Penquis senior leads his team to its 1st soccer playoffs since 2013
By Ernie Clark, Bangor Daily News Staff
The Penquis Valley Patriots are enjoying one of their most successful boys soccer seasons in recent years.
Coach Jason Mills’ club just completed an 11-2-1 regular season good for fifth place in the final Class C North Heal point ratings, and the Patriots will open postseason play Friday with a 3 p.m. preliminary-round match against No. 12 Piscataquis of Guilford at Harris Field in Milo.
One big reason for Penquis Valley’s status this fall has been the play of senior striker Alvin Robshaw, who was named Maine’s United Soccer Coaches/MaxPreps high school player of the week for his on-field efforts from Oct. 11-17.
Robshaw helped Penquis to a 3-0 week with two victories over Greenville around a third win over Central of Corinth, and he has scored 21 of his team’s 50 goals and dished out nine assists for Mills’ club so far this season. This will be the first time the team has qualified for a Maine Principals’ Association postseason since 2013.
“This is really his first year playing up front,” Mills said. “He was a defender for his first two years, then last year rotated between fullback and front line. He works extremely hard all the time, he never takes a play off [and] puts constant pressure on the defense.”
Robshaw is a four-year starter at Penquis who has helped the program improve from 0-14 the year before he entered high school to 4-10 in 2018 and 6-6-2 in 2019, when the team finished one spot short of qualifying for postseason play.
Penquis went 5-5 during last fall’s abbreviated season and finished third in the Piscataquis-Northern Penobscot COVID Cup playoffs after a penalty-kick loss at eventual champion Penobscot Valley of Howland in the semifinals.
“The success of our team started last year in our COVID pod,” Mills said. “We took advantage of having a season and got something out of it and it laid the groundwork for this year. That experience has helped get us to this point.”
Nine starters returned this season, a group captained by Robshaw, Corbin Cyr and Grady Atkinson.
“We are a defensive team that tries to swarm to the ball and not give up quality shots,” Mills said. “We stress trying to win all the 50-50 balls in the midfield area. Offensively we try to utilize our speed up front and get the ball to our forwards as much as possible.”
The veteran group has propelled Penquis to its best regular season since the Patriots went 12-0 in 2012, with the team’s lone losses this fall coming against top-seeded and undefeated Orono.
“It’s been a good group to coach and we have enjoyed playing and have taken advantage of the chance to play. We got all 14 games in,” Mills said. “We are excited for the regular season we have had, but we’re looking forward to the playoffs.”