The Heal point standings may not always make sense (see: the undefeated Camden Hills girls’ soccer team ranked below one-loss Bangor in Class A North), but that no longer matters at this point of the year. The standings are finalized and the seeds are set.

It’s playoff time.

For one Midcoast team, the playoffs starts on Saturday. For the others, the journey begins next week.

Lower seeds will host regional preliminary, quarterfinal and semifinal matchups, before the regional and class finals move to neutral site locations. But just because a team has home-field advantage and the “luck of the draw,” doesn’t mean they are shoo-ins for the next round.

As Morse boys’ soccer head coach Chuck Reece predicts, there will be upsets on the first day of Class B South postseason competition. That prediction likely applies to the other classes, regions and sports as well.

Here’s what the 2024 fall sports playoff picture looks like:

Freeport’s Lilliana Larochelle, left, chases down a loose ball with Madelyn Sweet of Mt. Ararat. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

FIELD HOCKEY

In Class A North, the last two meetings between No. 4 Mt. Ararat (10-4) and No. 5 Mt. Blue (10-4) have been decided in a 1-0 fashion. Both held in Topsham, the Eagles took the most recent match on Sept. 21. The Cougars prevailed in a 2023 regional quarterfinal. For Krista Chase’s young Mt. Ararat team (eight starters are underclassmen), acclimating to the intense postseason environment and executing the basics will be key.

“My team has not changed much in terms of lineup or strategy (since Sept. 21),” Chase said. “But we have had more time to develop on-field cohesiveness, which is strong with this group of girls…This has been a season that has surpassed my expectations. I am very proud of this team.”

Mt. Ararat will host Mt. Blue on Tuesday, Oct. 29 starting at 5 p.m.

After beating Mt. Ararat in the season finale, Brunswick (4-8-2) jumped into the Class A North playoff picture and will travel to No. 3 Messalonskee (10-4) as the No. 6 seed. The two schools met Oct. 9, with the Eagles earning a 2-0 victory. The Wednesday, Oct. 30 game will start at 6 p.m.

In Class B South, Freeport remains the favorite to repeat after an undefeated regular season gave the program its first No. 1 seed. The Falcons will host No. 8 Lake Region (5-9), which they already beat on the road 4-0 on Sept. 17. Looking to be the first Class B team to repeat as state champions since York did so in 2014-16, head coach Marcia Wood said her team is managing the pressure well.

“We constantly talk about how much of a target we have on our backs and how every team is going to be playing their best games against us,” she said. “So, we don’t have any room to make mistakes and have to play each game with intensity and purpose. Going forward we need to continue to up our intensity and try to score early in the contest. We need to keep composed if we get scored on and find ourselves in a hole. 

Freeport and Lake Region will square off on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 5 p.m.

In Class C South, No. 7 Lisbon (7-6-1) will travel to No. 2 Hall-Dale/Monmouth (11-3) on Wednesday, Oct. 30. The quarterfinal is a rematch of a Sept. 26 game, which Bulldogs took 3-0 in Farmingdale.

Spectators sit in the McMann Field stands as the Morse boys’ soccer team scrimmages Erskine Academy Tuesday, July 30. Cooper Sullivan / The Times Record

BOYS’ SOCCER

The Midcoast’s earliest match of the postseason belongs to No. 10 Freeport (3-10-1) and No. 7 Gray-New Gloucester. Saturday’s 4 p.m. Class B South preliminary round will be a rematch of the Sept. 5 season opener in which the Patriots beat the Falcons at home, 1-0.

Also in Class B South, No. 3 Morse (11-1-2) will host No. 6 York (7-6-1) on Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. The KVAC Class B champion Shipbuilders have not met the Wildcats this season, but Reece expects a fast and physical opponent. Morse will also look to get a few ailing players back in the lineup.

“I think a big part to it is just recognizing that the tempo of the game is going to be fast, kind of like the Lincoln Academy game (a 1-1 tie in the season finale),” the KVAC Class B coach of the year said. “Understanding that this is one and done, so you can’t leave anything…you have to play your best, and you have to play at a fast, aggressive pace right out of the box.”

No. 3 Brunswick (11-3) enters the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the state and will host No. 6 Hampden Academy (7-6-1) on Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. The two teams met on Sept. 17, when the Dragons won 6-0 in Brunswick. Even though his team boasts Class A’s longest win streak at nine games, transition and in-air defense are a few things Coach Mark Roma thinks his team needs to improve upon.

“There’s always stuff to work on,” Roma said after beating Mt. Ararat on Tuesday. “I tell the guys every time you step on the field, your job is to get better. So we just need to keep getting better, because the performance tonight won’t be good enough next week in the playoffs, and then if we were lucky enough to win then, that one won’t be good enough to win the next week.”

During last year’s Class A North quarterfinal, No. 4 Mt. Ararat and No. 5 Edward Little had to suspend play at halftime because of the Lewiston shootings. Six days later, the two teams restarted the match in its entirety, and the Red Eddies advanced with a 1-0 win.

The two teams will meet again in Topsham on Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. On Sept. 17, Edward Little broke through a scoreless home matchup with a 79th minute goal. Since the 1-0 defeat, Mt. Ararat head coach Jack Rioux said both teams are in completely different spots. His team has also struggled with injuries as of late.

“The next week, it’s (about the) little things,” Rioux said. “We know what we got to do. We know how to play. We have some confidence. We played 14 games, earned the four seed. So we know it’s fine tuning our set pieces. Can we make our corner kicks, our free kicks, our throw ins, better? How do we limit our turnovers? We’ve got to make sure we’re solid defensively.”

In Class D South, Richmond (13-1) has the top seed. It has a bye until the regional semifinals on Nov. 1, when it will host either No. 4 St. Dominic (5-8-1) or No. 5 Isleboro Central (5-7). Kickoff time will be announced closer to the date.

Brunswick’s Molly Tefft, right, tries to get past Mt. Ararat’s Jenna Jensen. Cooper Sullivan/The Times Record

GIRLS’ SOCCER

No. 3 Mt. Ararat (10-4) met No. 6 Hampden Academy (6-6-2) just two weeks ago, but the teams will play an A North quarterfinal game on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. Nothing has changed tactically or personnel-wise for the Eagles since its 3-1 win on Oct. 12. Head coach Kevin Flaherty said training will focus on attacking a well-organized back line and playing with speed.

“It’s always a nerve-racking time, but if our team can play free, play (with) confidence I know that we will put a good product out on the field for this game and all upcoming playoff games,” he said.

Before the season finale, No. 4 Brunswick (8-5-1) was set to travel to Brewer for a quarterfinal game. But then the Dragons flipped the standings, and will now host No. 5 Brewer (8-5-1) on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. The Witches beat the Dragons, 1-0, on Sept. 24 in Brunswick. Since then, the Dragons tweaked their formation and have welcomed back a few injured players to the lineup. Head coach Kevin Bachman said the group has found its rhythm at the right time.

“We just gotta keep working on our touch,” Bachman said after Tuesday’s win over Mt. Ararat. “We’ve got to keep working on our passing, like we’ve been doing all season. We’ve been highly focused on getting into a passing game, and actually they showed that tonight which was nice…If we can keep doing that, we should be all right.”

In Class B South, No. 4 Morse (6-7-1) will host defending state champ and fifth-seeded Yarmouth (6-4-4) on Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m.

The teams did not play in the regular season. Morse head coach David Beauregard expects a tireless opponent with good ball control and passing skills. Even though his team has only won once in the last seven games, Beauregard is confident in his team’s ability to prepare for a rematch of last year’s regional quarterfinal.

“This team is absolutely amazing,” he said. “The camaraderie and spirit displayed is second to none. They are absolutely ready for what’s coming their way.”

No. 3 Freeport (9-3-2) will host No. 6 Lincoln Academy (5-6-3) on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. The Falcons won the regular season meeting, 2-0.

In Class D South, No. 6 Richmond (4-6-1) will play at No. 3 Monmouth (6-8) on Oct. 29 at 3 p.m.. The two teams did not meet in the regular season.