HODGDON, Maine — Citing a lack of numbers, two southern Aroostook County schools are joining forces this fall on the soccer pitch.
Hodgdon and East Grand have officially formed a cooperative team for its boys soccer program, merging two schools that were once considered rivals.
“We are doing the co-op to not only help bolster our numbers, but also to provide the East Grand boys with an opportunity to play as they would not have had enough to have their own team,” SAD 70 Athletic Director Seth Dorr said. “The Hodgdon and East Grand students all know each other well from a variety of activities and athletics, so the transition has gone great.”
Seven East Grand players joined the Hodgdon team and travel roughly 29 miles for practice each day. All of the home games are slated to be played in Hodgdon, Dorr said.
“We are very excited about the help this gives both teams and I do believe it will be a positive connection between all the players,” coach Jason Little said of the cooperative team.
Little returns for his sixth season guiding the Hawks and is excited about the prospects of a new season, despite having lost eight starters to graduation or other reasons.
“We still have solid leadership from experienced varsity players and the players with less varsity experience have an incredible opportunity for minutes,” the coach said. “The younger group has proven they have what it takes talent and work ethic-wise to make an impact. Overall, I’m expecting it to be a positive and successful year.”
Hodgdon finished 9-3-1 during the regular season and 10-4-1 overall. Hodgdon was ranked seventh in Class D North and beat No. 10 Woodland, 5-0 in a preliminary playoff, but then lost to eventual state champion Lee Academy, 6-0, in the quarterfinals..
The Hawks’ schedule is much tougher than in previous years, with games slated against Class C powerhouse Fort Kent and D contender Easton. In its first game of the season, played Aug. 15, Hodgdon lost to Easton 7-0 on the road.
“I believe that we will be a quick team again this year. We have lots of strong players who work hard and are quick to the ball. Despite the first game not going like we wanted it to, I do believe that we will have a good balance between offense, midfield and defense.
Members of the Hodgdon roster feature seniors Drew Duttweiler (goalie), Alexander Morris (sweeper), Jathaniel Lindsey (fullback) and Abram Nason (fullback); juniors Isaac Desrosiers (midfield), Oisin Gardiner (center-midfield/striker), Joseph Griffin (fullback) and Reiley Wright (fullback/midfield).
The sophomores are Cam Davis (midfield), Lucas Potter (midfield/frontline), Hunter Duttweiler (midfield/striker), Alex Sherman (midfield), Derek Golding (fullback), Nathan Frye (fullback) and Brody Little (fullback); and freshmen Michael Fitzpatrick (midfield/frontline), Brady Parker (frontline), Joseph Scott (frontline) and Noah Gilman (midfield).
Scott will miss the 2022 season after sustaining a season-ending leg injury during an exhibition game against Presque Isle Aug. 24.
With Drew Duttweiler, the Hawks have one of the best goalies in Aroostook County guarding the net. He was named to the Northern Maine Class D Regional All-Star Team in 2021.
“The group of seniors that we lost were full of 4-year players, several of them who started all 4 years. They were true leaders on and off the field and were incredibly talented players. The best part of their dedication though was how they worked with the younger players to do their best to keep a positive view of Hodgdon Soccer after they left. We are fortunate to have players come through that care much more about the program and overall team atmosphere than personal stats.”
Working together as a team, spacing, field awareness and communication are the biggest components the Hodgdon coach hopes to work on as the season progresses.
“This will be extremely new for us as the majority of our team has not had big minutes at the varsity level and we are incorporating East Grand players into the mix as well,” he said. “It will take a little bit of time, but I’m confident the team will figure out how to play better as a team.”
