Bangor High School senior midfielder Olivia Scott has played for University of Maine women’s soccer coach Scott Atherley’s Seacoast United club team during the offseason for five years.
And she will be playing for Atherley again next fall as she has verbally committed to play at UMaine.
“I’m extremely excited. I can’t wait for it,” Scott said. “It is something I wanted to do for so long. Having played for Coach Atherley for five years, I know his coaching style, and he knows all the good and bad that comes with me.
Scott had been exploring colleges in the mid-Atlantic states since her family is originally from Delaware, but she said she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play for him again.
“I verbally committed to him an hour after he offered me a roster spot,” said Scott, who will be a recruited walk-on. “He is a great coach, and he is a fun coach to play for. He motivates you. He’s also a great person.”
Atherley can’t comment on Scott due to NCAA guidelines pertaining to verbal commitments.
Scott had seven goals and eight assists for the Rams last season.
Bangor High School first-year coach Jay Kemble said Scott has a lot to offer the Black Bears.
“She is dogged in terms of getting the ball,” said Kemble. “She is relentless in her pursuit of the ball in a controlled manner.
“She has great instincts in terms of where her teammates are and she is physically strong. She doesn’t get bumped off the ball. She has put the time in to become physically strong. And she has good enough foot quickness to get her feet around the ball and make a crisp pass or get off a good shot before the other team catches up to her,” he added.
Scott knows the college game is much more physical and said she has been lifting weights for two years to increase her strength.
“I am very much into fitness in my personal life anyway,” said Scott who has been working with a strength and conditioning coach for several years and knows the training program used by the women’s soccer team. “I know the intensity of their workouts. I’m excited for that aspect of it.”
Scott said she has always enjoyed going to UMaine games and knows it is going to be a sizable jump.
“It is going to take a lot of work, but being in an environment with girls who play at such a high level will push me to become even better,” she said.
Scott is one of several players from the Bangor area to earn a roster spot at UMaine in recent years, joining Bangor’s Ashley Robinson, Grace MacLean, Lauren Young and Anna-Maria Dagher along with Hermon’s Kaitlin and Michaela Saulter and Brewer’s Maria Low.
Saulter is one of six Maine natives on the current roster along with Rockport’s Kristina Kelly, Windham’s Abbey Thornton, York’s Delaney LaBonte, Gorham’s Madison Michaud and Kittery’s Sophia Santamaria.
Scott’s going to UMaine is contingent on her being accepted into the school and meeting NCAA eligibility requirements.
