PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Beating a team three times is no easy task, but the Katahdin girls are quickly proving to be something special.
In a cold, blustery high school soccer game played at the Gehrig Johnson Athletic Complex in Presque Isle, No. 5 Katahdin (11-5) controlled the ball for much of the game and used the wind to its advantage to pull off a 1-0 Class D North quarterfinal victory over No. 4 Southern Aroostook (9-6) on Thursday.
With the victory, the Cougars advance to Saturday’s semifinal against No. 1 Central Aroostook in Mars Hill. The Panthers beat No. 9 Bangor Christian 10-1 earlier in the day.
Katahdin sophomore Emma McNally scored the game’s only goal with 18:16 left in the second half to propel the Cougars to the semifinal round.
Katahdin coach Shawn McAvoy said he opted to have his team go against the wind in the first half after winning the coin toss to start the game. That gamble paid off as the Cougars were able to control the ball for much of the game.
Playing on the larger, artificial turf at Presque Isle also proved challenging for the Cougars early on.
“This field is bigger than ours and very quick,” he said. “I was hoping our defense would be able to hold in the first half, and then we would have the wind in the second half to get a goal.”
That strategy worked to perfection as the Cougars dominated control of the ball in the second half, sending numerous shots at the Warriors’ net.
Thursday’s game saw neither team with their starting goalies. Katahdin’s Nikita Keim missed the quarterfinal after suffering a knee injury following the Cougars prelim victory over Deer Isle-Stonington. Southern Aroostook goalie Sydney Brewer has been out for several weeks after suffering a concussion in a regular season game against Katahdin on Oct. 9.
The Warriors actually came into Thursday’s quarterfinal missing five starters due to injuries and other reasons.
Southern Aroostook turned to senior Kylie Vining to handle the net duties but also used sophomore Kacy Daggett in goal. The two combined for 10 saves on 12 shots. Katahdin looked to eighth-grader Autumn McGraw to handle net duties and the youngster rose to the challenge, making four saves on eight shots.
“I knew this was going to be a tough game,” McAvoy said. “We match up with SA pretty good.”
Neither team was able to muster much of a scoring threat in the first half as a strong cross wind wreaked havoc on any throw-ins or long punts.
“The wind really killed us in the second half,” SA coach Holly Vining said. “The girls played with a lot of guts today, and I am really proud of them.”
