Wildcat boys host Mustangs
as part of busy playoff slate
By Kevin Sjoberg
The Presque Isle Wildcats face a familiar foe in this afternoon’s Eastern Maine Class B boys quarterfinal match – one they met in the semifinal round of the playoffs a year ago.
The ’Cats will host Mt. View of Thorndike at 4 p.m. Presque Isle beat the Mustangs 3-2 in overtime last year and PI coach Scott Young expects another tough match.
“They graduated eight starters from that team, but they have a great coach and a great system and we feel they are a great matchup mostly due to how they play – which is just like us,” Young said. “They play to feet and spread the field, which is exactly what we do and we are very good at it.”
Mt. View enters the playoffs as the No. 6 seed after going 7-5-2 during the regular season. The Mustangs face a Presque Isle team that lost just once all year – to No. 1 and undefeated Ellsworth. PI went 12-1-1 and allowed just nine goals while racking up 10 shutouts along the way.
The Wildcats scored 72 goals in their 14 games, with senior midfielder Josh Allen responsible for 26 of them. Wilder York and Isaac LaJoie, both juniors, were also in double figures in goals with 12 and 11, respectively. Ten other players reached the scoring column and defender Andrew Legassie totaled a team-best eight assists while three players – Allen, York and LaJoie – tied for second in that department with seven apiece.
“We will need to compete for all 50-50 balls and anticipate second and third ball opportunities,” Young said. “Mt. View is playing their best soccer of the year, so we will need to play harder and smarter the entire game.”
PI wrapped up its season with a workmanlike 5-0 win at Caribou last Tuesday. Allen scored four times, two in each half, while Young said the entire team played well, including the substitutes who generated plenty of scoring chances in the second half.
“It seems we are peaking right about now, so as long as we continue to think and play as a team, we will have a great chance of playing for a championship,” Young said.
The winner of today’s game takes on either No. 2 Camden Hills or No. 7 John Bapst in Saturday’s semifinals.
The Central Aroostook Panthers are the other local team in action this afternoon. CA is ranked fifth in EM Class D and drew No. 4 Southern Aroostook in this afternoon’s quarterfinal, which gets under way at 2 p.m. in Dyer Brook.
CA enters the game with a 9-4-1 record, but went 5-0-1 over its final six contests and outscored its opponents by a 31-3 margin in those five victories. The Panthers and Warriors met once early in the season, with SA coming away with a 2-0 victory.
The Warriors compiled an 11-2-1 mark, but went just 2-2-1 down the stretch after starting 9-0.
The Panthers’ offensive attack is spearheaded by Daniel Brewer, who leads the team in goals scored.
The winner of the quarterfinal match between Calvary Chapel, the division’s No. 1 team, and No. 9 Shead, which knocked off Washburn in a preliminary playoff game Saturday, will meet the SA-CA winner Friday afternoon in semifinal action.
Several girls quarterfinal matches took place yesterday, with Class D’s No. 1 team, Ashland, taking on No. 8 Schenck under the lights at the Johnson Athletic Complex in Presque Isle. The Hornets went 9-2-1 on the regular season, with the lone losses coming to Washburn and Van Buren. Ashland handed Southern Aroostook each of its two losses and went 6-0-1 over its final seven contests.
Washburn is ranked fourth in the division and entertained No. 5 Deer Isle-Stonington Tuesday. The Beavers entered with an 8-4-2 record, while Deer Isle-Stonington boasts a 9-1-4 mark. Washburn has received great play all season from sophomore goalkeeper Rayah Saucier and boast several other talented young players throughout the lineup.
Fort Fairfield, which tied Ashland 2-2 in its regular season finale Oct. 25, went in as the No. 6 seed with a 7-5-2 record and took on No. 3 Van Buren yesterday afternoon. Freshman Logan Bubar has been one of the key weapons for the Tigers, while the Crusaders were led by freshman Parise Rossignol throughout the regular season.
In Class B, Presque Isle is ranked third and hosted No. 6 Winslow yesterday. The Wildcats of coach Ralph Michaud went 10-3-1. Two of the losses were to top-seeded Caribou. Presque Isle, which ended Winslow’s four-year reign as EM champs in 2008 with a home victory in the finals, features speedy forward Chandler Guerrette, who led the team in goals, along with talented juniors Kayla Richards and Chelsea Nickerson.
The girls’ Class D semifinals are scheduled to be played Friday, with the girls’ B semis slated for Saturday.
