Teams looking to advance in soccer post-season
The Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield boys’ soccer teams are well rested heading into today’s home quarterfinal matches and their success during the regular season is the reason.
The Wildcats placed third in the final Heal Point standings for the Class B North division, while the Tigers were No. 1 in Class D. The Ashland and Fort Fairfield girls’ teams, first and fourth, respectively, in ‘D,’ also went straight through to their quarterfinal contests, which were played Tuesday afternoon.
All four teams had at least a week off to allow injuries to heal and rest up entering post-season play.
The 7-4-3 Wildcats take on No. 6 Old Town at 4 p.m. at the Gehrig Johnson Athletic Complex in Presque Isle. The Coyotes, who defeated Caribou, 3-1, in Saturday’s prelim, defeated PI in their only regular-season meeting by a score of 2-1 on Sept. 19 at Presque Isle.
Wildcat coach Joe Greaves said the two teams squared off in a quarterfinal in 2013, with host PI winning in overtime, so “they are no strangers to the turf or what to expect when they get up here.”
“They have an experienced group of upperclassmen who finished the season strong as well as they have won five of their last six games,” Greaves said, “so it’s going to be a very tough game.”
Presque Isle has gone 5-1-2 since the loss to Old Town and is undefeated over their last seven contests. The insertion of freshman goalkeeper Jason Dumais into the starting lineup has been a key as he has allowed just two goals in his starts and has collected five shutouts.
“We need our young guys to step up and play like upperclassmen and our seniors to be leaders out there,” said the coach. “There can be a lot of emotions going into games like this and we need to keep our heads, be smart, and do the things we did the second half of the season that made us successful.”
Seniors Sam Gray and Cooper Madore, juniors Khasen Lowe, Nick Bartlett and Josiah Morse and sophomores Ryle and Randon Mortland are among the key veterans for the ’Cats, while freshmen Jaren Winger and Jonah Hudson have chipped in with important goals and are other offensive threats.
The Fort Fairfield boys went through their season with a 13-0-1 mark. The lone tie came late in the season at No. 3 Ashland. Balanced solid play throughout the starting lineup and off the bench has sparked coach John Ala’s squad throughout the fall.
The Tigers meet up against No. 9 Machias today at 2:30 p.m. in Fort Fairfield. The Bulldogs pulled off a mini-upset over Deer Isle-Stonington in their prelim.
“Going into playoffs we need to continue to move the ball and get everyone on the field touches,” Ala said. “We’ve had a number of different players score for us this year and that’s because our guys have played unselfish, team-first soccer. Defensively we must work to stay organized by communicating and defending as a unit.
“The biggest key to our success this season has been how hard guys have played for each other,” he added. “Everyone has stepped up at one point or another to make a big play.”
Junior center midfielder Ryan Player, who transferred back to the area after spending his sophomore year in Colorado, is one of the top all-around players in Aroostook County. The team is also bolstered by having a talented goalkeeper in senior Dalton Cassidy.
The Ashland girls are also the top seed in their division. The Hornets surrendered just four goals all season and were tested only once — a 3-2 victory at Fort Fairfield Sept. 15. Coach Peter Belskis’ team went 14-0 for the second consecutive year and won the state title last fall.
In addition to their brilliant defense, which includes sophomore Megan Cote in goal as well as veterans Cassidy Pelletier, Laura Sturgeon and Chelsea Vaillancourt, the Hornets also have a dangerous offense with three major threats — senior Savannah Flint, the school’s all-time scoring leader, along with sophomore Mackenzie Carter and senior Caitlin Paradis — and many other complementary players.
The Hornets played No. 9 Wisdom in the quarters yesterday and a win would propel them into the semifinals against the winner of yesterday’s Fort Fairfield-Shead contest.
The Tigers went 12-2 during the season under second-year coach Tom Towle, with the only losses coming at the hands of Ashland. The fourth-seeded FF team was challenged very few times in their wins and are experienced and led by seven seniors — forwards Taylor Churchill, Chelsea Pelkey and Morgann Towle, midfielder Alexis Coiley, defenders Autumn Parady and Kayla Giberson and goalkeeper Sarah Watt.
All the other local teams who qualified for the playoffs had to compete in prelim matches played either Friday or Saturday.
The Presque Isle girls, seeded sixth in Class B North, blanked No. 11 John Bapst at home Friday, 3-0, as freshman Maddie Michaud added to her team-leading goal total with two more after Taylor Williams, off a Regan Nelson assist, put the 10-4-1 Wildcats on the board first two minutes into the game. Jillian Flynn stopped 10 of 15 shots for the shutout in goal.
“I loved our intensity, our focus and our team unity,” said PI coach Ralph Michaud. The victory set up a quarterfinal match played Tuesday at No. 3 Waterville, the defending state champs.
“We are playing our best soccer right now and are going down with a lot of confidence,” Michaud said the day before the game.
Kayla Massey, the Crusaders’ goalkeeper, stopped 15 of 22 shots.
The Central Aroostook girls and boys recorded shutout victories at home Friday to advance. The No. 6-ranked girls knocked off No. 11 Katahdin, 2-0, thanks to first-half goals provided by Karli Levesque and Delaney Grass and goalkeeper Ashlee Harris’s six saves, while the No. 5 boys netted all their goals in the second half of a 6-0 triumph over No. 12 Easton.
Alex Boulier scored four of the goals and Caleb Harris had the other two. Harris assisted on one of Boulier’s goals, while Dane Kingsbury assisted on both of Harris’s. Hunter Crouse saved eight of 10 shots for the shutout in goal.
The CA girls played at No. 3 Madawaska yesterday in the next round, while the Panther boys take on fourth-seeded Shead at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon in Eastport.
The No. 3 Ashland and No. 7 Washburn boys were able to move on in the playoffs after the Hornets blanked Hodgdon, 6-0, behind three goals and two assists from Kyle Beaulier and two goals from Jarrett Beaulier, and the Beavers came from behind to stop Southern Aroostook, 4-1. Both games were played Friday.
Lucas Craig scored the other goal for the 10-4-1 Hornets and Tim Tarr saved all six shots he faced for the shutout in goal. It was Ashland’s third win of the season over the Hawks. The Hornets will host No. 6 Penobscot Valley of Howland in the quarterfinals today at 3 p.m.
Washburn trailed 1-0 in its home game against SA before Noah Caron tied it with a penalty kick and Justin Davis knocked in another late in the first half that proved to be the game-winner. Caron and Kevin Jordan collected second-half insurance goals as Washburn improved to 9-5-1 and earned the right to play No. 2 Bangor Christian in Hampden this afternoon at 3 p.m.
