Photo credit: Steve CraigTeam members attending pregame honorary night
Gorham High’s ‘72 New England Champions boys soccer team was honored at the varsity boys home opener against Massabesic. Attending the pregame honorary ceremony were teammates, Ed Quinlan, Jimmy Philbrick, Rusty Keene, Greg Dugas and Coach George Stevenson. The 50th celebration was organized by John Morgan (teammate) in conjunction with the GHS Varsity Coach Nick Viola.
To kick things off, to honor the ‘72 team, the boys varsity players wore t-shirts with the caption “Gorham’s finest.” It was taken from the original slogan from the ‘72 team. The team was then introduced individually onto the field.
During half-time the GHS sound system played an abridged version of the NE championship game broadcasted by Leroy Rand (long time Coach at Cape Elizabeth), this covered the starting line-up, with both goals scored plus the sounds of the final whistle and celebration of the win.
The 1970 team was the first team to play Friday night “under the lights” recalled Ed Quinlan. “The entire town would come out and watch the Friday night games.” This not only put soccer on the map for Gorham but it also put soccer on the map for the entire state of Maine.
Quinlan recounted the details of how his team made it to the finals. “It really started when the team had lost in the N.E. finals the year before in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The ‘71 team lost nine seniors. The ‘72 team continued winning with the “hopes” of getting another chance at the title.
The team would face Cathedral High School of Boston, Massachusetts, also known for its sports history with graduated professional athletes, with an enrollment of 4,000 students in contrast to a small town school with an enrollment of 600 students at the time. “Let’s just say we were not the favored team to win,” added Quinlan. He also credited Coach Stevenson for a lot of their success.
Gorham beat Cathedral High, 2-0, on Nov. 18, 1972, before a large crowd at Bowdoin College; the grass field was covered in snow and had to be plowed before the game. Gorham scored before the half on what would be the winning goal by Quinlan. The second (and secured goal) would come later on a goal from Dugas.
For Gorham, the win wrapped up a memorable three-year run in the earliest days of boys’ soccer. The program would reign again in 1977 as state champs. David Philbrick and David Quinlan were pivotal in keeping up the winning tradition. GHS soccer came back in ‘83 to win a regional title and it would be 30 years for the next generation to win regional titles in 2016 and 2018.
The honorary night ended with a final celebration at Junction Bowl, a local favorite for gatherings. Dugas brought out the championship jackets and the ‘72 team had another chance to meet the ‘22 varsity boys team in person. It was a special celebration for everyone involved.