HOULTON, Maine — The regular season is rapidly winding to a close for local soccer teams, giving a clearer picture for the upcoming Aroostook League playoffs.
The regular season concludes Tuesday, Oct. 27, with postseason action slated to begin Thursday, Oct. 29, for girls and Friday, Oct. 30 for boys in both the large (Division 1) and small (Division 2) schools. The championships are scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4, for the girls and Thursday, Nov. 5, for the boys.
For the boys, Hodgdon has secured the top seed in Division 1 (large school) with an 8-0 record as of Friday, Oct. 23. The Hawks will host the No. 4 seed (currently Central Aroostook at 4-1), and the No. 2 seed (currently Madawaska at 6-1) will host the No. 3 seed (currently Caribou 5-1). The remaining standings are CAHS (4-1), Presque Isle (4-2), Fort Kent (3-3), Houlton (1-5-1) and Fort Fairfield (0-5).
For the girls, the standings are much tighter, with no clear top seed determined. The standings show Fort Kent, 5-1; Caribou, 5-1; Fort Fairfield, 5-1; Hodgdon 5-2-1; Houlton 4-3; CAHS, 3-3; Presque Isle 3-4; and Madawaska 2-4.
The Division 2 standings for the boys were: Easton, 5-2; Van Buren, 4-2; Wisdom, 4-3; Southern Aroostook, 3-4-1; Ashland, 2-4; Katahdin, 3-5; Washburn, 0-5; and East Grand, 0-8.
The Division 2 standings for the girls were: Wisdom, 6-1; Ashland, 4-2; Katahdin, 4-4; Washburn, 3-3; Southern Aroostook, 3-5; Easton, 1-6; East Grand, 1-7; and Van Buren, 0-7. The Wisdom girls have clinched the top spot in this division.
In regular season action Thursday, the Hodgdon boys defeated Houlton 1-0 as Drew Duttweiler scored the game’s lone goal on a penalty kick. Houlton goalie Drew Foley had 17 saves on 22 shots and Elijah Matheson had 10 saves on 10 shots for Hodgdon.
The Katahdin boys beat Southern Aroostook 3-2 in a double overtime game. The Cougars Grady Ritchie converted a pass from Kaden McNally with 1:46 left in the second overtime for the victory. Jacob Perry and Kyle McNally scored the other two Katahdin goals during regulation with Kaden McNally also assisting on Perry’s goal. Kalan Mann made 16 saves on 20 shots.
Xavier Morales scored both Southern Aroostook goals. Brennan Burpee and Jacob Brooks combined to make 28 saves on 31 shots.
