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    Wednesday, November 13, 2024

    High school notes: Palmer embracing her senior season with Bacon girls’ soccer

    Bacon Academy senior captain Audrey Palmer, an all-state midfielder on last year’s Class M state championship team, has helped lead the Bobcats to another successful season. Palmer has committed to play Division I soccer beginning next year at the University of Maine. (Photo courtesy of the Palmer family)
    Bacon Academy senior captain Audrey Palmer, an all-state midfielder on last year’s Class M state championship team, has helped lead the Bobcats to another successful season. Palmer has committed to play Division I soccer beginning next year at the University of Maine. (Photo courtesy of the Palmer family)

    One thing that worried Audrey Palmer when the season started for the Bacon Academy girls’ soccer team was not letting last season’s joyful outcome — the Bobcats were Class M state champions — affect the way they approached this one.

    “Not let that go to your heads,” said Palmer, Bacon’s senior attacking center midfielder. “Not just think, ‘Oh, we’re the best.’ Don’t think anyone’s an easy opponent.

    “We’re state champions but we have to reset. It’s a new year, a new season. Don’t worry about the old one.”

    Bacon, which started out 0-1-2, at which point the Bobcats had not scored a goal, soon righted itself, standing at 8-2-2 overall, 4-1 in Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II play prior to Wednesday night’s game at East Lyme and vying for the division title along with Stonington.

    Palmer finished with two goals and an assist in Monday’s 4-1 victory over Ledyard in a divisional matchup to give her eight goals and five assists.

    Palmer was a Class M all-state selection last year along with teammate Mia Hageman and part of the 2023 team which captured the program’s first state championship by beating Suffield 2-1 in penalty kicks.

    Palmer is now one of seven players who celebrated Senior Day on Oct. 3 with a 1-0 victory over RHAM, joining goalie Liz Glover (the state championship MVP), Katelyn Novak, Arianna Pennington, Alexia Rodriguez, Veronica Smith and Meghan Zingler.

    “All seven of us grew up playing on the travel team together,” said Palmer, who has given a verbal commitment to play Division I soccer next season at the University of Maine. “We definitely do (have a good atmosphere), it’s really bonded, a good environment for everyone. ... I feel like it has blown by; now all of the sudden I’m a captain on the team.”

    Palmer, who competes in the offseason for Oakwood Soccer Club’s Girls’ Academy, first joined the varsity team as a freshman, somewhat overwhelmed by the presence of a senior class she greatly admired. She has since earned All-ECC honors and selection to The Day’s All-Area team twice, in addition to her all-state honor.

    She plans to major in business at Maine. She can officially sign her letter of intent to join the Black Bears — the America East champion and an NCAA tournament participant last season — in November.

    “For me, it was just they had everything I was looking for,” Palmer said. “It was a welcoming environment; I went to visit and it was home to me already. I grew up going to Maine every year and I have family there.”

    Since Bacon’s three scoreless games to start the season, the Bobcats have gone 8-1 with their only loss to Stonington, outscoring their opponents 25-2 with Glover recording seven shutouts.

    “We were slow at first with goal scoring. We have a new offensive line, everyone had new roles to fill,” Palmer said. “We learned how to work at that. ... I feel like, for us, it’s been a really good season. Fantastic.”

    How’s that for a job?

    Ledyard girls’ cross country coach Denise Descheneaux is in her eighth season with the Colonels, taking over following the retirement of 44-year coach Bruce Douglass.

    Before that, Descheneaux, whose daughter Brandy LeClair was a former ECC champion at Fitch under head coach Shawn Towne, would take the opportunity as often as possible to jokingly ask Towne when he planned to retire.

    “I used to make jokes with Shawn Towne,” Descheneaux said this week. “I was a sub at Fitch and every single time Shawn Towne would come into the teachers’ room, I would go, ‘Hey, can I have your job?’

    “Then, when he knew Bruce Douglass was stepping down, Shawn came up to me and he goes, ‘Hey, Bruce Douglass is retiring. You gotta go apply for the job at Ledyard.’”

    Descheneaux led the Colonels to the top of the ECC in 2023, as they won their first league championship meet since 1989. This season, Ledyard is 6-0 overall, 4-0 in ECC Division I headed into next week’s ECC Open at Norwich Golf Course.

    More from Colchester

    The Bacon Academy boys’ soccer team, coached by Skip Starks, is 4-1-5 overall, 2-0-3 in ECC Division II. The Bobcats are unbeaten since Sept. 14, going 2-0-4 during that time.

    Bacon has upcoming games against the first-place teams in the other three divisions of the ECC, facing Division I East Lyme on Saturday, Division III St. Bernard on Oct. 17 and Division IV Lyman Memorial on Oct. 21. In addition, the Bobcats will face Division II opponent Ledyard on Oct. 16 for the ALS Cup.

    Bacon is led by eight seniors, including captains Kaden Treat at center back, JP Fougerouse at midfield and Eddie Hageman at forward. Starks credits the defensive line of Birch Collins, Brayden Ward, Treat and Charlie Rose, which along with goalkeeper Zach Carroll has allowed just eight goals.

    “As always, the ECC is loaded with high-level play and every game is an 80-minute battle with elite teams throughout,” Starks said, “specifically Division II (Bacon Academy, Waterford, Stonington and Ledyard), which is as tough as it gets in any division anywhere in the state.”

    News and notes

    East Lyme boys’ soccer (11-0-1) is ranked seventh in the most recent state coaches’ poll for Class LL/L schools. ... Wheeler’s boys’ and girls’ cross country teams celebrated Senior Day on Tuesday. For the girls’ team, 10 runners hit personal bests in a sweep of Fitch, Montville and Putnam, including seniors Sophia Gouvea (6th, 23:19) and Katheryn Delgrosso (15th, 25:34). The boys’ team also got PRs from a pair of seniors in Trevor Scarchilli (3rd, 17:55) and Jon Nave (18th, 20:34).

    v.fulkerson@theday.com

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