Broken umbrellas lay on the muddy ground, forgotten about as fans relied on ponchos and rain jackets to fend off the driving rain and wind gusts. The weather conditions didn’t stop the Presque Isle fans from cheering when the boys scored their first goal against Freeport High School in the Class B Boys State Championship at Hampden Academy on November 3. Down 2-0 with 33 minutes left to go in the first half, senior Kyler Caron scored the first goal. “I had the best seat in the house, I could see that the goal was going in before it even went in,” said Jason Dumais, a senior sidelined with a knee injury.

Rewind eighty-six years to 1932. The boys varsity basketball team won the first ever state championship in PIHS history. In 1962, the boys cross country team won the state championship. The 56 years since then have seen generations of Wildcat athletes and fans come back home empty-handed at the state level of competition.

The boy’s varsity soccer team ended the drought. “I knew that we could come back [to win] and we did just that,” said Jonah Roy ‘22. There are many reasons why the 2018 state soccer championship is significant:

• It’s the first PIHS soccer team to win a state championship.
• It’s the first time in three appearances at the state championship game that the PIHS team has scored a goal.
• It’s been 25 years since a east/north region Class B team has won.

Worth noting, also, were milestones for the girls varsity team, which lost to Cape Elizabeth 2-1 in OT the same day.

• It was the first-ever goal in a state championship for a PI girls team.
• It was the first back-to-back appearance at the state championship game for a PIHS soccer team.

Beyond the record setting significance for the boy’s soccer program, the win is personally significant for team members. Drew Cameron, a senior who scored the overtime game-winning goal said, “When I think I may fail, I just look back and remember the winning goal.”

For Coach Joe Greaves, it matters that it was this particular group of athletes to get the job done. “I learned that you can win a championship the right way by working hard and by being good people,” he said.

It’s also significant for team members who have begun their next varsity sports seasons as Wildcats. “After winning the state title in soccer, we have now learned what it takes to win a state championship,” said Torey Levesque ’19.  “We are confident that we can do it again in hockey.”