Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Revenge was certainly on the minds of the Presque Isle Wildcats players and coaches when they took to the field Saturday.
Not only did Ellsworth prevent the ’Cats from winning every game they played during the regular season, courtesy of a 2-2 tie in Ellsworth on Sept. 6, the Eagles also had ended PI’s bid for an Eastern Maine title in 2007 with an overtime victory in the semifinal round.
This time, the Wildcats wouldn’t be denied. Presque Isle got a pair of second-half goals from senior Warren Zubrick and the defense did the rest in a 2-0 victory in the semifinal round of the EM Class B playoffs.
The Wildcats will go for their second regional championship in four years as they host No. 2 Camden Hills this afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
PI, the top-ranked team in the division, played that way on Saturday. Although the game was scoreless at intermission, the Wildcats controlled play with their trademark short passing game and had a number of good scoring chances in the first half.
“We did a good job passing to feet on the ground,” said Presque Isle senior Eric Morris. “You have to deliver the ball quickly against Ellsworth because they are always right there, and we did well hitting the ball to space and getting people to run onto it.”
Despite the missed opportunities in the first half, PI kept the pressure on in the second and finally got on the board on Zubrick’s unassisted goal with 19:15 left. Lucas Mathers assisted on Zubrick’s second goal, which came with 3:30 to play and essentially ended any hopes for an Ellsworth comeback.
Zubrick had missed the final portion of the 2007 season with a broken leg, and Wildcat coach Scott Young feels the senior would have been a difference-maker had he been on the field in last year’s post-season. “He is a terrific athlete and a really hard mark (for the opposing team),” Young said.
The eighth-year coach said he was proud of the way his team fought throughout the contest.
“I told them they had to match (Ellsworth’s) intensity and that every ball is alive because of them,” Young said. “They stepped up and matched it today.”
A major concern for Presque Isle was the throw-in ability of Eagle senior Patrick Kelley. His long throw in the waning seconds of the regular season match at Ellsworth led to the game-tying goal, and much time in Wildcats practices leading up to Saturday’s match were devoted to preventing that from happening.
“We used a JUGS machine that is able to loft balls into the air toward the goal,” Young said. “It forces (goalie) Dillon (Kingsbury) to go up and get them.
“He’s got a good nose for the ball, gets his feet positioned and goes over people and that’s what he did today.”
Kingsbury saved five of eight shots in goal, while Ellsworth’s Jordan Carter made some spectacular plays to keep the game close and finished with 17 saves on 25 shots.
“We’ve really come together as a team the last few games,” Morris added. “Everyone is a team player and no one does it by themselves. If not for that attitude by all 17 guys, we couldn’t do it.”
Young has had some time over the past few days to gather a scouting report on Camden Hills, which outscored opponents 55-14 and finished 13-2-1, and he feels they will be a very formidable opponent.
“Everything sounds as if they play a very similar style to us. They like the ball on the ground for the most part, but they do try to send the ball long from time to time to their speedy forwards,” Young said. “Some say they work very hard on 50-50 balls and they have a solid bench as well.
“They score a lot of goals from restarts or set plays, so we will have to play solid team defense without fouling in order to limit those free kicks.”
Still, Young is confident his team will be ready to go.
“If we play our style and stick to our game plan, and remain focused on playing extremely hard the entire game, we should give ourselves a chance of winning another regional championship.”
In last Wednesday’s home quarterfinal against MDI, Russ Mortland, Carter Melendez-Christiansen, Josh Allen and Isaac Lajoie all scored in the 4-0 triumph. Mortland and Carter-Melendez also dished out assists, as did Morris and Wilder York.
Contributed photo/Dave Allen Graphics
SNOW BALL – Eric Morris of the Wildcats looks to beat MDI defender Devin Young for a scoring opportunity in last Wednesday’s quarterfinal played in the snow. Presque Isle prevailed, 4-0.
Contributed photo/Dave Allen Graphics
NATHAN ACKERSON rises high to head the ball away in Presque Isle’s 2-0 triumph over Ellsworth Saturday. Teammate Evan Richards watches the play along with the Eagles’ Adam Kaspala, left.
