MARS HILL, Maine — Hunter Wardwell scored the tie-breaking goal unassisted six minutes into the second half, and Bryan Anthony added the clincher off a Ben Thomas assist with 4:28 left as the top-ranked Central Aroostook Panthers defeated No. 4 Madawaska Friday afternoon, 3-1, in a Class D North semifinal matchup between two teams very familiar with each other.
Central Aroostook, now 16-0 on the season, has now recorded three wins over the Owls this fall. The Panthers had beaten them in Madawaska on Aug. 24 by a score of 4-1 and at home on Sept. 4, 4-0.
The Panthers had the better of the offensive chances throughout the match, but Madawaska goalkeeper Andrew Nadeau came up with a couple great saves and finished up with five while facing 20 shots. Nadeau’s aggressive play and athletic ability allowed him to be successful in snuffing out numerous attempts by Central Aroostook attackers.
Nadeau was helpless on the Panthers’ first tally, which came on a penalty kick by Thomas at the 22:03 mark of the opening half that he fired into the upper right corner of the goal. The goal resulted when Josh Thomas, his younger brother, was pushed down by a Madawaska defender inside the 18-yard box.
“That penalty kick got us going,” Central Aroostook coach Wallace Endy said. “You get that first one and it give you momentum.”
Less than four minutes later, the Owls squared things up when Tristan Cyr ripped a shot past Central Aroostook Brayden Bradbury. Robert Lausier earned the assist on the goal.
The teams went into intermission with the score tied, but the Panthers kept the pressure on and despite some acrobatic plays by Nadeau were able to put in the two unanswered goals and kept the Madawaska offense silent.
“Cyr is their go-to guy, and if you can give him some static on defense you can be successful, and I thought we did a good job on him overall,” Endy said.
Bradbury ended up with three saves while facing eight shots. He has now surrendered just five goals in his team’s 16 matches.
Central Aroostook will next take on Penobscot Valley High School of Howland in the regional finals Wednesday, Oct. 31. PVHS, the second seed in the division with a 15-1 record, bested No. 3 Woodland on Friday in the other semifinal, 3-0.
