Winning is fun. Winning after several difficult seasons is even better.
The Poland girls soccer team can relate.
The Knights finished 11-3 in the regular season and enter the Class B South playoffs as the No. 7 seed. They won a combined seven games the past two seasons — two in 2023 and five last year.
“It feels different (this year), it’s exciting,” said senior captain Faith Bustamante. “You have a different feel of what it’s like to be on a winning team because we’ve never really been able to experience that before. It’s definitely something that you should want to experience, because it’s not something that every team can (do).”
Poland will face No. 2 Cape Elizabeth in a quarterfinal game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“We’d love to win a game, and we’re going to give it everything we can,” third-year coach Juan Bustamante said. “Keeping motivated is not easy this time of year, so I try to mix in a lot of fun, at least a little bit in practice.”
For Poland’s seniors — Faith Bustamante, Alaina Hamlin and Kaylee Hudson — this year’s success feels like a payoff for the investment they made into the program.
“I personally love the sport, and I think a lot of people on our team do as well,” said Hamlin, a four-year starter and captain. “We actually lost a lot of people last year, we had a lot of seniors (who graduated), and we even had a couple people in my grade quit this year, which is really sad for us.”
Poland girls soccer player Addison Gravel juggles a ball during an Oct. 16 practice. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer)
A WINNING RECIPE
Poland scored 47 goals during the regular season after scoring only 17 last year. The Knights attribute that success to improved passing and ball control.
“We’ve been working on a lot of coming back to the ball and passing back, as we’ve never really been good at doing that before,” Faith Bustamante said. “Being able to pass back and then being in open space gives you more time to look for an area where you can pass (the ball) to. So I think that definitely is something that helps.”
When he first arrived, Juan Bustamante said the team lacked playing with purpose on offense, resulting in turnovers and missed opportunities.
“The first thing I did when I became a coach was, period, point-blank, better passes, put the ball on her foot,” he said. “They didn’t even know how to turn their hips the right way.”
LAYERED DEFENSIVE APPROACH
Poland has also focused on limiting the number of shots junior goalie Payton Blake has to face. The Knights play a pressure defense with players able to switch if someone gets beat while making an aggressive play on the ball.
“We’ve been able to communicate with each other on and off the field, whether we’re going for a team breakfast, or even just being on the field with each other for whatever we’re doing,” Bustamante said. “I feel like we all have such a great system and it definitely brings us all together.”
Poland girls soccer goalie Payton Blake makes a save during practice. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer)
The Knights have allowed only 14 goals this season, and Blake, a first-year goalie, has six shutouts.
“Our goalie has actually improved so much this year, she’s done amazing,” Hamlin said. “This has been a breakthrough year for her, and (with) our defense, who I would say is really experienced, we have two of our seniors back there and then two juniors as well. They’re more experienced players, and they’re very strong and not afraid to body someone off the ball.”