sam Rogers, Rory Good, Oliver Weatherby, Wes Theriault, Connor Gallant and Preston Stretch were each presented with a gift for their time and dedication to Windham athletics. After a hard-fought game, Windham emerged victorious with a 3-0 win.

Windham senior Luke Cunniffe fires a shot past the legs 
of a South Portland opponent during a boys' varsity
soccer game on Senior Night at Windham High School
on Oct. 17. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“Today our first 30 minutes was the best we’ve played all season,” said Cunniffe. “It’s a game of runs, we went on a long run, they went on a little run, in the end we had the most runs, so that allowed us to get up in the game. We’re still trying to get together and play a full 80 minutes; by postseason time, we will be there. Our ability to connect passes and counter quickly (went well), our defense is always so solid – yet another clean sheet. We work for each other and it’s amazing to see. Playing a full game – if we’re at our best, no one can stop us, but it’s just playing the full 80 minutes.”

The game began with two very strong defenses competing head-to-head. Windham seniors Sam Rogers and Cunniffe took several good shots on goal, but nothing got by the South Portland goalkeeper early in the game.

Roughly midway through the half, Cunniffe scored, assisted by junior Tyrie James. Windham senior goalie Lukas Hamond had several very nice blocks.

At the half Windham led, 1-0.

“South Portland definitely has some good players, they can press, they can put the ball in dangerous spots; they’re a team that’s right on the verge,” said Windham varsity boys’ soccer coach Jeff Neal. “They can possess the ball well, one of the things we were trying to do was push the tempo a little bit; when our team wants to press and push the tempo of the game, I do think our skillset is a notch or two better than (South Portland) can keep up with. That’s what we try to do against everybody. We want to 100 percent make sure we are putting together a complete game, in three phases of the game, in all three parts of the pitch – it’s been elusive, but this is the time of the year, we got to find it. Huge credit to the captains and the seniors to come out here, it’s an emotional night and be able to execute and come out with a win on your home pitch. We want to be able to dictate ... what’s happening with the ball and be able to put teams under and not necessarily go forward all the time – you got to trust the players around you; you got to trust the system; you got to move the ball. When we did that, they had no answer. It wasn’t straight down the middle of the pitch, it was a lot of let’s use the real estate out, to the touch line, let’s even try to play beyond the 18s (Penalty Box Line) to be able to drag some defenders out and serve some balls in – that’s where some of our best opportunities came from.”

In the second half, both defenses remained strong. However, Windham’s offense would not stay silent. After Cunniffe missed a penalty kick, moments later he capitalized on a ball bounce and got it past South Portland’s goalie.

Hammond continued to stop scoring opportunities and blocked every one of the six shots that came at him.

With 12 seconds remaining, Cunniffe squared the ball to Rogers who shot it toward goal and found the back of the net.

“We were thinking about (South Portland from) last year when we beat them 4-0 in the playoffs; they were definitely up there for their endgame,” said Rogers. “Things that went well was we did stay composed, we did a lot better at playing the wings, and balls into the box were good; we didn’t hold onto the ball for too long which was good. If we continue to do that, we’re going to make a deep playoff run.” <