CARIBOU, Maine — Last year, the Vikings’ and Wildcats’ varsity soccer teams extended their rivalry into the post-season, as the only two Class B programs in Aroostook County squared off in the quarterfinals on both the girls’ and boys’ sides.
In those late-October playoff contests, the Presque Isle girls needed overtime before prevailing, 2-1, while Caribou boys were able to pick up a convincing 2-0 win. Last week, they met again for early regular season matchups on the Vikings’ home field, and revenge was exacted in both games.
Last Wednesday, the Caribou girls utilized the quickness on their front line en route to a 5-1 triumph and the following evening, the Wildcat boys used a gritty defensive effort and made their first-half goal stand up in a 1-0 victory.
In the girls’ game, the Vikings raced out to a 3-0 lead at intermission, with all the goals coming in the final 20 minutes. Eileen Patton tapped in a loose ball just in front of the goal line after teammate Maddie Doucette’s shot attempt from the right side made its way to the foot of Sarah Doak. She beat PI goalie Jillian Flynn to the ball and allowed Patton to sneak in for the game’s first goal at the 19:29 mark.
Approximately 90 seconds later, junior midfielder Erin Patton spotted Doucette racing down the right side. Doucette took the pass and then blasted a shot from 12 yards out past Flynn to make it 2-0.
With 4:07 to go until the half, Caribou striker Bria Judd connected off a Doucette assist from just inside the 18-yard line to close out the scoring rally.
“Getting one-on-one opportunities with our forwards was what we’d worked on in practice,” said Caribou coach Todd Albert. “We do a lot of drills for our offense in attacking.”
Presque Isle finally got on the scoreboard with 16:21 left in the second half as Taylor Williams had a one-on-one with Caribou defender Sammy Camy down the left side. She hit it inside the far post past Caribou goalie Morgan Outing.
However, Caribou responded less than a minute later when Judd used her tremendous speed and scored off a Sara Boyer pass. With 13 seconds left, Doucette put in an unassisted goal to account for the final margin.
“Maddie has good ball skills and Bria has good speed and hustle … they complement each other well,” Albert said. “Eileen was also effective on the outside. I always thought it was more fun to watch a team that is offensive, and having speed on the front line certainly helps.”
PI coach Ralph Michaud said having just one player on the defense in the same position they played last year allowed Caribou to exploit that part of the field.
“They have very good team speed,” Michaud said of the Vikes, “but we’re inexperienced back there and it’s going to be a learning process.”
The Vikes held an 18-8 advantage in shots on goal, with Outing saving seven and Flynn 13 for their respective teams.
“Beating Presque Isle is always a challenge and they always play hard,” Albert said. “We didn’t score any goals in 55 minutes against each other during the preseason, so to be able to score five was a good offensive performance.”
Michaud said this is the first time in his 16-year tenure that the Wildcats lost its first two regular season matches.
“We’ll change some things up and the good thing is we have a week to prepare for our next opponent,” said Michaud, whose PI squad next plays Saturday afternoon at home against Ellsworth.
The boys’ teams met 24 hours later in an intense battle. The lone goal of the contest came courtesy of Wildcat junior wing Chase Norton. Following a corner kick taken by Aaron Kofstad (Presque Isle’s only corner kick of the match), Alex Michaud won a ball out of the air and kept it alive for Norton in front of the net, who delivered at the 24:50 mark of the first half.
“I just tried to get up as high as I could and win that,” Michaud said. “I was right next to their goalie [Matt Manter] and I hit it toward the net. Thankfully, it ended up bouncing our way and Chase buried it.”
“He’s not really tall, so we don’t plan on Alex winning a lot of head balls on corner kicks,” said PI coach Joe Greaves. “We just want him to get in there and stir things up as he’s a scrappy guy who gets his nose into everything. He got the first touch on the ball and set Chase up nicely.”
Presque Isle continued to have the better of play for the next 10 or 15 minutes before, according to Caribou coach Scott Hunter, his team “finally began to get our legs under us.”
“From that point on, I was very happy with the way we played and I thought we owned the second half,” Hunter said. “Sometimes you need a little luck, but we hit some crossbars and posts and may have pressed a little as the game went along. Give Presque Isle credit, I thought they played hard.”
Caribou caught a break when Wildcat senior back Tyler Seeley left the game for 10 minutes with a yellow card for an unsportsmanlike foul. Seeley’s height makes him dangerous in the air and his absence was felt. The Vikings created some excellent opportunities to score, including a Matt Milliard shot that caromed off the right post with 12:15 to play and some constant penetration toward the goal by seniors Kameron Manter and Cody Herbert. However, the hosts could not connect. Greaves and Michaud both credited PI seniors Ansu Morrow and Devin Schinhofen for their strong play at the center midfield slots. Greaves added that the squad’s freshmen and sophomores in the back also performed well against a dangerous offensive team in Caribou.
The Vikes had 23 shots on goals in the game, compared to nine by Presque Isle. Caribou also had seven corner kicks compared to just the one for the Wildcats, which they converted.
“Our defense is relentless,” Michaud said, “especially our goalie [Cody Lyford], who plays hard and is a leader from the back of the field. He and our defense locked it down and that’s what we needed.”
The two schools located 13 miles apart on U.S. Route 1 will now wait six weeks before the next chapter of the rivalry is played out. The girls’ game is scheduled for Oct. 16 and the boys’ game Oct. 17, both in Presque Isle.
In other soccer games played last week in the region, the Washburn girls improved to 6-0 and have now outscored their opponents by a margin of 47-6 following an 8-2 win over Central Aroostook last Tuesday in Mars Hill and a 5-1 triumph Thursday at Fort Fairfield.
Mackenzie Worcester put in half of her team’s goals against the Panthers, while Carmen Bragg added two goals and Joan Overman and Brooklyn Plummer one each.
Sam Kearney and Ivy Davis provided CA with its offense with a goal each.
Two days later, Overman registered a hat trick and Worcester had the other two goals while also assisting on one of Overman’s. Tyra Shaw also contributed an assist for the Beavers. Logan Bubar scored the Tigers’ only goal as Fort lost for the first time following three consecutive victories to begin the season. Washburn had beaten Fort Fairfield in overtime in the semifinal round of last year’s playoffs.
The Ashland girls are now 3-0 after stopping Easton in a home game last Tuesday, 5-0, and then doubling up on Central Aroostook Thursday, 4-2.
Marissa Chasse, Rachel Gillis, Savannah Flint, Ally Beaulier and Caitlin Paradis all scored against the Bears, while balance prevailed against CA as well with four diffent goal scorers — Flint, Beaulier, Cassidy Pelletier and Laura Sturgeon. Pelletier also had two assists.
Marissa Anthony and Kearney scored for the 0-3 Panthers.
After consecutive shutout losses, the Easton Bears bounced back Friday for a 4-0 win at GHCA/Hodgdon. Kylee Carter scored twice and assisted on another goal, while Taylor Brown and Cassie Buck also netted goals for Easton.
The Easton boys are still unbeaten after knocking off Ashland last Tuesday, 4-3, and then shutting out GHCA/Hodgdon Friday, 4-0.
The Bears improved to 5-0-1 on the season. Against the Hornets in Ashland, Cody Halvorson drilled in a penalty kick with 15 minutes to play in regulation for the difference-maker. Ian Sotomayor, Drew Sotomayor and Logan Halvorson also scored for Easton, while Nick Belanger converted a pair of penalty kicks and Cody Blair netted a goal for Ashland.
Freshman goalkeeper Jake Flewelling had his first-ever shutout in the road win over the Hawks. Logan Halvorson had two goals, while Ian Sotomayor and Cody Halvorson added one each.
Central Aroostook won for the first time under new coach Ty Thurlow, beating Ashland Thursday, 2-1. Dustin Pryor scored his second goal of the game with 51 seconds to go in the second overtime period to lift the Panthers. Caleb Dube had the assist on the winning tally. Blair recorded the goal for 0-2-1 Ashland.
