The Caribou girls put an end to a three-game losing streak and the Limestone-MSSM boys continued their late-season success during recent varsity soccer action.
The season is winding down for all the local squads, with the final standings to be released next week and the preliminary playoff round getting underway Oct. 24.
In Caribou Thursday, coach Todd Albert’s Vikings avenged their season-opening loss to Fort Kent with a 3-0 victory. The win improved the team’s record to 6-5. Caribou was in ninth place in Eastern Maine Class B as of Tuesday morning.
Bria Judd was the offensive hero as she scored all three goals, one in the first half and the other two after intermission, to increase her season total to 22 with three games still remaining, beginning with tonight’s home contest against Presque Isle. Maddie Doucette assisted on two of Judd’s goals.
“We created some opportunities and Bria had a nose for the goal,” Albert said. “Fort Kent doesn’t give up many goals, so scoring three was a positive.”
Goalkeeper Morgan Outing recorded her second shutout of the season by saving eight of 10 shots. Albert said the entire defense played really well.
“I thought our effort level was high and we played many girls to keep their legs fresh,” the coach added. “Communication has improved on the field and that is always important.”
The Limestone-MSSM Eagles began the season with six consecutive losses, but have now won five of their last six following wins over both East Grand and defending EM Class C champion Madawaska last week.
The Eagles are now very much in playoff contention. As of Tuesday, the team was in 13th place out of 21 Class D teams, with the top 14 moving into the post-season. The Eagles host Wisdom Thursday before wrapping up its slate with a key contest in Easton Saturday.
Coach Jon Hamilton said wins in both could move his team all the way up to ninth place. However, he said depending on the outcomes they still may not make the cut.
“With the number of upsets I have seen of late, a playoff position is still up for grabs,” he said, “but if we continue to work hard and stay positive, I feel we can make it in. We need to stay focused and never overlook any opponent.”
He said that positive attitude and a strong work ethic have been the keys in the turnaround.
“The challenge we faced early in the season was getting players used to playing with one another and finding the right position for everyone to play on the field,” he said. “It took awhile to figure that out, but once we did it was a matter of playing together and having the guys learn their roles on the team.”
Zeb Keith-Hardy has been the offensive sparkplug with hat tricks in the two recent matches against East Grand and Madawaska. He had all three of his goals in the first half of the 7-0 win over the Vikings in Danforth last Tuesday. Gordon McCulloh, Toby Blatt, Tommy Giggey and Ahmed Bashir had the other Eagle goals in the shutout victory. Sam Kupiec, the goalkeeper, had eight saves on eight shots.
Keith-Hardy kept it going Thursday at home against the Owls. He had all three of his team’s goals in the 3-1 victory. Dylan Nadeau handled the goalie chores and stopped eight of nine shots as the Eagles improved to 5-7.
Summaries of other games involving area teams played through Saturday are as follow:
Fort Kent boys 1, Caribou 0 — The Vikings fell to 1-8-2 on the season following Thursday’s home loss to the Warriors.
The tough season continued for coach Scott Hunter’s team, which was shut out for the fourth time this season and has scored just eight goals in 11 contests. The Vikings have lost their last three matches by one-goal margins.
Brandon Theriault scored with 10:30 to play in the first half for the game’s only goal.
Caribou outshot Fort Kent, the No. 1 team in Class C, by a margin of 20-14, but Warrior goalkeeper Chris Daigle made 14 saves for the shutout. Ethan Plourde kept the Vikes in the game with nine saves on 14 shots.
Despite having only one win so far, Caribou has plenty of points remaining on its schedule with games against Presque Isle, the No. 2 team in EM Class B, at home Thursday, followed by contests against Ellsworth, No. 1 in Class B, also at home Saturday and Madawaska, who is among the top eight in Class C, next Tuesday. The Vikings are currently in 15th place, but an upset win over PI or Ellsworth could move Caribou up two slots and into the playoffs.
Madawaska girls 5 at Limestone-MSSM 0 — At Limestone Thursday, the Owls scored four second-half goals to break open a close game and go on to the win.
Limestone/MSSM goalkeeper Jackie Peers made 27 saves on 46 shots as her squad fell to 2-10 overall. The team will most likely need wins in its final two matches over Wisdom (Thursday) and Easton (Saturday) to have a chance to get into the post-season.
East Grand girls 2, Limestone-MSSM 0 — At Danforth last Tuesday, Sarah Stoddard scored both goals to lead the host to the shutout victory and avenge an early-season loss to the Eagles.
Goalie Chelsea Winiarski had her fifth shutout with 11 saves for East Grand. Peers made 12 saves for the Eagles.
Central Aroostook girls 3, Fort Fairfield 2 — Last Tuesday in Mars Hill, Karli Levesque scored with 28 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Panthers to victory over the Tigers.
Kassie Levesque and Mollie Garrison netted a goal each for winners, while Alexis Coiley and Gracie Griffeth scored the goals for 6-3-2 Fort Fairfield.
Fort Fairfield boys 1, Central Aroostook 0 — In the boys’ match that same evening, Fort Fairfield’s Brendan York scored the game’s lone goal with 7:45 left in the second half to propel the Tigers past the Panthers.
Johnny Theriault notched the assist on the play as Fort Fairfield improved to 6-4-1.
