Auburn, ME - Both soccer teams made it to the YSCC Final Four this weekend with the men heading up to host school Central Maine while the women traveled to host school Word of Life.
The men kicked off first in their game against the Southern Maine Seawolves at 10am. The Seawolves dominated ball control early, getting off eleven shots compared to just one for the Panthers within the first thirty-five minutes.
Goalie Matthew Liu (Great Neck, NY) held his own by not letting any of the Seawolves shots find the back of the net. Then, with just seven seconds to go before halftime, senior Ian Rathbun (Queensbury, NY) found Max Sheehan (Clifton Park, NY) for the score to edge the Seawolves at the break.
In the second half, the Panthers flipped the script a little bit, outshooting Southern Maine 5-1 in the early minutes of the game. About a half an hour into the second half, Charles Casha (Lindenhurst, NY) found Ian Rathbun (Queensbury, NY) to extend the Panthers lead to 2-0. Now in desperation mode, the Seawolves played aggressively trying to get on the board. They were finally able to with just over a minute left in the game, but time ran out before they could score a second time to even it up. The fourth seeded Panthers upset the top seeded Seawolves to advance to the YSCC Championship for the first time since joining the conference.
While the men's game was going on, the women kicked off at 11am against the top seeded UMaine Augusta Moose. In the early runnings of the game, the Panthers got up six shots against the Moose's one. However, that second shot for the Moose snuck past the Panthers for a 1-0 lead, which would eventually go on to be the halftime score.
Twenty minutes into the second half, the Moose scored again to push their lead to 2. The Panthers were now the team in desperation mode, and just like the Seawolves in the men's game, they were able to score to cut the lead down to one. It was freshman Brooke Coon (Stillwater, NY) who scored her 14th goal of the season to give the Panthers hope. The team was able to get off two more shots before the final buzzer, both of which were saved, giving the Moose a 2-1 lead.
The loss marked the end of a remarkable final season for the women's team. Freshman Brooke Coon and Ka'ena Kehano (Wailuku, HI) were named All-Conference Players for the women while Rathbun and Casha earned the same honors for the men. Rathbun, whose season total is now at 26 goals, was also named YSCC Player of the Year today.
How to follow the Panthers: For the latest information on ACPHS athletics, visit acphspanthers.com or check out the ACPHS athletics social media platforms on Instagram @ACPHSPanthers or X @ACPHSAthletics.
Written by Angelo Oddo.
