Special to the Star-Herald
CARIBOU – With rain wreaking havoc for many outdoor activities lately, it held off nicely last Thursday afternoon at the Caribou soccer fields.
NICOLE GIBERSON of Fort Fairfield gets a kick off of a Madwaska defender in the 7v7 round robin soccer tourney held at Caribou High School last week.
Although the morning brought periods of pouring rain that left areas of the soccer fields wet and soggy, the afternoon gave way to brief periods of sunshine. This gave Caribou varsity girls coach Todd Albert reason to be glad he made the judgment call to continue on with his annual event.
“This was the fifth year for the girls 7 versus 7 round robin soccer tourney, and the largest tournament that we have had with 16 teams from 11 different schools participating,” Albert said.
Mattanawcook, Easton, Fort Fairfield, Washburn, Ashland, Fort Kent, and Central Aroostook each had one team registered. Houlton, Madawaska and Presque Isle came with two teams, and Caribou had three teams participating. With that many athletes to play, and fields modified, a coordinated effort for smooth transition between games was important, Albert said.
HANNAH GRAHAM of the Presque Isle 2 team gets by Caribou Junior Sabrina Haney and takes a shot on goal. Presque Isle 2 team lost to Fort Kent in the final with penalty kicks at the 5th annual summer soccer round robin, held in Caribou last Thursday.
The 16 teams were divided into two groups of eight, and each team played seven 15-minute games against each other. Kick off started promptly at 1 p.m. teams were off to getting their soccer legs again, crossbars were hit, corner kicks were adjusted and the new influx of incoming freshmen tried to match up against seasoned players.
After group play, the playoffs matched the top four teams from each group against each other. Eight teams participated in the quarter finals. In the semi-finals, teams appeared to be evenly matched. Fort Kent beat Caribou yellow on penalty kicks, Presque Isle 2 beat Caribou green with penalty kicks and in the final Fort Kent came away with the tourney title after beating Presque Isle 2, once again, with penalty kicks.
