In Class D, the Katahdin boys, Southern Aroostook and Hodgdon girls were overmatched in their preliminary games played last Friday and Saturday, as they each finish their seasons.
Ashland powers past Cougars
In Ashland last Saturday, the Hornets scored early and often, picking up a 9-0 win over the Cougars of Stacyville.
Cody Blair of Ashland racked up six first-half goals to set the tone.
“They kept consistent pressure on our defense with Cody Blair being able to dribble through four defenders to record his double hat trick,” said first-year Katahdin coach Jon Poisson. “Ashland was a veteran team that jumped out early and kept us down.”
The No. 3 Hornets collected eight goals in the first half to stymie No. 14 Katahdin. Alex Kaiser, Jarrett Beaulier and Mark Chasse each added goals for Ashland. Lucas Craig chipped in with three assists and Michael Cook provided two, while Blair and Ben Philbrook each had one.
“We started to play a bit better in the second half, holding them to just one goal,” said Poisson, but the damage was already done.
Katahdin netkeeper Cody Brownlee blocked 29 of 38 shots, while Tim Tarr and Steven Bellanceau combined for nine Ashland saves. The Hornets improve to 11-2-2 and faced No. 6 Washburn in their quarterfinal game yesterday.
“With the exception of the 9-0 loss, I feel we had a successful season,” Poisson added. “At the beginning of the year, we set two goals — improve our record from last year and make playoffs. With the guys’ hard work and determination we were able to do that. We improved from 1-12-1 last year to 3-12 this year with the 14th seed. We had a double-overtime win against PVHS. We also tried to change the style of play from the typical County Class D ‘boot and run’ to a more conservative style. We focused a lot on keeping the ball on the ground and making smart passes.”
Graduating from this year’s team will be seniors T.J. Young, Shey Lane, Alex Lane and Cody Brownlee.
“They were a huge part of what we were trying to do this year,” Poisson explained. “I am sad the season is over, but I am looking forward to next year.”
Panthers shut out SACS
Even though the No. 9 Southern Aroostook girls (7-7) were focusing their defensive efforts on No. 8 Central Aroostook’s Karli Levesque, the Panthers’ leading scorer, she still managed to score twice to lead her team to a 4-0 win.
For the Lady Panthers, Jayden Giberson and Sarah Gerritson each tallied a goal, as Central Aroostook will now face No. 1 Ashland in the Class D quarterfinals. The Lady Panthers are 8-7.
The teams had split on the season, with Central Aroostook winning the first game of the year, 3-1, and the Lady Warriors settling the score in the second game, 2-1, in Mars Hill.
“We showed up confident and ready to play,” said SACS coach Kaylea Harbison. “Mars Hill outplayed us, but our girls played to the last second.”
Harbison noted that the Lady Warriors had several shots on goal and some nice outside shots, but they weren’t able to get them past CAHS’ goalie.
Katie Stevens and Lily Leavitt took turns with that task of trying to crack the net for Southern Aroostook to no avail.
“Central Aroostook also focused a lot on shutting down one of our top scorers, Kennedi Smith, so that limited what she could do on the field,” Harbison said.
“We were playing with no subs and at different points throughout the game, we only had 10 on the field,” she added. “We have struggled with numbers throughout the entire season.”
“Overall, I think we had a really productive season and I am happy that we made it work with the low numbers,” said Harbison.
Hodgdon girls overpowered
Visiting No. 13 Hodgdon was overpowered, 11-1, last Friday by No. 4 Washburn in girls Class D prelim action.
Mackenzie Worcester piled up six goals and set up two more, while Joan Overman scored three times and added an assist. Mikayla Churchill scored a goal and chipped in with three assists, while Macey Barker added a goal off a Brooklyn Plummer assist.
Rachel Harmon scored Hodgdon’s lone goal.
Hodgdon goalie Jessica Drew made nine saves on 21 shots, while Washburn’s Grace Braley had four saves on seven shots.
