Nobody who’s been paying attention the past decade-and-a-half would expect the Saint Dominic Academy boys’ soccer team to be content or surprised to make it as far as the regional semifinals.

But a mass exodus of seniors — 14 who saw serious time on the 2012 squad — allowed the Saints and coach Marty Bressler to play the underdog card with a straight face this season.

Whether it was shocking or not, St. Dom’s journey with a lineup full of new faces was impressive. It ended Saturday with a 2-0 loss to Hall-Dale in the Western Class C semifinals.

“I am so happy. This is an incredible group of kids,” Bressler said “They did everything they needed to do, and nobody expected us to be here so it’s even better. I’m really proud of them and the season, absolutely.”

St. Dom’s (13-3-1) simply ran into its kryptonite in Hall-Dale (17-0). The Bulldogs were the only team to defeat the Saints this season, accomplishing that feat in the regular season, the MVC title game and finally in the playoffs.

The players who didn’t return to the program took more than 60 goals with them.

Nevertheless, the new-look Saints still booted home 39 goals in 14 regular-season games while allowing a scant six. Ben Sawyer served up nine shutouts in goal, including a playoff win over Mt. Abram.

Sawyer is set to return in 2014 along with offensive sparkplugs S.J. Park and Austin Roy and all-around standouts Matt Chasse, Cam Stewart and Jon Sturgis.

No looking back

Gary Parlin’s consistent, public proclamations that he is retiring as Mt. Blue football coach have included everything but an official letter of resignation.

If you’re thinking that leaves the door open, well, after the Cougars’ 36-29 Eastern Class B quarterfinal loss to Skowhegan on Saturday night, Parlin didn’t sound like a man having second thoughts.

“This is different for me, because usually I go up and console everybody and it’s, ‘OK, what are we going to do next year?’ There’s no next year for me,” Parlin said, his voice then trailing off. “I’m just so lucky. I’ve got a great family. Coaching Mt. Blue kids, they’re gentlemen. They come to practice every day. They take my crap. It’s hard to leave this, but it’s time to leave.”

In 21 seasons at the helm, Parlin’s teams won 131 games. That’s second at Mt. Blue only to Ray Caldwell, the man Parlin succeeded after serving as his assistant for 14 autumns.

Mt. Blue won the 2012 Class B championship. Under Parlin’s direction, the Cougars were known for their innovative, high-powered offense. One of his first quarterbacks, Dustin Ireland, won the Fitzpatrick Trophy following the 1995 season.

“It’s so much fun to coach this game on Friday nights,” Parlin said. “It’s not that much fun Saturday to Thursday. It’s a heck of a lot of work.”

Whoever becomes Mt. Blue’s third head coach since 1972 will inherit one of the strongest programs in the state.

Recent refurbishments at the high school upgraded appearances to match the product on the field.

“Our freshmen are undefeated. JVs are undefeated. I hope they continue with the same staff,” Parlin said. “We’re leaving it in a good place. We’ve got a great facility and a great weight room now. I think I’m leaving it in good condition.”

Route 9 rivalry returns

The Route 9 rivalry between Oak Hill and Lisbon isn’t as old or revered as many other football rivalries in the state, but don’t tell the contestants it isn’t as meaningful.

“It’s awesome. I love playing Lisbon. It’s so much fun,” Oak Hill senior Luke Washburn said.

The fun returns at 12:30 p.m. Saturday when No. 2 Oak Hill hosts No. 3 Lisbon in the Western Class D semifinals. It is the second meeting in three weeks between the teams, both 7-2. The Raiders won the regular-season finale, 33-14, to clinch the second seed.

It is also the second consecutive year the teams have met in the playoffs. Oak Hill won last year’s Western C quarterfinal, 28-21.

Oak Hill dominated the first half of this year’s matchup to take a 20-0 lead. The Greyhounds couldn’t stop the Raiders’ running tandom of Alex Mace and Kyle Flaherty, who combined to rush for 316 yards on the day. Quarterback Parker Asselin also threw two touchdown passes.

It was Lisbon’s first game without senior running back Quincy Thompson, who suffered an elbow injury the week before against Dirigo. Thompson sat out Saturday’s 28-0 quarterfinal win over Maranacook, but there is speculation he could return next Saturday.

Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette was tight-lipped on whether he expected Thompson back and would prepare his team accordingly.

“We’re going to prepare for whatever Lisbon does, period,” said Doucette, an assistant coach at Lisbon before becoming head coach at Oak Hill last year. “We’re expecting a very good football game next week. We’re going to start on Monday and just get ready for the Lisbon football team.”

Regardless of what the week of practice holds in store, Washburn thinks last Saturday’s 41-22 quarterfinal win over an improved, physical Boothbay team was a good way to start getting ready for Lisbon.

“Lisbon’s really physical. They’re tough. They don’t give up. They have a lot of emotion just like (Boothbay) did,” Washburn said. “I think it’s good preparation for next week. I think we’re going to learn from it.”

One to build on

Saturday night’s 54-14 Eastern Class A quarterfinal loss to Windham was a disappointing end to Edward Little’s season. But considering some preseason prognosticators laid out far more pessimistic scenarios for the Red Eddies, a 3-6 outcome with a playoff berth in the first year of the revamped region is some consolation.

“Our seniors saw the preseason polls saying we wouldn’t win a game. You had people on MBR (a high school sports message board) saying we couldn’t win a game in Class C. I think we proved a lot,” Edward Little coach Dave Sterling said. “We earned some very tight wins during the season. We played well enough to get in the playoffs. We had some tight games down the stretch.”

The Red Eddies started the season 0-3, then turned things around with a 13-12 win over Oxford Hills. That started a stretch of three wins in four games. All three wins were nail-biters, by a total of 11 points.

The Eddies graduate 14 seniors and will be particularly hard hit on defense, where Dan Williams, Andrew St. Pierre, Gage St. Hilaire-Fecteau, Caleb Fecteau, and Jeff Clark  were top contributors. Lead running back Johnny Boyd is also a senior.

The Eddies should have a lot of talent returning, especially at the offensive skill positions. Quarterbacks Ian Mileikis, who was injured in Saturday’s game, and Matt Verrill, who threw a touchdown pass in his place, could present a pleasant dilemna for Sterling. Leading receivers Hunter Martin and Drew Lashua will give whoever gets the job two established targets. And the offensive line should benefit from some mid-season reshuffling that got more underclassmen into the lineup.

“We’ve got a lot to build on,” Sterling said. “We had sophomores and junior play a lot as we got deeper into the season. Getting those guys experience was huge.”