On Saturday night, the Richmond High School girls soccer team beat Washburn to win the Class D state championship, adding another trophy to the team’s already large collection.
On Sunday night, however, head coach Troy Kendrick wasn’t quite sure where that newest trophy was.
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“That’s a good question,” Kendrick said. “I think (senior midfielder) Payton Johnson ran off with it. It will show up sometime and go in the trophy case at school.”
The Bobcats beat Washburn 2-1 on penalty kicks to win their third consecutive state championship and fourth since 2007. Richmond finished the season 16-0-1, the tie a 1-1 game with Waynflete, which won the Class C state title with a 3-2 win over Fort Kent on Saturday.
When Richmond returned home from Hampden on Saturday night, the team bus was met by police and fire trucks for a parade. After a few victory laps around the town, the team attended a reception at the high school.
“We had a pretty nice turnout, considering it was 10:30, 11 o’clock,” Kendrick said.
Before the season, Kendrick knew he had a talented team. Not only were the Bobcats coming off back-to-back state titles, they returned 10 seniors and 17 players.
“We had a lot of the same faces. A lot of these girls have played a lot,” Kendrick said. “This gang has been here.”
That experience made this Richmond team a little more well-rounded than the championship teams of 2010 and 2011, Kendrick said. For example, the 2012 Bobcats had a number of scorers. Making up for the loss of the school’s all-time leading scorer Danica Hurley to graduation were players like Noell Acord, Amber Loon and Sadie Gosse. It was Gosse who scored Richmond’s regulation time goal in the state championship game, and Loon, Acord and Bri Snedeker each scored on a penalty kick.
“Offensively, we were tough to defend,” Kendrick said. “I think we were a little stouter defensively, too.”
The Bobcats outscored opponents 110-5 this season and posted 11 shutouts. Only once in the regular season did Richmond have a one-goal game, a 2-1 win over Class C Old Orchard Beach in the season opener.
“I know I’ve had a strong run, so building a schedule is important,” Kendrick said.
To that end, the Bobcats tried to play exhibition games against teams like Kents Hill or Hebron Academy when possible. The tie against Waynflete was on Oct. 6 and helped prep Richmond for the playoffs. In the summer, the Bobcats played a lot of Class B and C teams.
“We were trying to challenge them and trying to stretch them,” Kendrick said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
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