Owl runners dominate MMA meet,
soccer teams finish campaign
BUCKSPORT — The University of Maine at Presque Isle produced the first five runners across the finish line at the Mariner Invitational, which was held at Bucksport High School Saturday.
The Owls’ Kayla Lagasse, who is from Presque Isle, won the three-mile event with a time of 19:51. Maine Maritime finished in second place, while last year’s team champions, Thomas College, finished in third.
Legasse owned a 59-second gap on the field of 18. Her teammate, Kati Christoffel, crossed in 20:50, followed by defending individual champion, Emily Wright of Mapleton in 22:17. First-year runner, Ghazaleh Sailors logged a time of 22:23, good for fourth place, while Carly Langley completed the UMPI scoring sweep with a 22:31 for fifth place.
UMPI returns to action Saturday with a meet at Unity.
Freshman Thomas Grylka was the individual champion at the Saturday’s Mariner Invitational, hosted by Maine Maritime Academy and held at Bucksport High School.
Grylka finished the three-mile race in 16:43 to take the title from the field of 31 runners. The team champion Mariners crossed four runners in a pack with Vijay Kataria (Grassy Creek, N.C.) leading the charge with a fourth-place finish in 17:32.
Thomas narrowly edged UMPI for second place by six points, 43-49.
In addition to Grylka’s championship, the Owls landed two more runners in the top 10. Phillip Boody of New Sweden placed eighth in 17:50, while Corey Hebert crossed 10th in 18:15.
Next for the UMPI runners is a meet at Unity College Saturday.
Katherine Ferland had a pair of first half goals to give the UM-Fort Kent Bengals women’s soccer team a 4-0 halftime advantage and eventually an 8-3 win over host University of Maine-Presque Isle on Saturday.
UMFK, the two-time defending USCAA national champion, is now 14-0 on the season and ranked No. 1 in the USCAA Coaches’ Poll.
On a rainy and windy late-October day in Presque Isle, the Owls were trying to avenge a 9-1 loss earlier in the season at Fort Kent. And while first-year head coach Trevor Parent’s squad showed it was up for a physical battle in adverse conditions, the Bengals proved to be too strong by spending much of the afternoon on UMPI’s end of the field and firing off 30 shots at Owl goalkeeper Taylor Ussery.
After trailing 4-0 at halftime, the Owls were able to put three shots past Bengal keeper Liz Morneault. Kallie Pelletier pulled UMPI to within 4-1 in the 47th minute. UMFK would score the next four goals before UMPI finished out the day with goals from Audra Kirk, a sophomore from Limestone, and Lainey Herring, a senior from Houlton.
The match was the last of the 2012 campaign for the Owls. They finished the season with a 5-10 record. During pre-game festivities, the Owls honored six seniors playing for the last time for UMPI: Kellie Peers of Limestone, Herring, Ussery, Elizabeth Keagan and Chelsea Beauchemin.
Last Wednesday, The University of Maine-Presque Isle women’s soccer team jumped out to a 2-0 lead over UM-Machias and then hung on to notch a 3-2 win over their rivals to the south on Wednesday afternoon. Chelsea Lynds-Beaulieu of Presque Isle had a goal and an assist and Herring notched two goals as the Owls avenged a 7-1 loss to the Clippers a month earlier.
UM-Fort Kent’s Ross Downie scored two of the Bengals’ four first-half goals to lead his squad to a 5-0 victory at the University of Maine-Presque Isle on a windy and rainy Saturday afternoon.
Fort Kent, ranked No. 1 in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association Coaches’ Poll, improved to 15-1 on the season. They have accepted an invitation to the USCAA National Tournament in Ashville, N.C. Nov. 1-3.
The match was the final one of the 2012 season for UM-Presque Isle. The Owls finished the year with a record of 6-11, improving upon a 4-10 campaign in 2011.
The Owls were able to step up defensively in the second half, thanks in large part to some inspired goalkeeping by Josh MacKinnon, who was peppered by 32 UMFK shots, including 19 in the second half.
It was the Owls’ offense that could not put a dent into the Bengal defense, mustering only six shots (three on goal) in 90 minutes.
Saturday was Senior Day at Presque Isle. Prior to the match, the team held a brief ceremony for seniors Kyle Corrigan of Caribou, MacKinnon and Will Cole.
Last Wednesday, the Owls’ Kobe Ashkir scored two goals within two minutes of each other in the first half to give the Owls a 2-1 lead, but the visiting UM-Machias Clippers came back for a 3-2 triumph.
