Caribou boys can’t hold lead against Old Town
The Caribou girls’ soccer team went into the playoffs having lost its final two regular season matches, but did not let that deter them in Friday’s preliminary contest against Nokomis.
The Vikings, seeded eighth with their 8-6 record, scored 1:38 into the game and added three more before intermission en route to a 4-0 home victory over the No. 9 Warriors of Newport.
Molly Adams opened the scoring by converting an Eileen Patton assist and shortly after the same combination came through as Adams tallied another. They were the first goals of the season for Adams and coach Todd Albert said “she was in the right place at the right time” for both of them.
“I liked that we were able to get the two early goals and build some momentum,” said Albert. “I thought we played really well to start the game.”
Maddie Doucette provided some insurance with goals 7:19 apart later in the half. They were her 23rd and 24th goals of the season and allowed her to tie Bria Judd for the school record for goals in a season.
Albert praised the defense, citing Hope Shea, Danielle Hanson and Kendra Furber for their solid play in front of goalkeeper Jaelynn Doody, who finished with 12 saves on 17 shots, including a diving stop of a second-half penalty kick.
Caribou played No. 1 Oceanside yesterday afternoon and Albert gave his team a chance heading into that one.
“The pressure is on them,” he said. “Last year, they were the higher seed and lost in a prelim [to Nokomis] and two years ago we went down there and beat them in the quarterfinals.
“I realize that they have allowed only three goals all season, but we have scored in every game but one,” he added. “I really believe we have a chance if we play hard and smart.”
The season came to a halt for the Caribou boys Saturday after they were unable to hold on to the lead late against the host Old Town Coyotes.
The Vikings went into the match as the No. 11 seed, but had beaten them in Old Town Oct. 11 and had a 1-0 lead with 15 minutes to play. Then things got away from the visitors.
The Coyotes scored on a broken play at the 13:41 to tie it and two minutes later, went ahead on a Niko Knapp goal. Chad Bartlett then sealed the win with six minutes left to account for the 3-1 final.
“Everything looked to be going well and in the blink of an eye we went from up a goal to down one, so it was a tough loss to swallow,” said Viking coach Kyle Corrigan. “Our guys played great overall and we executed our game plan perfectly in the first half by getting the ball down the flanks to Hunter [Milliard], Andre [Rossignol] and Michael [Hunter] and we created tons of opportunities that way.
“We had the wind against us in the second half and the wind picked up with about 25 minutes left and they started to really pressure us,” Corrigan added.
Milliard scored the Vikes’ only goal by outracing two defenders following a lofted ball by defender Paul Hanson and beating Austin Sheehan.
Caribou goalkeeper Ethan Plourde had nine saves on 21 shots in the final game of his career. Also graduating are Milliard, Hanson,Hunter, Ben Ezzy, Matt Caron and Richard Newland
“It was a frustrating way to end the season with a great group of kids. The boys played their hearts out and left everything on the field, and they deserved a better result, but that’s the game of soccer,” Corrigan added.
Caribou ended up with a 5-8-2 record.
