Ashland silences Washburn
in battle of undefeated teams
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
An important Class D matchup between undefeated Ashland and Washburn took place Monday on the Beavers’ home field, with the Hornets walking away with a surprising 4-0 win.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
CAITLIN PARADIS, a sophomore stopper back on the Ashland Hornets, boots the ball away from Washburn’s Mackenzie Worcester during Monday’s contest. Ashland blanked the Beavers, 4-0.
The victory wasn’t as shocking as the final score as Washburn was held without a goal after having scored 54 in its first seven games while allowing only six.
“Our intensity on defense was the thing that impressed me the most,” said Hornet coach Peter Belskis. “Everybody had a job to do and they did it.”
The Hornets were undaunted in putting up two first-half goals, one on a penalty kick by freshman sweeper back Cassidy Pelletier and the other coming courtesy of forward Savannah Flint midway through the half.
Washburn dominated play over the final 20 minutes of the first half, but couldn’t connect against the fierce Ashland defense. Mackenzie Worcester, Carmen Bragg and Carsyn Koch all had good chances, but either misfired high or wide or had their shots saved by Hornet goalie Macie Bellanceau.
The second half saw Ashland score two more goals which came less than two minutes apart. Pelletier tucked a direct kick into the upper-right corner 2:33 in, while Marissa Chasse had the other with 35:36 left.
Play went back and forth the rest of the way, with Washburn again able to threaten on a few occasions, but the Beavers couldn’t avoid being shut out.
“Our coach’s way is defense first and offense second, and we wanted to make sure we had a solid defense and mark up on that front line because they are everything on that team,” said sophomore stopper back Caitlin Paradis.
Belskis said the defensive quartet of Pelletier, Paradis, Ally Beaulier and Laura Sturgeon was brilliant throughout in holding down the powerful Beaver scoring attack.
“They’ve really come together and I’m surprised with how quickly they jelled,” he said.
Washburn ended up with a 27-10 advantage in shots on goal, with Bellanceau saving 18 and the Beavers’ Taylor Howe turning away five.
“We have to step it up a couple notches,” said Washburn coach Marcie Barbarula. “[Ashland] beat us to the ball today and played a great game. I give all the credit to them.”
In other soccer matches played last week, Presque Isle hosted Ellsworth in Saturday afternoon matches. The girls game ended up in a scoreless tie as the Wildcats are still looking for their first victory following an 0-2-1 start.
In the boys’ contest, Presque Isle fell behind 2-0 before mounting a late comeback which fell just short. Devin Schinhofen’s penalty kick in the second half cut the lead in half and the Wildcats kept the pressure on in the late stages of the game, but could not come up with the equalizer.
It was PI’s first loss of the season after garnering a win and a tie in its first two matches. Both Wildcat teams are home Saturday against Mount Desert Island.
The Easton Bears are still the lone undefeated team in the region. They moved to 9-0-1 after winning four more last week. Easton beat Fort Fairfield last Tuesday, 6-1, before stopping Washburn Thursday, 3-0, and East Grand Saturday, 10-0. On Monday, coach Ryan Shaw’s team completed its busy and successful week with a 5-1 triumph over Central Aroostook.
The Bears host Washburn Monday and then will be idle for a month due to the harvest recess.
The Central Aroostook girls gained their second win of the season Friday, beating Southern Aroostook, 5-1. Five different players had goals for the Panthers.
On Monday, the Panthers and Easton Bears hooked up for a high-scoring match, with Easton prevailing, 7-4.
Kylee Carter scored four times to lead the winning offense. Karli Levesque had a hat trick for CA.
The Ashland boys used an overtime goal by Cody Blair to beat Van Buren last Tuesday, 5-4.
