Despite many personnel losses, to both graduation and transfer, the defending state champion Washburn Beavers are off to a perfect start.
While many teams have yet to play their first game, Washburn has already played twice. Following a 4-1 win over Central Aroostook at home Friday, the Beavers made the trip to St. Agatha Monday and delivered a 9-4 victory.
Mackenzie Worcester opened her junior year with a bang by scoring three times against the Panthers and notching seven more against Wisdom.
In the opener, CA actually grabbed the early advantage as freshman Kassidy Levesque found the back of the net. However, Joan Overman answered for Washburn off a Worcester assist to tie the game at halftime. Worcester then came through with the natural hat trick (three goals in one half) to provide all the second-half scoring.
On Monday, with the score tied at 2, the Beavers tallied four unanswered goals late in the first half and went on to the win.
Overman assisted on a pair of Worcester goals early in the game and then Worcester scored two more and Overman and Mackenzie Vaughn had one each prior to intermission. Three more Worcester goals in the second half led to the easy victory.
Grace Braley started in goal for Washburn in both contests. She had 15 saves on 16 shots against CA and had 14 saves on 20 shots against Wisdom.
“We have been doing very well with passing the ball and finding the open player,” said Washburn coach Marcie Barbarula. “We are continuing to jell as a team as a lot of new players are playing different positions.
“It is early in the season and this group is willing to work hard and knows there is always room for improvement,” she added.
The Central Aroostook boys recorded a win Friday and it was a milestone for new coach Cody Tompkins, who gained his first varsity coaching victory.
The Panthers downed Washburn in overtime, 2-1, thanks to a tie-breaking goal by Caleb Harris off an Alex Boulier corner kick.
The game was scoreless well into the second half, but Alex Pelletier put the host Beavers on the board with approximately 14 minutes left in regulation.
With six minutes to play, Dustin Pryor had the equalizer for CA and sent the game into overtime, leading to Harris’ heroics.
“We tried to control their powerful offense by distributing the ball out wide and getting good offensive opportunities,” Tompkins said. “We tried to possess the ball and make good decisions when on the attack.”
Washburn rebounded Monday to defeat Wisdom on the road, 6-2. Junior Noah Caron had a big game with four goals, while Andrew Gumprecht and Pelletier added one each.
Kevin Chamberland and Brandon Barriere each scored for Wisdom.
At Saturday’s Presque Isle Invitational Soccer Tournament, the host Wildcats came away with titles both on the girls’ and boys’ sides.
Presque Isle blanked Fort Fairfield in the boys’ final, 4-0, while the Wildcat girls managed to pull off a 1-0 victory over Caribou in the championship match.
