By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
CARIBOU – For the second consecutive year, the Presque Isle and Caribou girls soccer teams will square off for a third time on the season. This time, an Eastern Maine championship will be on the line.
Contributed photo/jMavor Photography
Sarae Sager of the Vikings, left, boots the ball before a Hermon defender arrives during Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B semifinal held at Caribou. The Vikes won the contest, 3-0.
The third-seeded Wildcats and No. 1 Vikings will play in Caribou tonight at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing into Saturday’s state final to be played in Falmouth. The two teams met in the semifinals a year ago, at Presque Isle, with Caribou winning on penalty kicks.
The Vikes have also won both regular season matchups in 2010 – 5-3 in Presque Isle Sept. 1 and 3-1 in Caribou Oct. 18.
“They are the fastest team in Eastern Maine,” PI coach Ralph Michaud said of the Vikings, “and speed kills.”
However, Michaud likes the way his team has played the last four regular season games and throughout the post-season and knows his squad will be ready.
“Going up against Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference teams like Winslow and Camden Hills, we’ve had to play more of a physical game,” he said. “We’re not real big, but we have some tough kids.”
Caribou coach Todd Albert anticipates another difficult match against the Wildcats.
“They’re a good team, and their last game against us here they outshot us and it really could have gone either way,” Albert said. “We’ll have to make sure we are efficient in our scoring opportunities and cut down on the number of scoring chances they get.
“It’ll be a good battle.”
Michaud is excited to be a part of history with the Caribou-PI rivalry now extending into the post-season with a title at stake.
“We’ve played them in the tournament in basketball and the two teams have met in playoffs in other sports, but I’m pretty sure Caribou and Presque Isle have never met in a final, at least not for quite some time” Michaud said, “so it’s pretty special.”
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
Jamie Martin receives hugs from Jenna Selander, right, and other teammates after scoring a goal in Saturday’s win over Hermon.
The Vikings reached the final thanks to a pair of victories over Penobscot Valley Conference foes they had also beaten during the regular season.
Last Tuesday’s quarterfinal against Ellsworth proved to be a much more difficult match than anticipated, especially based on Caribou’s 3-0 win on the Eagles’ home field Sept. 23. The Vikes were held off the scoreboard until just 30 seconds were left on the clock, and then sophomore wing Olivia Sleeper went to work.
Her shot from 20 yards out was placed perfectly into the upper right corner of the goal, giving Caribou the 1-0 victory.
The goal served as a bit of redemption for Sleeper, who felt she had let her coach and teammates down up to that point.
“I didn’t think at first I was playing my game,” she said. “I wasn’t moving far enough up on offense and [coach Albert] was getting a little bit mad at me.”
She had Caribou’s best scoring chances in the first half, but all three of her offerings were just off the mark. The Vikes began asserting themselves on offense after the first-half struggles, capped by Sleeper’s heroics.
“The ball was fumbled a couple times and I shot it and it went far post,” she said of her game-winning goal. “I had missed those other shots earlier, but my teammates just kept telling me that I’d get it next time, so I was just so happy when it went in.”
She credited Ellsworth’s defense for keeping the game close.
“When you got the ball they were always right there marking you,” she said. “They came out strong and ready to play, but we showed them we could do the same and it turned out to be a good game.”
Morgan Swan saved five of six shots in goal for Caribou, while Jessica Toothaker of the Eagles had four saves on 12 shots.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
Sophomore Meredith Sleeper makes a move against a Hermon defender during Saturday’s match.
The Vikes were back home for Saturday’s semifinal against Hermon, another team it defeated (by a 5-1 score) during the regular season in a Sept. 4 match. Even though the first half was a territorial standoff, Caribou took a 1-0 lead into intermission thanks to its star senior – striker Jenna Selander. Her goal midway through was her 19th of the season and tied a school single-season scoring record shared by Beth Corrow (established in 1985) and Laura Pinette (1986).
Caribou added a second goal 11:43 into the second half, with Jamie Martin netting it, and a third with just 5:12 remaining, this one by Sleeper.
“That’s been the story of our year – the girls up front,” Albert said. “Speed is a factor for all three of them, and the key for us is getting the ball to them and for them to finish.”
Hermon coach Stori Shaw said the Vikes are a difficult team to contend with for a variety of reasons.
“They are No. 1 for a reason,” she said. “Selander is outstanding and their speed and they way they play together is impressive. They attack together, they defend together and communicate well.
“They are a classy team and deserve to be where they are.”
Even though it was a solid performance for Caribou, Albert realizes there are still aspects of the game to work on heading into the showdown against the Wildcats.
“I didn’t think we passed the ball particularly well,” he said. “We need to do a better job with our spacing. We can improve on that.
“Overall, we did some good things, but Hermon played well too. We had to challenge our defense to step up to the task and they won balls when we needed to. I think our depth was a factor in the second half as we subbed more than they did in the first half and I knew as the game wore on that would help us.”
Senior midfielder Lydia Kieffer was pleased with the way her team found its game after a slow start.
Contributed photo/jMavor Photography
Senior Lydia Kieffer connects for a pass during Caribou’s 3-0 win over Hermon in the EM B semifinals played at CHS.
“At first, we weren’t playing to the feet, but then we started to and also started talking more as a team,” said Kieffer, who along with Jessica Zbylut picked up assists for the Vikes in the contest. “Plus we started capitalizing on our opportunities.”
Swan and back-up goalkeeper Rebecca McDougal combined for eight saves on nine shots. Swan made some fine athletic plays, especially during the second half, as Caribou kept opponents off the scoreboard for the second consecutive playoff game and the eighth time this season.
