Madawaska Strikes First But Falls To North Yarmouth 2-1

Panthers and Owls play for the gold 

The Class D boys’ state championship soccer game was held at Deering High School in Portland on Saturday morning featuring the Madawaska Owls and North Yarmouth Academy Panthers.

The path to the title 

Madawaska finished the season as the #2 team in Class D north. The Owls defeated Katahdin in the quarterfinal round, Fort Fairfield, and then beat Bangor Christian in the northern Maine final to advance to the state championship game. North Yarmouth Academy defeated Richmond, Greenville, and then Isleboro to advance to their fourth state championship game in the last five years. NYA won the 2018 title, but fell to Central Aroostook in 2019, and lost to Lee Academy in 2021.

Cyr to Gagnon starts the Owls quickly 

The 10:00 am start time in Portland meant that Madawaska had to travel down and stay overnight. The Owls appeared to have fresh legs as they scored the game's first goal less than five minutes into play. Both teams would make deep runs and get quality looks at scoring throughout the half. NYA would tie the game four minutes later then added another goal to take a 2-1 lead over the Owls. 

North Yarmouth's size was difficult for Madawaska to overcome as the Panthers wore down the Owls over the long game. Madawaska's effort wouldn't be enough as North Yarmouth would win the game by a final score of 2-1.  

Madawaska capped off a fantastic season with a northern Maine state championship. During the year, senior Carsen Cyr eclipsed the 100-goal mark for his career. Madawaska will be in contention once again in 2023 for the state championship.