Upcoming games loom large
for high school soccer contenders
By Kevin Sjoberg and Joseph Cyr
It’s now October, which is the month featuring the final few regular season games for area soccer teams as well as a bulk of the playoff action later in the month.
The standings reveal that several central Aroostook County teams are making strong bids for the playoffs.
In Eastern Maine Class B, the most recent Heal Point standings show the Presque Isle boys in second place with its 9-1-1 record and 72.2704 tournament index points. The Wildcats trail No. 1 Camden Hills by only 2.28 points in the race for the top spot.
In EM Class D, Central Aroostook (fifth place, 31.1139), Washburn (seventh, 26.1947) and Fort Fairfield (10th, 10.1743) are the teams in strong contention.
In girls’ Eastern Class B, Presque Isle (7-2-1, 57.6531) is the third-ranked team. The top eight teams make the playoffs, with the seeds 1-7 earning a bye.
In Eastern Class D, Ashland (7-2, 56.1905) is the top-ranked team, while Washburn (7-3-2, 48.7405) is third, Fort Fairfield (5-4-1, 21.0714) is sixth, Central Aroostook (4-4-1, 20.1374) is seventh, Easton (6-5, 15.8659) is ninth. The top eight teams make the playoffs in this region.
It was a limited slate of action on the pitch last week, with summaries of games played through Monday as follows:
Central Aroostook boys 11, Ashland 1 – A hat trick by Tyler Rusby and two goals from Dan Brewer helped spearhead a lopsided win over the winless Hornets Monday in Presque Isle. Rusby also had an assist, while Connor Boulier and Kyle Murray each had a goal and an assist. Brandon Anthony, Matt Amnott and Joe Stiles were the other CA goal scorers. Ross Grass saved nine shots on 16 attempts in goal for the 7-4 Panthers.
Kenny Tarr scored a second-half goal for 0-10-1 Ashland. Goalies J.J. D’Ozier and Tyler Chasse combined for 16 saves on 27 shots.
Ashland girls 12, Central Aroostook 1 – Kayla Cote struck for a career-high four goals and Anna Paradis and Brooke LaBelle each added three more as the Hornets cruised to their seventh win of the season against two losses.
Whitney Donovan had two goals to round out Ashland’s scoring. Paradis added two assists, while Shea Craig, Rachel Gillis and Vanessa Higgins had one apiece. Macie Bellanceau and Donovan combined for duties in goal and had four saves on five shots.
CA, which dropped to 4-6-1 with the loss, got a goal from Kristen Long off a Rachael Grew assist.
Presque Isle boys 5, Mount Desert Island 0 – The Wildcats recorded their eighth shutout of the season Saturday, with Andrew Kofstad saving seven of eight shots in the shutout win at MDI.
Josh Allen notched three goals, while Wilder York and Caleb Mathers had one each for the winners, who improved to 9-1-1 on the campaign. Andrew Legassie logged a pair of assists.
PI put 24 shots on goal on a pair of MDI goalkeepers. The Trojans fell to 4-3-1 with the loss.
Presque Isle girls 3, Mount Desert Island 2 — At Bar Harbor Saturday, Chandler Guerrette scored the game-winning goal with 8:23 remaining as Presque Isle defeated Mount Desert Island. Megan Ireland and Shae Alder each netted an unassisted goal for the Wildcats. Meredith Stewart had five saves on seven shots.
Jamie McKay tallied two unassisted goals in the second half for the Trojans. Taylor Walls made 12 saves on 15 shots.
“We got out to a 2-0 lead; they fought hard and tied it 2-2,” Presque Isle coach Ralph Michaud said. “I was pleased how we kept our composure and Chandler scored late in the second half to give us the win.”
Presque Isle boys 3, Hermon 2 – The Wildcats squeaked one out last Wednesday in Hermon, as Jacob Player notched the game-winner with 2:43 to play to break a 2-2 deadlock and give PI the victory.
Allen scored twice earlier in the match, with Player picking up an assist on one of the goals. Kofstad stopped eight of 12 shots in goal.
Hermon’s goals were scored by Tyler Kelley and Taylor Gross. Kevin Frederick had a busy day in goal, facing 40 shots and saving 20 of them.
Presque Isle girls 2, Hermon 0 — At Hermon Thursday, Chelsea Nickerson scored a first-half goal off a direct kick, while Kayla Richards added a second-half goal as the Wildcats avenged an earlier-season loss to Hermon. Haley Bouchard had an assist for the Wildcats. Stewart had seven saves for Presque Isle, while Sarah Bishop stopped 15 shots for the Hawks.
“At Hermon, we played a solid well-rounded game, avenging an earlier loss,” Michaud said.
