The Presque Isle girls overcame some second-half adversity to force overtime in their Class B North soccer semifinal at Hermon Friday, but the Hawks prevailed in the end, 2-1.
In another road semifinal involving a local team, the Class D Ashland boys were shut out by Bangor Christian in Hampden that same afternoon, 3-0.
Many local squads were also in action during the quarterfinal round, some played on the home field and others away, with mixed results.
In Hermon, the game was scoreless when Presque Isle goalkeeper Jillian Flynn received a red card 10 minutes into the second half for taking down the Hawks’ Morgan Buck in the penalty box. The result was the removal of Flynn for the rest of the match as the Wildcats were forced to play with 10 players. Freshman Savannah Rodriguez came on in relief of Flynn and saved the ensuing penalty kick attempted by Emi Higgins.
Midway through the half, Brianna Saulter of Hermon ripped a shot into the upper corner to give her team a 1-0 lead, but with just four minutes to play, PI freshman Maddie Michaud tied it up with a shorthanded goal to force overtime.
With four minutes to play in OT, Alex Allain scored off an Allison Treat cross to end the game.
Hermon held a 24-9 advantage in shots on goal, with Bryanne Crouse of the Hawks saving eight shots and Flynn and Rodriguez combining for 19 saves. PI finished the year with an 11-5-1 record as the No. 6 seed in the division.
At Bangor, Tyler Welch put in two goals as BC, the six-time defending regional champ, shut down Ashland in a 2 vs. 3 matchup.
Tim Tarr saved 11 of 17 shots in goal for the Hornets, who closed out the year with an 11-5-1 record.
Winning quarterfinal matches held last Tuesday and Wednesday were the Central Aroostook boys, the Fort Fairfield girls and boys, the Presque Isle girls and boys and the Ashland girls and boys. Dropping matches in that round were the Central Aroostook girls and the Washburn boys.
The Panther boys went on the road last Wednesday to defeat Shead in Eastport, 5-1. Alex Boulier scored two first-half goals, while Caleb Harris, Dane Kingsbury and Dustin Pryor chipped in with single goals in the second half. Hunter Crouse saved six of 18 shots in goal for CA, the No. 5 seed.
The Fort Fairfield girls also took on Shead last Tuesday and handed the visitors a 5-0 loss. Alexis Coiley netted a pair of goals for the No. 4 Tigers, while Chelsey Pelkey, Taylor Churchill and Morgann Towle contributed one apiece. Goalkeeper Sarah Watt turned in the shutout by stopping the only shot she faced.
The Tigers boys beat Machias easily at home last Wednesday by the same 5-0 score, with Chris Giberson scoring twice and Isaac Cyr, Jonah Daigle and Ryan Player one apiece. Dalton Cassidy recorded the shutout in goal.
The Presque Isle girls, ranked sixth, stopped No. 3 Waterville, the defending Class B champs, last Tuesday by a 3-2 score. Behind 1-0, Taylor Williams headed in an Eleanor St. Peter corner kick late in the first half.
A foul in the penalty area resulted in a penalty kick for PI early in the second half and Jillian Flynn came out of goal to to try to give the Wildcats the lead.
“We have been struggling with PKs all year and Jillian has been our most confident at them during practices so she knew if we got a call, she would be taking it,” said PI coach Ralph Michaud. “She buried it in the corner.”
Waterville tied the score with 10 minutes to play before Williams ripped in a direct kick from 30 yards out with 4:30 to play to win it.
The Wildcat boys were at home for their quarterfinal and used a Denny Young goal in the second half to snap a 1-1 tie and give them the eventual victory. Griffin Guerrette put PI on the board first off a Josiah Morse assist at the 15:20 mark of the first half before Brad Westura tied it later in the half.
Nick Bartlett assisted Young, a Wildcat reserve, on the winning play.
“Denny has skipped that head ball in a lot during practices this season and has done it in exhibition games so it was no surprise to see it happen,” said PI coach Joe Greaves. “If we could have him in the game every time we were running our throw-in play, it would be great.”
Jason Dumais made eight saves on nine shots for PI in goal.
The Ashland girls were an easy 8-1 winner at home over Wisdom last Tuesday. The No. 1-ranked Hornets were powered by Mackenzie Carter (four goals), Savannah Flint (two goals), Caitlin Paradis (one goal and three assists) and Morgan Doughty (two assists).
Cassidy Pelletier converted a penalty kick for the team’s other goal. Melanie Bellefleur scored Wisdom’s lone goal. Ashland outshot Wisdom, 40-3.
In a game decided by a second round of penalty kicks, the Ashland boys upended Penobscot Valley High School of Howland last Wednesday, 2-1.
Lucas Craig deflected in an Alex Kaiser shot to tie the match in the first half of regulation after Grant Doane had given PVHS the early lead on a penalty kick.
After regulation and the two 15-minute overtime periods, Ashland’s Kyle Beaulier and Alex Kaiser converted their penalty kicks in the opening round to tie PVHS, 2-2. In the next round, Ashland prevailed 4-1 thanks to successful PKs by Ben Philbrook, Jesse Wortman, Mason Deabay and Mason Moro.
Last Tuesday, the No. 6 Central Aroostook girls lost in overtime at No. 3 Madawaska, 3-2. The Panthers came from behind twice, with Delaney Grass scoring a first-half goal to make it 1-1 and Jadeyn Giberson tallying with 21:37 left in the game to tie it at 2.
However, Aspen Cote scored her second goal of the match with 10:08 to go in overtime as the Owls avoided the upset. Ashlee Harris made eight saves on 16 shots for the Panthers in the loss.
The Washburn boys suffered a Class D quarterfinal loss last Wednesday, dropping a 7-0 decision to Bangor Christian in a match held in Hampden.
The Beavers were outshot 25-7 and Tyler Welch scored three times and Luke Chandler had four assists for the defending regional champion Patriots.
Washburn, the No. 7 team in the division, finished with an overall record of 9-6-1, while Bangor Christian went on to defeat Ashland in the semifinals and will play Fort Fairfield in the finals this afternoon.
