Southern Aroostook soccer teams off to blazing start – Warrior boys 3-1 early on this fall

    Bouncing back from a loss to Central Aroostook last Wednesday, the Warriors of Southern Aroostook were dominant in recent victories over Easton and Hodgdon and hope to keep the momentum going when they face Katahdin Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Sherman Station.
    The Houlton Shires played to a pair of ties to open their season, with Madawaska and Fort Kent the opponents. Lee Academy pays a visit to Houlton’s field for a 7 p.m. match. Hodgdon dropped a match to Easton in addition to the loss to SA and met up against Fort Fairfield on the road yesterday before hosting Ashland for a 3:30 p.m. start Thursday.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
IN THE AIR — Anthony Diaferio, left, of Southern Aroostook leaps into the air to avoid contact with Central Aroostook’s Spencer Stetson. The Panthers won last Wednesday’s match, 4-3.
    Summaries of boys games played from Aug. 25-31 are as follows:
    Southern Aroostook 6, Hodgdon 0 – Dakota Sleeper and Patrick Goodall each had a hand in three of their team’s six goals Monday, as the host Warriors routed the Hawks.
    Sleeper scored two goals and added an assist, while Goodall netted one goal and assisted on a pair of others as Southern Aroostook moved to 3-1 on the season. Taylor Locke contributed a goal and an assist, while Nick Tarr and Cody Robinson had the other goals. Jesse Boulier stopped all three shots he faced for the shutout in goal.
    Matt Harmon saved 17 of 24 shots in goal for the Hawks, who fell to 0-2.
    Houlton 2, Madawaska 2 – The host Shiretowners held the lead at intermission Friday, but Nathan Beaulieu of the Owls scored the equalizer with less than 10 minutes left in regulation and the two teams battled through a pair of overtime periods before setting for the tie.
    Cody Briggs and Dylan Gard had the Houlton goals, both coming in the first half. Micah Goetsch picked up the assist on Gard’s tally. Jared Tapley collected 16 saves in the game off 22 shots for the Shires, who played to their second consecutive tie to begin the season.
    D. J. Gendreau netted a first-half goal for Madawaska, which had won its first two contests.
    Southern Aroostook 5, Easton 1 – On Friday, the Warriors bounced back from the loss to CA with a big road win at Easton. It was the team’s second win of the season over the Bears, who fell 4-0 in Dyer Brook.
    Anthony Diaferio scored a pair of goals, while teammates Dakota Sleeper, Taylor Locke and Dylan Willette netted one apiece for Southern Aroostook. Assists were credited to Cody Robinson and Patrick Goodall. Jesse Boulier saved seven of 15 shots in goal for the winners.
    Corey White had Easton’s goal. Cody Tompkins, the Easton goalie, was peppered with 38 shots and he notched 31 saves on the afternoon.
    Easton 4, Hodgdon 2 — The Hodgdon Hawks held a 1-0 lead at intermission of Thursday’s game, only to watch it disappear as Easton sophomore Holden Turner tallied three second-half goals, including two in the first three minutes after halftime.
    Chris Harris gave Hodgdon the lead in the first half with an unassisted goal.
    Corey White unassisted tally after Turner’s opening two goals in the second half proved to be the game-winner, as Zach Clark assisted for the 3-3 Bears.
    Hodgdon goalie Dan McGillicuddy stopped 15 of 31 shots, while Easton’s Cody Tompkins made fives saves on nine shots. Hodgdon’s second goal was scored by Wade Estabrook unassisted.
    Central Aroostook 4, Southern Aroostook 3 — At Mars Hill last Wednesday in a “Battle of the Aroostooks,” it was Central Aroostook who emerged victorious in a see-saw game with Southern Aroostook. In a game that seemed destined to be heading for overtime, Panther Garrett Stiles broke a 3-3 tie when he blasted an unassisted goal into the net with 6:32 remaining.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
CRASH — Logan Desmond, right, of Southern Aroostook crashes into CA’s Dan Brewer during last Wednesday’s match.
    The Panthers had taken a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Brendan York and Spencer Stetson in the first seven minute of action. Southern Aroostook cut that lead in half as Dakota Sleeper scored his first of two goals on the day with 27:11 remaining in the first half.
    Central Aroostook’s Dan Brewer dented the net almost two minutes later (25:38 remaining) to put the Panthers up 3-1, but once again the scrappy Warriors of Dyer Brook answered the call as Patrick Goodall scored with 24:28 to go in the first half, cutting the lead to 3-2.
    In the second half, Sleeper scored 10 minutes into the half to knot the game at 3-3. That score held up for 24 minutes until Stiles produced the game-winning goal.
    Tyler Rusby had five saves on 11 shots for Central Aroostook, while Jesse Boulier had 12 saves on 25 shots for the Warriors.
    Houlton 1, Fort Kent 1 — After double overtime, the Houlton Shiretowners and host Fort Kent Warriors remained deadlocked with a goal apiece last Tuesday.
    Houlton goalie Jared Tapley and Fort Kent’s Alex Charette didn’t allow a goal through two overtimes. Micah Goetsch scored the equalizer with 37:52 left in regulation, as Cody Lozier had scored with 32:43 left in first-half action.
    Tapley had eight saves on 20 shots, while Charette handled three of 11 attempts.