Eleven varsity soccer teams from the region qualified for the post-season, and heading into yesterday’s action, nine were still alive thanks to a solid showing in last weekend’s preliminary round.
The two teams had split their regular season matches, with each winning at home. Sarah Watt had three saves on seven shots for FF, while Paige Garrison saved seven of 15 for CA, the No. 5 seed which ended its season at 8-5-2 under first-year coach Joe Levesque.
On Friday, Fort Fairfield will take on the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal match between No. 1 Washburn (12-1-1) and No. 8 Schenck (9-5) of East Millinocket.
Other girls’ matchups in the Eastern Maine Class D quarters Tuesday included No. 7 Deer Isle-Stonington (5-7-2) at No. 2 Easton (10-2-2) and No. 6 Ashland (10-5) at No. 3 Penobscot Valley (12-1-1).
The Hornets were successful in their prelim game, knocking off Van Buren Friday, 3-1. Freshman Savannah Flint scored all three of her team’s goals, with Ally Beaulier picking up an assist. Goalkeeper Macie Bellanceau had five saves on six shots, with Parise Rossignol scoring the lone goal for the 5-10 Crusaders.
In Class B, Presque Isle earned the No. 1 ranking. The 13-0-1 Wildcats hosted Caribou in Tuesday night’s quarterfinal round. The Vikings (9-5-1) are the eighth seed and moved on with a 4-0 win over Medomak Valley Friday.
It was the third meeting of the season between PI and Caribou. The ’Cats won both, 6-4 at home on Aug. 30 and 3-2 in Caribou Oct. 15.
The boys’ quarterfinals are set for Wednesday, Oct. 24 and Central Aroostook and Easton were both able to pull off upset victories in the prelims to reach that round.
The Panthers, as the 11th seed, got past No. 6 Shead of Eastport Friday, 3-2 in overtime, while Easton, at No. 9, nipped eighth-ranked Woodland, also 3-2.
CA, which began the campaign with an 0-5-2 record, has lost only twice since that rough start. In the road prelim, the score was tied at intermission before Shead got on the scoreboard with a successful penalty kick. Dustin Pryor of the Panthers answered with the tying goal before teammate Dane Kingsbury put the visitors in front by converting a direct kick.
Shead forced overtime with a goal which came with less than two minutes to play in regulation, but Joe Stiles came through with the game-winning goal with three minutes to play in the first extra session. Stiles hit a shot from 25 yards out to end it.
“We controlled most of the play during the game, passing the ball and moving it around the field, but we had a tough time finding the back of the net,” said CA coach Dave Collins. “[Shead] took most of their shots from 35 to 40 yards out, so our defense did a decent job of not letting them get any closer.”
Central Aroostook, at 5-7-3, will next meet No. 3 Ashland (9-3-2) at 5:30 p.m. in Ashland.
The Bears have also been part of an improbable turnaround that continued on Friday. After six regular season games, the team held a 1-5 record, but since Aug. 30, Easton has gone 8-0-1 and by beating Woodland earned the right to play No. 1 Bangor Christian in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. at Husson University in Bangor.
Jake Flewelling and Cody Halvorson netted first-half goals and Logan Halvorson scored the team’s final goal early in the second half as the 9-5-1 Bears survived a late rally by the Dragons.
Jake Hoops scored a pair of late goals for Woodland, which wasn’t able to put in the equalizer. Easton’s Jared Hafford saved seven shots, including a penalty kick early in the contest.
“Our defense has been vital to that success as well as our offensive players taking more shots,” said Bears coach Ryan Shaw. “ It has been a fun little run, and the boys are starting to realize that anything can happen if you get on the same page and work your guts out all the time.”
Washburn came close to making it a third upset, but fell at Southern Aroostook, 2-1. The game was not decided in the 80 minutes of regulation play and the 30 minutes of overtime, but instead came down to penalty kicks, with SA claiming a 4-3 advantage.
Mitch Worcester scored on a direct kick from 25 yards out with 5:42 left in the first half to give the 10th-ranked Beavers the lead, but Cody Lassonde scored with an assist by Trenton Cullinan with 20:05 remaining in the second half to tie the score for the No. 7 Warriors.
Austin White of SA and Jarrett Olson of Washburn each made nine saves in goal.
Washburn ended its season with a 6-7-2 record.
Presque Isle made it into the EM Class B quarterfinals after topping No. 12 Washington Academy of East Machias at home Saturday, 3-0.
With the win, the fifth-seeded Wildcats earned a third meeting with Caribou, who as the No. 4 seed will host the game at 6 p.m. PI defeated Caribou at home on Aug. 31, while Caribou won the second meeting on Oct. 17. Both were by 2-1 margins.
“It’s going to be a tough game and will come down to which team capitalizes on their opportunities,” said PI coach Joe Greaves. “Both teams are talented enough to give themselves chances to score, so we really have to limit their chances and make the most of ours.”
Against WA, Josh Morrow and Brandon LeBlanc assisted on first-half goals by Ben Nickerson, while Jonah Stephenson notched an unassisted goal in the second half as PI dominated.
Cody Lyford made five saves on nine shots for the shutout in goal for the Wildcats.
“We played solid on defense and took care of business at home,” Greaves said.
