Panthers thriving
Mars Hill, Washburn make soccer debuts
Central Aroostook and Washburn were the first soccer teams in the state to get their regular season underway and Friday’s opener in Washburn was a particularly happy one for the visiting Panthers of Mars Hill.
CA swept the contests, with the boys managing a 3-1 victory and the girls recording a 6-0 triumph.
In the boys’ game, the Panthers broke out to a 2-0 halftime lead as freshman Hayden Kingsbury set up teammate Ben Thomas for the first goal and then Kingsbury himself tallied.
Caleb Harris gave CA a 3-0 advantage by netting a goal off a Colby Kingsbury assist before Jovanni Taveras finally put the Beavers on the board with an unassisted goal late in the contest, closing out the scoring.
“I thought we played quite well when our defense was organized,” said Washburn coach Ben Goodwin. “[Central Aroostook] was only able to generate their scoring chances when we didn’t follow our defensive responsibilities.”
It was all Panthers in the girls’ game as they bolted to a 5-0 lead at halftime. Freshman Katie Levesque had a hat trick before intermission and she added a fourth goal in the second half. Breann Bradbury scored CA’s first goal and Jayden Giberson notched the final one of the first half. Giberson and Levesque each posted two assists and Sarah Gerritson had one.
Winning goalkeeper Caitlyn Harris stopped 10 of 12 shots and Maggie Castonguay stayed busy, turning away 17 of 28 for the Beavers.
“The team gave a tremendous effort for our first game,” said Panther coach Joe Levesque. “Every coach has some concern in the second half of their first game, concern if they are conditioned enough and concern if they can stay with the game plan. I thought we handled both pretty well for having so many freshmen in the lineup.”
Seven of Central Aroostook’s 17 players are ninth-graders.
Washburn was quickly back to work as they played Wisdom in St. Agatha Monday. The Beaver boys were able to gain their first win by a score of 7-0. Tavares scored three times and assisted on another goal, while Quintin Thompson put in a pair of goals and also had an assist to lead the offense.
The Beaver girls were upended by the Pioneers, 6-1, to fall to 0-2 on the campaign.
CA played at Fort Fairfield Tuesday and is back on the road for a game at Wisdom Friday, while the Beavers host Van Buren today and Southern Aroostook Friday. The Panthers and Beavers meet again, this time in Mars Hill, Tuesday.
Easton opens at Madawaska Friday and plays its first home game Monday, hosting Ashland in what will serve as the opener for the Hornet squads.
