Playoffs dreams have become a reality for three local squads as the Houlton, Hodgdon and Southern Aroostook boys soccer teams are all headed to the postseason.
As of Tuesday morning, the unofficial Maine Principals Association Heal Point standings show Houlton (9-4-1, 92.8061) as the No. 4 seed in Class C North.
Final standings will not be released until Wednesday morning. If the standings hold true, Houlton will host the No. 5 seed (currently Fort Kent) in the quarterfinals Tuesday, Oct. 25. The Shires lost to Fort Kent 2-0 at home and tied 1-1 at Fort Kent.
Hodgdon (10-4, 68.0102) is presently the No. 7 seed in Class D North. The Hawks will likely host a preliminary game on Thursday against the No. 10 seed (currently Easton). The two teams did not meet during the regular season.
Southern Aroostook (6-7-1, 47.3724) is presently in ninth place and would travel to the No. 8 seed (currently Schenck) for a preliminary playoff Friday. The two teams did not meet during the regular season.
East Grand (4-7-3, 28.1122) is ranked 16th, while Katahdin (0-13-1) is 20th. Neither squad is in the playoffs this year.
The following is a recap of regular season games played through Monday that were reported to the newspaper.
Easton 1, Katahdin 0 — At Stacyville Monday, Easton’s Keagan Kinney scored with 17:41 left in the first half, and that goal stood up as the Bears shut out Katahdin. Jake Flewelling made eight saves for 9-4-1 Easton. Tanner Lane made 16 saves for 0-13-1 Katahdin.
Central Aroostook 4, East Grand 0 — At Danforth, Caleb Harris scored three goals to power Central Aroostook to the victory as the Panthers improved to 10-4. Ethan Pryor and Zachary Crouch also scored for the Panthers of Mars Hill.
Goalie Brady McEwen finished with 19 saves for East Grand.
Houlton 6, Mattanawcook Academy 0 — At Houlton Monday, Shire Nick Perfitt scored the first three goals of the game for Houlton, scoring two on unassisted shots and one on an assist from Jacob Worthley.
Pat Howe chipped in the fourth goal of the game on an assist from Ben Grant in the first half to bring the halftime score to 4-0. Perfitt scored his fourth goal of the night on another assist from Worthley, who added the last goal of the night on a penalty kick.
Houlton keeper AJ Henderson had five saves against eight shots, and Corbett Arnold had eight saves against 16 shots for the Lynx.
Houlton 0, Orono 2 — At Orono Saturday, Joseph Austumian scored an unassisted goal 21 minutes into the first half and the Red Riots padded their lead with an insurance goal 12 minutes into the second half off of a deep shot to increase the lead to two.
Houlton keeper AJ Henderson had nine saves against 11 shots and Orono’s Nathan Reid had three saves against three shots for Houlton.
Hodgdon 1, Ashland 2 — At Ashland Friday, Lucas Craig scored the game-winner unassisted with 2:36 left in the game, as the Hawks fell for the second time in three days. Drew Condon scored the first goal for the Hornets, who got four saves on eight shots from Steven Bellanceau.
Daden Palmer scored Hodgdon’s goal 5:37 into the game. Josh Foster and Wyatt Foster combined for 10 saves on 19 shots for the Hawks.
Woodland 1, Southern Aroostook 0 — At Dyer Brook Friday, Drew Hayward scored with 1:55 left in the first overtime period to give the Dragons the victory over SACS. Alex Morrison made five saves on 10 shots for 14-0 Woodland.
Nolan Altvater notched 10 saves on 19 shots for Southern Aroostook.
Hodgdon 1, Limestone 2 — At Limestone Oct. 12, Tobyn Blatt scored the second of his two goals in overtime on a penalty kick to give the Eagles the win over Hodgdon. Matthew Pelkey saved eight of 10 shots for Limestone Community School/Maine School of Science and Mathematics.
Jordan Merritt netted a first-half goal for Hodgdon off an assist from Wyatt Foster. Josh Foster made 15 saves on 19 shots for the Hawks.
Fort Fairfield 8, Southern Aroostook 0 — At Dyer Brook Wednesday, Oct. 12, Ryan Player knocked in three goals and assisted on another to lead Fort Fairfield past Southern Aroostook.
Yoni Matia added a pair of goals for 13-0 Fort Fairfield. Nolan Altvater made 27 saves on 25 shots for Southern Aroostook.
Woodland 4, East Grand 1 — At Danforth Oct. 12, Michael Grimanis netted two goals to lead Woodland past East Grand. Mason Spear and Riley Russell added goals for the undefeated Dragons.
Philip Farley scored the lone goal for the Vikings.
Katahdin 0, East Grand 3 — At Danforth Oct. 11, Thomas Gilman, Noah Sixberry and Farley scored second-half goals as East Grand shut out Katahdin.
Tanner Lane came up with 21 saves on 25 shots for 0-12-1 Katahdin of Stacyville.
