FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — Even after a season-opening 17-0 thrashing of Washburn, coach Wallace Endy admitted he was still unsure where his Central Aroostook boys’ soccer team stood.
On Thursday, the Panthers left no doubt they can play with the best teams in Aroostook County after earning a 1-0 road victory over Fort Fairfield.
Junior Ben Thomas scored the only goal of the match with just 9:52 remaining. He took a cross from the wing and ripped a shot from inside the box into the net. The goal stood up as the Panthers won the defensive battle.
“My players played hard and I feel that we had more possessions,” Endy said. “Fort is a very physical team, so you have to be physical too.”
Central Aroostook (2-0) outshot the Tigers 21-11, with the Panthers’ Brayden Bradbury saving six shots for the shutout. Malcolm Langner collected 17 saves for the Tigers, who fell to 1-1.
The Panther girls have also won their first two matches following an 8-1 triumph over the Tigers.
Sophomore Kate Levesque scored CA’s first two and final two goals and assisted on three others, while freshman Libby Grass netted a pair of goals.
Kayla Martin and Janelle Tweedie also tallied goals for the Panthers, while Kennedy Bencivenga, coming off a four-goal performance against Washburn two days earlier, recorded the Tigers’ lone goal.
CA outshot the Tigers (0-2) by a 39-4 margin. Caitlyn Harris made three saves for the winners.
“We were a little more consistent than we were in our opener because I had my regular starters in at the beginning of the game and they are starting to get more comfortable [with each other],” said Joe Levesque, the Panthers’ head coach.
The Panthers next face two of their more difficult opponents when they host Ashland Wednesday and play at Southern Aroostook Monday, Aug. 28.
“We will be able to gauge where we are after those games,” he said.
The Easton boys opened the regular season Friday and lost in overtime at Madawaska, 4-3.
The Bears trailed by two goals before mounting a comeback with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation. Isaac Currier and Camden Michaud then scored goals four minutes apart for Easton to tie it. The game remained deadlocked through the remainder of the second half and a majority of the overtime before the Owls won it when a clearing attempt by the Bears was deflected off one of their own players and into the net.
“It was a little tough to swallow, but our guys battled hard,” said Easton coach Ryan Shaw. “Our compete level was high and there were a lot of momentum swings.”
“We made some mistakes, but we will get better every day,” added Shaw, who noted that his roster, with nine freshmen and four sophomores, features plenty of inexperienced players.
Kyle Flewelling scored off a Currier assist in the first half for the Bears.
In the girls’ game, Madawaska came away with a 14-2 victory. Bear senior Isabelle Morin scored both of her team’s goals.
The Washburn girls improved to 2-1 with a 4-1 home win over Wisdom, also on Friday. Madison Miller, a freshman, scored two first-half goals and Kassie Farley added a pair of insurance tallies in the second half to lead the Beavers’ offense.
Bailey Bellefleur scored a first-half goal for the 0-1 Pioneers.
Beaver coach Marcie Barburala said her team did a great job containing the Pioneers’ top two scoring threats, Bellefleur and Breanna Lavoie, for most of the game. Barbarula said Sam Churchill and Alexis Carney drew the marking assignments for Washburn and sweeper Katie Easler and goalie Carly Bragg (nine saves on 14 shots) had strong outings.
The Washburn boys fell to 0-3 after a 5-0 loss to Wisdom that afternoon. The Beavers have now been outscored, 32-0, in their first three matches.
