Wolverine Player Profile 2014: Sam Park

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Sport: Soccer

Role Model: Ji-Sung Park

Favorite Movie: Spiderman

Favorite Music Artist: Big Bang

Goals for the year: Commit to a good D1 school

First Annual Prep Showcase - BA vs. Hotchkiss 9/22/13

The BA soccer team took to the road to compete in the First Annual Prep Showcase, a collection of the top 16 prep teams in the region playing in the same location. College coaches from all over the country showed up including Wake Forest, North Carolina, Indiana, American, Xavier, George Mason, Boston College and over 70 others.  Hotchkiss had a team loaded with talent including four blue chip Dision1 players from Africa. The match was exciting to watch, with each team creating chances both ways. Goalkeeper Zach Lombard (Saco, ME) was forced to make some good saves, but he was up to the challenge throughout the day having his finest performance of the season. The BA back line of Casey Hamill (Chelmsford, MA), Andrew Terreri (Guilford, CT), Pat Kinee (Brunswick, ME), and Brian Wheeler (Hanover, MA) also did very well on the afternoon containing some very dynamic attacking players from Hotchkiss. The game finished with a 0 – 0 draw as the #8 nationally ranked Bridgton Academy soccer team tied the #5 ranked Hotchkiss School.

BA vs. Noble and Greenough 9/18/13

The Bridgton Academy Soccer Team took to the pitch to square off with another ISL opponent Noble and Greenough. From the get go, the boys had a hard time with the high pressing tactics of the Noble Squad. Noble would score in the first 5 minutes on a set piece from around midfield which was knocked down in the box, only to be slotted home by an unmarked Noble player. Their second goal would come with about 10 minutes left in the first half when an errant pass from a Bridgton player was picked off by a Noble midfielder who drove it into the box and finished calmly for a 2-0 lead. The match would finish at that score.

BA vs. AIC 9/15/13

After a hotly contested match on Saturday afternoon seeing BA lose two of its key players to minor injuries, the battered bunch of 12 field players had nothing left in the tank to give the American International team any run. Filled with recruited Freshman, and all of which are on the varsity, BA was no match for their “Freshness” on the day. The boys battled hard only to succumb to a tough defeat. They fought as hard as they could on the day but just had nothing in the tank. Next up this week are two MONSTER matches against Class A opponents Nobles and Greenough School Wednesday and #4 Ranked Hotchkiss School on Sunday.

BA vs. Kent School 9/14/13

            Bridgton Academy soccer hit the road this past weekend for what would be a tough and arduous stretch of two games against a top-5 nationally ranked prep program and a Division II college team.  Against Kent School, the boys came out firing out of the gates in the first 5 minutes surprising the Class A power with their speed up front. BA found themselves in on goal a few times, but unfortunately could not beat Kents Blue chip, future Division I keeper. After 10 minutes of some back and forth high paced soccer, Kent broke open the scoring, playing the ball to their star Ghanain forward who writhed through our defense and blasted a shot 20 yards out into the corner of the goal. A devastating blow for a weary BA side. Their second goal would come only 10 minutes later when a poorly cleared ball by the BA defense allowed the Kent player the chance to fire an awkward half-volley that found the upper corner of the goal from 25 yards away. The half would finish 2-0 leaving BA a bit stunned and down. With an unspoken determination and mindset, the second half would be a different story. The Wolverines came out all over the Class A power with a flurry of hard tackles and half dangerous chances. They would pull one back with 30 minutes to go when Sam Park was violently elbowed by the goalkeeper resulting in a penalty kick and a yellow card for the keeper. Andrew Gass calmly drove it home and cut the lead to 2-1. Less than 10 minutes later, a miscleared corner from the Kent School Defense found Casey Hamill who took the ball off one bounce from 25 yards out and laced a beautiful curving shot to the upper corner of the goal to tie the score at 2-2.   BA would create 3 more quality chances only to see them harmlessly drift wide and the game would finish 2-2 with the BA coaching staff very proud of the comeback effort and the character shown by the boys. 

Media Day Preview 2013

Sam Anderson

Sam Park

Andrew Terreri

BA vs. Belmont Hill

A beautiful and sunny yet extremely warm September 11th saw the Bridgton Academy soccer program travel to face Class A ISL foe Belmont Hill School. The Wolverines have high expectations for their prep season this year and displayed a passion and intensity right from the opening kickoff. BA came out pressing the Belmont Hill back line and forcing clearances and panic right from the get go. It was only 7 minutes into the game when one clearance only found its way out to half field and the feet of Qais Sidiqi (Revere, MA) who slotted a beautiful through ball to Connor Reagan (Gorham, ME) leading him into the box only to be pulled down by a Belmont player for a penalty kick. Andrew Gass (Durham, NH) calmly stepped up and hammered home the ensuing spot kick. Three minutes later, some sharp build up play found BA winger Sam Park (Vancouver, BC) on the flank who crossed a perfect ball to the middle which Eric Miller (Hanover, MA) swiftly kicked home for a 2-0 lead. The third BA goal would occur just 1 minute later when Conner Reagan found himself in a 1 v 1 with the Belmont Hill fullback. He put a great move on the player, struck the ball across the goal which Eric Miller coolly slot home his second of the match for a 3-0 lead after just 11 minutes of time. Though Belmont hill put together some nice attacking combinations forcing Zach Lombard (Saco, ME) into some great saves, BA eventually would put the game away. After an intentional hand ball and sending off of Patrick Kinee (Brunswick, ME), Belmont would convert the spot kick to make it 3-1. Bridgton didn’t hold their heads down and responded after a great individual effort from Sam Anderson (Bristol, CT) who broke free down the left wing, slotted a ball across the face of goal which Tyler Green (S. Burlington, VT) calmly finished for a 4-1 lead. The game would finish 6-2 with added Tally’s from Connor Reagan and Sam Anderson. BA's record improved to 3-1 on the young season and 1-0 in the prep record. They will travel on the road this Saturday to Connecticut to face top 5 nationally ranked team Kent School. Kickoff is slated to be at 2:30PM.

First Week

The soccer team opened their regular season campaign with a 4-2 home victory against Southern Maine Community College on September 4. Connor Reagan put away two goals, both assisted by Sam Anderson. Andrew Gass had one assisted by Dimitri Roumeliotis, and Eric Miller scored off an error from the goalie on the pass back to make it 4-2.

On Saturday BA soccer headed to Franklin Mass for a meeting with Dean College. BA came out flat and it showed in the play, taking a 2-0 loss. However, the next day the team headed to Bates College ready to play, and earned a 1-0 victory. Connor Reagan scored the only goal of the match, assisted by Qais Sidiqi, and keeper Zack Lombard played solid in goal, holding a clean sheet. 

Wolverine 2014 Player Profile - Andrew Gass

Get to Know a Wolverine

Name: Andrew Gass

Hometown: Durham, NH

Sport: Soccer

Role Model: His brother, Tony

Favorite Movie: Gladiator

Favorite Music Artist: J. Cole

Friends would be surprised to know…Andrew enjoys reading and writing stories in his free time.

Goals for the Year: Andrew is going to strive towards improving his strength, develop better study habits, and practice managing his time.