Sports Reporter
The visiting Limestone-MSSM Eagles gave the Hornets all they wanted for a half, but Ashland made the right adjustments during the intermission and claimed the 3-1 victory Friday in Presque Isle to advance to another EM championship match.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
Bethany Berry of the Limestone-MSSM Eagles carries the ball toward the goal as a couple Ashland defenders try to slow her down during Friday’s Eastern Maine semifinal match played at Presque Isle. The Hornets came away with a 3-1 victory. “Coach [Peter Belskis] told us that we needed to play our game and put our hearts into it,” said Ashland senior midfielder Macie Pelkey. “In the second half, we just went hard to every ball, didn’t give up and just tired them out.”
Jessica Jimmo scored a few minutes into the half to break a 1-1 tie, and the Hornets put the game away when Brooke LaBelle connected off a Pelkey assist.
“I think we gave up after [Jimmo’s goal],” said Eagle senior midfielder and captain, Victoria St. Pierre. “That got our hopes down. They are a good team that plays with a lot of intensity.”
The first half was very competitive. LaBelle scored off a Pelkey assist midway through, but just over a minute later, the Eagles made it 1-1 when Daniele Pelkey converted off a Rylee Leighton assist.
“That was a wake-up call,” Macie Pelkey said of the Eagle goal. “We knew we had to start working together.”
Belskis said Limestone-MSSM “surprised us” with their first-half play.
“I knew they had good midfielders, but I didn’t realize they had so much overall team speed,” Belskis said of the Eagles. “They controlled the middle of the field most of that first half.
“I told our girls at halftime that we needed to get off our heels and on our toes. We started doing that and created some opportunities for ourselves,” Belskis said.
Taylor Baker had two saves on three shots for Ashland, while Audra Kirk saved six of 19 for Limestone-MSSM.
Next up for Ashland, now 14-2, is Southern Aroostook, who they will play for the sixth time in the last two years this afternoon in Dyer Brook. The last five meetings all ended up in losses, including last year in the EM finals and both regular-season matches in 2009.
“We just have to go hard and be ready for it,” Pelkey added. “We need to have good passing and be aggressive. Southern Aroostook is aggressive and they always play like they want it, but so do we. It’s going to be a good game.”
Belskis feels his team may match up better against Southern Aroostook than it did against Limestone-MSSM, even though the Warriors are undefeated at 16-0 and are the defending Class D state champions.
“If we control the ball in the middle and hit our wings, we are a dangerous team,” Belskis said. “That is something we’ll work on heading into [Wednesday’s match].”
St. Pierre said despite the loss, it’s been a positive season for her Eagles, who ended the season with a 9-6-1 record.
“Every single player on our team has talent, from the freshmen up,” St. Pierre said. “We have a group of sophomores that just played their hearts out for all of us.
“We just bonded from our first practice,” she added. “There has been no bickering, we just go on the field and have fun, and I think that’s why we win.”
Summaries of the quarterfinal matches involving local teams follows:
Southern Aroostook 3, Fort Fairfield 1 – At Dyer Brook last Tuesday, the No. 8 Tigers made it competitive with the top-ranked and undefeated Warriors, but fell by a 3-1 decision in the EM Class D quarterfinals.
Evangeline Goodall, Rochelle Nadeau and Kim Pratt all scored goals for SA. Evangeline Goodall notched an assist, while Liz Goodall and Janel Rockwell also helped set up goals.
Courtney Churchill scored for the Tigers, who ended their season at 7-7-1. Goalie Katy Donovan saved 10 of 25 shots to help keep her team in contention.
Emily Cummings of SA had six saves on seven shots.
Limestone-MSSM 3, Deer Isle-Stonington 2 – At Deer Isle last Tuesday, the No. 6 Eagles advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time in several years thanks to the upset win over the third-seeded Mariners.
Bethany Berry scored twice and assisted on her team’s other goal, scored by Stephanie Leighton. The Eagles had to survive a late comeback bid by the hosts, but still notched their ninth win of the season against five losses and a tie.
Audra Kirk, in goal for Limestone-MSSM, saved nine of 17 shots.
Paige Rollins and Britnie Jones scored for Deer Isle-Stonington, who finished with a 7-5-3 mark. Their goalie, Chelsea Brown, collected five saves on eight shots.
Caribou 6, Gardiner 5 — At Gardiner last Tuesday in an Eastern Class B quarterfinal, Morgan Swan and Jenna Selander each had two goals, while Jamie Martin and Jessica Zyblut each had one goal to lift No. 5 Caribou past No. 4 Gardiner in a high-scoring game.
Olivia Sleeper had two assists, while Selander added one.
Brittany Doak had nine saves on 14 shots for Caribou, while Jenn Day had 13 saves on 20 shots for Gardiner.
Ashley Abbott scored four goals for the Tigers, while Kate Turnell had one.
Sports Editor Joseph Cyr contributed to this story.
