CORINTH– When you lose the majority of your roster from a state championship team, you need someone that can step up and be a leader.
Manuel Sanchez did just that for coach Chris Gardner and the Washington Academy Raiders. Sanchez scored four goals, including three in the first half to lift the Raiders to a 9-1 win over Central in a Maine Principals’ Association class C semifinal game on Saturday afternoon.
“Manuel (Sanchez) is one of my three returning starters from last year,”Gardner said. “We had a pretty impressive run last year, but I graduated almost that entire team. Manuel and two others are the returners. It is games like this is where that experience shows up.”
Sanchez added, “they make me feel like a leader.”
The Raiders have outscored their opponents 145-10 this season, Oneka Lowe and Sanchez helped the Raiders start quickly again on Saturday. Lowe got the scoring started just under eight minutes into the contest. Sanchez made it 2-0 just over a minute later.
Feriiolino Gombo set up the second goal for Sanchez with 23:49 remaining in the first half. Yves Manzi scored two goals, while Sanchez scored one more in the final 13 minutes of the first half as the Raiders built the lead to 6-0 after the first 40 minutes of play.
“We are a pretty fast starting team. Overall we came out quick, “Gardner said. “Even with the rain, the field was in decent conditions. We were able to put a good first half together.”
Gombo scored two goals, while Sanchez scored one in the second half to help the Raiders close out the victory. Washington Academy (16-0) will host George Stevens in the class C regional final on Wednesday. George Stevens defeated Houlton 2-1 in a semifinal game on Saturday. The Eagles who made the regional final as a number nine seed gave Washington Academy one of their toughest games of the regular season.
“I have always considered George Stevens one of the best teams in this league regardless of seed,” Gardner said. “They just had a tough schedule.”
Yosef Worcester scored the lone goal for the Red Devils who finish the season with a 14-2 record.
