Staff Writer
HAMPDEN – The Presque Isle Wildcats certainly brought forth their best efforts in Saturday’s Class B state championship matches, but it wasn’t enough against a pair of talented Western Maine foes.
The teams played in back-to-back games on the Weatherbee School’s artificial turf, with a large contingent of Wildcat fans in attendance.
The girls opened against Falmouth, who used its superior quickness to defeat Presque Isle, 2-0.
The game was scoreless for the first 30 minutes, but Corey Morganstern of the Yachtsmen changed that by receiving a pass from Sarah Girouard and heading the ball into the back of the net with 9:55 to play before intermission.
Falmouth continued to control play throughout the rest of the match and scored its other goal off another header, this time on a corner kick at the 19:56 mark of the second half. Jamie Sabo was the recipient of the perfect corner kick from Haley Jordan, who lined it to the far post and saw Sabo go airborne to carom the ball past PI goalie Kelsey Park.
PI did have a couple decent chances to score, but the Falmouth quickness thwarted any chance for a goal. Porter lofted a shot in the first half that bounced over the head of goalie Elizabeth Estabrook, who recovered to catch it before it crossed the goal line.
In the second half, with 25 minutes to play, Porter took a nice cross from Kayla Legassie in front of the goal, but a Falmouth defender got there and cleared it away.
“They are a great team,” Porter said of Falmouth. “They are all really fast and talented and read each other so well.
“But some of our girls played the games of their lives, and as long as we’re all proud of the way we played, that’s all we can ask for.”
In the boys game, the Wildcats gave Yarmouth all it wanted. The two teams went back and forth with the momentum swings, but the Clippers netted the game’s only goal with 17:31 remaining as Matt Morrill took advantage of a miscommunication by the PI defense and poked a cross by Luke Pierce inside the left post.
“We had an early chance to clear the ball, and then on the cross two of our guys called for the same ball and were in each other’s way,” said PI coach Scott Young of the scoring sequence. “Yarmouth was very fortunate to be in the right place at the exact time to finish.”
Presque Isle was not without some good chances as well. In fact, the Wildcats carried play for the final 25 minutes of the first half and played fairly even with the Clippers in the second half, as evidenced by a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal over the final 40 minutes.
PI senior forward Warren Zubrick got open in front of the goal with 1:05 to play in the first half, but shot it just over the cross bar.
He also made a strong move toward the goal with 10:50 left in regulation, but the Yarmouth defender made an outstanding play to prevent a quality shot.
“This was a very gutsy performance by our team,” Young said. “Everyone played very well the entire game and gave it their absolute all.
“They knew they could win and they never once backed down from the challenge.”
Western Maine has now won 16 consecutive Class B state crowns, but Young feels his team showed it can compete for a title.
“Many people, especially from the southern part of the state, feel there is this huge gap between Eastern Maine and Western Maine soccer. Our boys proved to everyone that is simply not true,” Young said.
Contributed photo/Dave Allen Graphics
ON THE MOVE – Eric Morris of the Wildcats, right, and Yarmouth’s Peter Erickson chase the ball during the state game.
