Staff Writer
The Presque Isle Wildcat boys and girls soccer teams finished their regular seasons in style, with the boys defeating Fort Kent last Wednesday and Caribou Saturday to close out an undefeated year, and the girls beating the same two opponents to finish with just one loss.
Both PI squads should find themselves in first place when the final Eastern Maine Class B standings are released sometime today.
“We are extremely pleased and proud of our regular season record,” said boys coach Scott Young. “Now our biggest chore will be to mentally and physically prepare for a strong playoff run. We have set ourselves up for home field advantage and now need to utilize that for as long as we can.”
Russ Mortland scored twice, while Warren Zubrick and Josh Allen also tallied goals in a 4-0 victory at Caribou Saturday to end the regular season at 13-0-1. Dillon Kingsbury picked up the shutout in goal with three saves on six shots.
“Caribou coach Mark Shea put together an excellent game plan and it made our team make very mature decisions and adjustments,” said Young. “Led by our backs, the correct adjustments were made and led to the final result.”
Last Wednesday was “senior night” and the Wildcats were impressive from the opening kickoff in rolling to a 6-0 triumph over Fort Kent. Mortland netted three goals, Eric Morris had two and Allen the other. Nathaniel Postell and Zubrick collected assists and Kingsbury needed to make just two saves on five shots for another shutout.
The PI girls began the week with a 5-0 win at Caribou last Tuesday, led by Kayla Legassie’s two goals and one apiece by Sarah Porter, Jenna Stephenson and Hannah Cheney. Chelsea Nickerson had an assist and Kellsey Park saved five shots for the shutout.
“I thought we played well in shutting down (Caribou’s leading scorer) Jenna Selander,” said PI coach Ralph Michaud. “Jodie Buckley did a great job defending her and we are the only team this year she has not scored a goal against.”
On Monday, the girls had their “senior night” and also won in impressive fashion, 6-1 over Fort Kent. Legassie had three more goals to extend her school-record total to 23 for the season and 66 for her career, while Sarah Porter picked up two assists to bring her total in that statistic to 30 for her career, also a PIHS record. She also has 144 points, tops in school history.
Nickerson added two goals and Kayla Richards has another as Presque Isle gets ready for the playoffs with their 13-1 mark.
The Ashland girls and boys should also have high seeds in EM Class D. The Hornet boys were impressive in a 6-1 win over Wisdom, with Kenny Tarr and Stephen Philbrook scoring two goals each. Ashland is 9-5 and coach Kevin Paradis is hoping his team can squeeze into the top eight and host a prelim game this weekend.
“I think we could surprise some teams in the playoffs and hope our past playoff experience can carry us,” Paradis said. “We have made some defensive adjustments down the stretch, so I like our chances.”
The Lady Hornets of coach Peter Belskis will most likely be the division’s No. 2 team after a win over Wisdom Thursday, 6-0. Six different players scored for 10-3-1 Ashland.
The Fort Fairfield girls downed Central Aroostook, 5-1, to close out its campaign last Tuesday. Brooke Beaulieu, Courtney Churchill, Lindsey Graves, Emily Weissman and Rosemary Williams were the Lady Tiger goal scorers. Fort finished at 8-5-1 and probably will hang on to its top-eight position and host a preliminary playoff match.
CA beat East Grand Thursday, 6-1, behind two goals by Kristen Long. The Lady Panthers are 5-9 and hoping to get into the playoffs.
The Fort boys tied the CA Panthers, 1-1, in its regular season finale. Jeremy Dillon scored the game tying goal with 13:46 to go in regulation for the Tigers after Dan Brewer had tallied the Panthers’ goal in the first half. Fort is at 8-5-1 and coach John Ala is confident the tie will keep his team among the top eight.
Emmanuel Martinez scored two goals and six teammates added one apiece in the Panthers’ 8-0 victory over East Grand Thursday to end the regular season. The Panthers are 8-4-2 and will be a playoff team
The Washburn girls lost their final two regular season matches, to Southern Aroostook last Tuesday, 3-1, and to Van Buren Thursday, 3-0. Morgan Berube scored the lone goal against the Lady Warriors. Washburn had been in fourth place in last week’s standings, but the two losses could drop the Lady Beavers a slot or two.
The Beaver boys finished with just one win this season after falling twice last week to SA and Van Buren.
The Easton boys were still seeded second last week despite being idle since mid-September. Easton is 10-2-1 and will certainly draw a first-round bye into the quarterfinals. The Easton girls finished at 4-9 and out of the playoff picture.
Contributed photo/Dave Allen Graphics
HEAD BALL – Katrina Whittier of the Presque Isle Lady Wildcats towers above the Caribou defense for a header in last Tuesday’s 5-0 win over the host Lady Vikings.
Contributed photo/Dave Allen Graphics
FOOT RACE – Warren Zubrick of the Presque Isle Wildcats (14) and Caribou’s Seth Sager race to the ball during Saturday’s contest at Caribou. The Wildcats remained unbeaten at 13-0-1 with the 4-0 victory.
Contributed photos/Dave Allen Graphics
BEAVERS IN ACTION – The Washburn soccer squads wrapped up the regular season last week. In top photo, Meghan Saucier battles Southern Aroostook’s Morgan Guston for possesson. Below, Justin Howe gets some hang time for a save against the Warriors.
