By Joseph Cyr
Sports Editor
CARIBOU — It has been a rollercoaster season for the Caribou boys soccer team as the Vikings have struggled to a 3-5-3 record.
Contributed photo/jMavor Photography
Caribou’s Roland Thibodeau leaps to head away a ball against Bucksport Saturday. The Vikes won 8-0, but still need a strong finish to make the playoffs.
“We have certainly not played up to our potential,” 11th year coach Mark Shea said. “We’re still trying to figure out a few things.”
Caribou has three games remaining on its schedule — Mount Desert Island Oct. 9, Fort Kent Oct. 13 and Presque Isle Oct. 19. All three of those games are on the Vikings’ home field and if the squad hopes to make it to the postseason, it will need to pick up wins in those games.
On Monday afternoon the Vikings were seventh in Eastern Class B. However, by Tuesday morning, Caribou had dropped to 10th in the region. Only the top eight teams make the playoffs.
Members of the Caribou boys squad include seniors Garrett Jordan (goalie), Adam Chartier (defense), Nate Rossignol (midfield), Roland Thibodeau (forward), Kevin Strid (midfield), Ben Blackstone (defense), Matt Till (midfield) and Cole Sirois (midfield); junior Chad Caverhill (midfield); sophomores Lucien Caverhill (defense), Sean Barbosa (defense) and Nolan McDuffie (midfield); and freshmen Breen Blackstone (defense), Matt Milliard (forward) and Matt Manter (goalie).
One of the biggest factors in the Vikings’ failures this year, according to their coach, has been the inability to field a consistent lineup.
“We’ve only played one game all year with our full roster,” Shea said. “One of our best players (Rossignol) was injured right before the season in a non-soccer accident. He missed the first eight games of the season with a broken collarbone, concussion and bruised lung. To take somebody of Nate’s caliber off your roster has a big impact.”
Shea said his squad has played well in spurts, but has also struggled.
Numbers have been a problem as well as the Vikings had just 28 athletes come out for soccer, forcing the coaching staff to do recruiting for the first time in a number of years. Traditionally, the program draws more than 40 individuals for the varsity and junior varsity teams.
“This year was the lowest number in my 11 years with the program,” Shea said. “The good thing is we have strong eighth grade and freshman classes.”
David Wakana assisted Shea this season along with junior varsity coach Keegan Wakana. The managers are Danielle Violette and Jake Atcheson.
Shea said he remains hopeful that his squad would be able to string together a couple of wins to sneak into the postseason.
“I’m hoping a good solid week of practice will set us up nicely for our stretch run,” Shea said. “MDI is a big game for us. This is when you need to get positive results. It’s a cliché, but we really do control our own destiny. If we don’t play up to par, we don’t deserve to make the playoffs.”
