LaBelle’s late heroics
carry Ashland into title game
By Kevin Sjoberg
PRESQUE ISLE – Tears were streaming down Brooke LaBelle’s cheeks late Friday afternoon along the sidelines of the Gehrig Johnson Athletic Complex.
The Ashland junior had run through a gamut of emotions over the previous two hours during her team’s Eastern Maine Class D soccer semifinal against Washburn, and she was unable to contain those feelings any longer.
LaBelle, her team’s top scorer during the regular season, had been held in check by a gritty Washburn defense for most of the Friday’s contest. However, after the Beavers had taken the lead on a goal by Sarah Sjoberg with just 1:20 remaining in regulation, LaBelle put her Hornet teammates on her back with an incredibly clutch offensive display.
Her goal 16 seconds later forced overtime, and another just 3:02 into overtime gave No. 1-ranked Ashland a 4-3 win and set up a regional championship matchup against Van Buren at 4 p.m. this afternoon at the Johnson Complex.
“I knew it was my time to break through,” LaBelle said. “I knew I had to do it.”
On the kickoff after Washburn’s go-ahead goal, LaBelle received a return pass from teammate Anna Paradis and dribbled around the Beaver defense to quickly get inside the 18-yard box. She had one more player to beat, so she made a nifty dribble to the right and blasted the ball past Washburn goalkeeper Rayah Saucier and into the net to tie the score.
In overtime, LaBelle took a cross from Shea Craig just inside the box and shot it into the goal to advance Ashland into the finals.
“She’s been everything for us – she’s carried us all year offensively,” said Ashland coach Peter Belskis. “She came into the huddle before the overtime and just told her teammates ‘we were not going to lose this game and that it was our game to win.’”
The first 79 minutes of play did not go as well for LaBelle. She was marked heavily by the Washburn duo of Carmen Bragg and Rebecca Campbell and was unable to get many shots off.
“I definitely had an off game [up to that point],” she said. “They did a real good job on me for most of the game and I just had to stick through it.”
Ashland had taken a 2-0 lead on goals by freshmen Rachel Gillis and Ally Beaulieu in the first 20 minutes of play. LaBelle picked up the assist on Gillis’s goal.
However, Washburn battled back and cut the margin in half on a goal by Sjoberg, off a cross from Carsyn Koch, less than 10 minutes before intermission. The Beavers tied the game when Kristi Sperrey scored off a Campbell assist with 23:07 to play and took the lead when Sjoberg one-timed a Lindsey Blackstone cross with just 80 seconds left on the clock.
“After we got the jitters out in the first half, we went into the second half determined that we could get back in the game,” said Washburn coach Marcie Barbarula. “The girls did just that. The team played with a lot of heart and determination and they should all be proud of how they played, regardless of the outcome.”
Belskis also gave plenty of credit to the Beavers.
“It really was their game to win,” he said. “They are a very good team and after the first 15 or 20 minutes they controlled it. I’m impressed with how they’ve grown as a team under Marcie, how they get lots of players involved and that they have a good youth movement going.
“We won this one, but there will certainly be a lot more battles in the years to come,” he added.
Macie Bellanceau made nine saves on 12 shots in goal for Ashland, while Saucier had 13 saves on 17 shots for the Beavers.
The Hornets escaped with another comeback victory in the quarterfinals, this one over No. 8 Schenck in last Tuesday’s home match. After falling behind early, Whitney Donovan knocked in a direct kick late in the first half to tie the game before LaBelle converted a Paradis assist seven minutes into the second half for the game-winner.
Bellanceau saved six of seven shots for the Hornets, while Kaprice Tompkins of the Wolverines turned away 12 of 17 shots.
“They were a tough draw for us and I knew it’d be a tough game,” Belskis said, “and we were fortunate to come away with the win.”
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
DRIBBLING IN – Ashland’s Chelsea Hammond avoids the slide tackle of a Schenck defender and heads toward the goal during last Tuesday’s matchup in Presque Isle. The Hornets won, 2-1, and went on to defeat Washburn in Friday’s semifinal, 4-3 in overtime.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
WASHBURN’S Carmen Bragg, left, follows the bouncing ball as Ashland’s Vanessa Higgins watches during Friday’s match.
