Several soccer teams still have title hopes
The waiting game has come to an end for both Presque Isle soccer teams and the Ashland and Easton girls.
The Presque Isle boys are the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Maine Class B ranks and hosted No. 11 Mount Desert Island in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round.
The Wildcats went 11-2-1 on the regular season and recorded a pair of victories over the Trojans, 1-0, at home Sept. 13 and 4-3 in Bar Harbor Oct. 11. MDI (6-7-2) upset No. 6 Winslow, 3-0, in a prelim played Saturday, while PI hadn’t played a game since Oct. 18.
With a victory, PI takes on either No. 2 Camden Hills or No. 10 Oceanside in the semifinals.
Similar circumstances await the Presque Isle girls, who are the second seed in their division after also compiling an 11-2-1 record.
The Wildcats play No. 10 Nokomis, at 8-6-1, this afternoon at 4 p.m. on the turf at the Gehrig Johnson Athletic Complex. PI began the season with an eight-game winning streak, but went 3-2-1 down the stretch, which coincided with the three-week harvest recess which took the team out of their routine.
“Half our team was working, standing all day and practicing at night, then often had to go three or four hours on a bus, so we didn’t play our best soccer,” said PI coach Ralph Michaud, “but we fought hard down the stretch.”
The Wildcats are undefeated at home at 7-0 and have won all eight of their games this season played on turf.
This afternoon’s winner will square off against the winner of the match between No. 3 Hermon and No. 6 Erskine Saturday.
The Easton girls and Ashland girls also put together strong regular seasons to earn their first-round byes.
Easton is the No. 3 seed in EM Class D after winning its final seven in a row and going 9-1 in its final 10. The Bears, at 10-3-1 overall, meet up against No. 6 Schenck of East Millinocket (7-5-3) in today’s 2 p.m. quarterfinal in Easton.
The Bears of coach Rachel Tomlinson did not play a game from Sept. 15 to Oct. 16 due to harvest recess, but came back strong after the break by closing with three consecutive wins.
Ashland went 14-0 to finish atop the D rankings. The Hornets have not allowed a goal since Sept. 18, a span that goes back seven games. The Hornets have outscored their opponents 58-0 during that stretch and 105-9 overall.
The Central Aroostook girls, the No. 8 seed, will be Ashland’s opponent at 5:30 p.m. today. The Panthers blanked No. 9 Southern Aroostook Saturday to advance. CA gave Ashland its toughest test of the season in Ashland Aug. 28, losing 2-1. When the two teams met again Oct. 14, the Hornets scored a 5-0 triumph.
In the victory over the Warriors, coach Joe Levesque said his Panther team’s ability to control the midfield was the difference.
“We moved another attacker on the front line, and that spread their defense out and the center of the field was more open,” he said.
Karli Levesque scored twice, while Jayden Giberson and Sarah Gerritsen had one each for the winners, who tallied three quick goals to take control very early in the match.
Coach Levesque knows what he’s in for this afternoon.
“Ashland is a fantastic team and well coached,” he said. “They are strong at every position.
“The team that controls the midfield and makes fewer mistakes will be hard to beat and Ashland does these things very well and we will have to play our best to win,” he added.
Familiar rivals also met in a boys’ prelim Saturday as the Easton boys and Central Aroostook boys squared off in their third meeting of the season after splitting the first two.
This one was all Easton, as junior Drew Sotomayor scored all three goals in the 3-0 home victory. His first came with 4:13 left in the first half as he connected off a feed by Connor Burtt. In the second half, a Cody Halvorson pass led to a second goal 5:30 in, while the third came on a header off a Logan Halvorson corner kick less than two minutes later.
Easton had limped into the playoffs, losing three of its last four regular season matches, and was also hampered by going 32 days between games due to harvest recess. However, coach Ryan Shaw said the team was able to regroup and get healthy and his team looked sharp against the Panthers.
“I think we moved the ball pretty well and were able to wear them down,” he said. “We have tinkered with our formation and moved some people around and I think we are starting to feel comfortable with the adjustments.”
Next up for the No. 8 Bears was No. 1 Bangor Christian, who went 13-1 on the season. The two teams met Tuesday afternoon. BC beat Easton in last year’s Eastern Maine championship game.
Central Aroostook coach Cody Tompkins said Easton was the better team on Saturday.
“They keep a constant balance on both sides of the ball and simply outplayed us,” said Tompkins, a first-year coach who was proud of what his team accomplished in improving its record from the previous season.
The Fort Fairfield boys extended their season Saturday by beating Limestone-MSSM, 1-0, in a Class D preliminary playoff match.
The only goal of the game came in the final minutes of the first half when senior Johnny Theriault scored unassisted.
“He attacked the left flank and was able to beat the outside back to the endline,” said Tiger coach John Ala in describing the winning play. “Then he attacked the goal and slid the ball inside the front post and past their keeper.”
Eagle coach Jon Hamilton said Theriault is a difficult matchup for his team, which lost twice during the regular season to Fort Fairfield.
“He is a big key to their success against us and we had a hard time shutting him down,” Hamilton said.
The Eagles registered some good chances throughout the match, but Tiger goalkeeper Dalton Cassidy made numerous excellent saves, including two on a breakaway with less than two minutes left in regulation.
“We contended for every 50-50 ball and kept a high level of intensity at all times,” Ala said. “Our crowd was great, as was theirs, which made for a very exciting atmosphere to play in.”
Hamilton was proud of his team, which had overcome an 0-6 to finish the regular season with a 7-7 record and gain the No. 10 seed in the playoffs.
“They have bonded with each other like no other team I have ever coached,” he said. “Everyone got comfortable with their positions and realized what their job was.”
Ala also praised the Eagles for their great season.
“We knew they were on a hot streak and would be a difficult matchup,” Ala said, “and they played an excellent game.”
The Tigers took on No. 2 Penobscot Valley High School of Howland in the quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon.
The Fort Fairfield girls were also winners, stopping Bangor Christian at home Saturday, 3-1. The goals were scored by Chelsey Pelkey, Taylor Churchill and Autumn Parady, with Jasmine Brown netting the Patriots’ lone goal.
The Tigers outshot BC, 16-3, with Megan Jellison saving two shots for Fort Fairfield and Ashleigh Collins turning away 10 for the Patriots.
Fort Fairfield will next take on the Washburn girls, who were 11-1 winners over Hodgdon in Friday’s prelim game played in the rain at Washburn. Mackenzie Worcester scored six goals and assisted on a pair of others, while Joan Overman had three goals and Mikayla Churchill and Macey Barker one each. Churchill also had three assists, while Overman and Brooklyn Plummer added one each.
Grace Braley saved four of seven shots in goal for the Beavers, with Rachel Harmon spoiling the shutout with the Hawks’ only goal. Jessica Drew, Hodgdon’s goalkeeper, faced 21 shots and saved nine.
The No. 5 Tigers and No. 4 Beavers will meet this afternoon in Washburn in the quarterfinals, with the winner taking on either No. 1 Ashland or No. 8 Central Aroostook in Friday’s semifinal round. FF coach Tom Towle and Washburn coach Marcie Barbarula both realize today’s match will be a tough battle. Washburn prevailed in the two regular season games, winning at home 3-1 and on the road, 2-1.
“They are very well coached and have several exceptional athletes back from last year’s state championship team,” Towle said. “I expect a very well played game that may ultimately come down to which team scores the final goal.”
“It will be a great matchup,” predicted Barbarula. “The girls know they have to come out and match up with their scoring threats [Churchill and Pelkey] and we are going to have to beat them to every 50-50 ball and be aggressive.”
The Washburn boys also made it into the quarters following an 8-0 blanking of Jonesport-Beals Friday.
Noah Caron had three goals and an assist to lead the winning attack. The No. 6 Beavers also received two goals and two assists from Cameron Bragg and a pair of goals from Andrew Gumprecht. Alex Pelletier had the team’s other goal and also had three assists, while Noah Farley and McCall Turner each contributed an assist.
Due to unplayable field conditions, the game was suspended by the officials with approximately 18 minutes remaining in the second half.
The Beavers played at third-ranked Ashland in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. The Hornets won 2-1 in their Sept. 18 meeting at Washburn, while the two teams played to a 1-1 tie in Ashland Sept. 8. Ashland owns a 6-1-1 record this season on its home field.
The Ashland boys were impressive in their prelim game Saturday, rolling to a 9-0 home victory. Cody Blair continued his offensive dominance with six goals to increase his career total to an Ashland boys-record 83.
Coach Mark Stanley said the Hornets have solid players throughout the lineup, and that has led to their brilliant season (11-2-2) to date.
“Against Katahdin, Michael Cook dominated midfield as he has done all year and Mark Chasse kept our defense steady by reading the play properly and directing those around him,” Stanley said.
Alex Kaiser, Jarrett Beaulier and Chasse were the other goal scorers, with sophomore Lucas Craig coming up with three assists and Cook adding two. Blair and Ben Philbrook each had one and goalkeepers Tim Tarr and Steven Bellanceau combined for nine saves in the shutout.
