Presque Isle boys fall in semifinal
By Joseph Cyr and Kevin Sjoberg
The Presque Isle boys possessed the ball more and had a sizable advantage in shots on goal during Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B soccer semifinal at Camden Hills. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, an early goal by the Windjammers held up as PI’s season came to an end with a 1-0 defeat.
“We certainly carried play,” said Wildcat coach Scott Young. “We had several combinations that led to great opportunities, but their overall quickness trumped our ability. We also did have several more scoring opportunities, but their keeper (Dean Cushing) was quick to the ball and their backs were even quicker.”
The only goal of the game came two minutes in when Camden Hills’ Andrew Flanagan took an initial shot which was blocked by Presque Isle junior goalkeeper Andrew Kofstad. However, the ball immediately caromed back off the knee of Flanagan and trickled into the goal.
“Our backs got caught looking for an offsides trap, but [Kofstad] made a very nice point blank save,” Young said. “It was a bit unfortunate for us.”
PI closed out the season with a 13-2-1 record, while the No. 2-seeded Windjammers travel to Ellsworth for the regional final against the top-ranked and undefeated Eagles.
Last Wednesday, neither wind, nor a driving rain could keep the Presque Isle boys soccer team from its mission of advancing in the EM Class B playoffs.
No. 3 Presque Isle splashed its way to a 4-0 shutout over No. 6 Mount View of Thorndike in a rain-soaked game played at the Johnson Athletic Complex. The Mustangs finish 7-6-2 on the year and saw their season ended by the Wildcats for the second straight season. Last year, Presque Isle beat Mount View 3-2 in overtime in the semifinals.
In the victory, the Wildcats received goals from four different players as Brandon Bonville, Wilder York, Jacob Player and Isaac LaJoie each scored. Player, Sam Clukey, Josh Allen and Caleb Mathers each had an assist.
“We knew they would be the same type of team as we saw last year, only they’re more experienced,” Mount View coach Chris Hink said. “We lost 11 kids, eight of whom were starters. We came up here ready to play, but not expecting what we saw from the them [Presque Isle].”
What the Mustangs saw was a fine-tuned, goal-scoring machine that distributed the ball and made the most of its chances. Coming into the game, Young was optimistic his squad would continue to show the chemistry which has been strong suit for the Wildcats all season.
“We need to play our style, which is to keep the ball on the ground, spread out the field and make our runs and trust each other,” he said.
Presque Isle opened the scoring 13 minutes into the game on a well-placed direct kick from Player near the midfield line. Player sent a high, arcing shot to the net that was redirected on a header by Bonville.
Player got into the scoring action with a goal of his own with 3:56 to play in the half off an assist by Clukey for a 2-0 lead that held until halftime.
In the second half, the Wildcats continued to put constant pressure on the Mustangs’ backfield sending numerous shots at goalie Chris Montminy (13 saves on 20 shots).
York scored at the 28:31 mark as Allen scampered down the right wing, ripped a shot at the goal, but Montminy was unable to hang on to the ball. York pounced on the loose ball and deposited it into the net.
The Wildcats finished their scoring as LaJoie took a pass from Mathers and charged toward the goal. Montminy came out in an attempt to cut off LaJoie’s angle to the net, but instead LaJoie lofted the ball over the goalie’s head, ran around him and walked the ball into the empty net.
Graduating seniors for Presque Isle are players Allen, Bonville, Ben McKenna, Andrew Wilcox, Mathers and Andrew Legassie and managers Mike Picard and Tyler Eager.
HEADY PLAY — PI’s Caleb Mathers heads the ball over Camden Hills’ Sam Predham as Windjammer Vinny Kwiatkowski looks on during Saturday’s match in Camden. PI lost, 1-0.
