The Caribou and Presque Isle girls’ soccer teams renew their rivalry Wednesday at 7 p.m. with a match at the Johnson Athletic Complex in Presque Isle.
The Vikings enter with a perfect 10-0 record and are currently in second place in Class B North, behind Erskine Academy of South China, which has played three more games. The Wildcats are 9-2 and in fifth in the division.
Both teams feature a scoring weapon, as senior Searra Herbert has tallied 21 goals for Caribou and junior Madison Michaud 25 for Presque Isle.
Libby Grass of the Panthers heads toward the goal as Danni Carter of the Hornets approaches from behind during the match played in Ashland Tuesday. (Kevin Sjoberg)
As a team, the Vikes enjoy a powerful attack, averaging over 6 goals per game. PI comes in averaging 3.8 goals per contest. Both defenses have been stingy as Caribou has surrendered just eight goals all season and the Wildcats have given up nine.
Caribou won the Sept. 12 meeting on its home field by a 2-1 margin. Herbert provided the game-winning goal in the second half for the Vikings, while Ashley Matlock also scored. Michaud netted PI’s lone goal.
Caribou coach Todd Albert said four things stand out as important factors in coming away with another victory over the Wildcats.
“Keys for tonight are to connect passes, avoid the counter attack, compete out of the air and finish our chances,” Albert said.
Mia Carney of the Hornets attempts to get a shot off as Central Aroostook’s Maddison Coffin applies the defense during Tuesday’s match in Ashland. (Kevin Sjoberg)
Ralph Michaud, the Presque Isle coach, said in addition to Herbert, Caribou has many talented players that his team must be aware of.
“They have so many weapons. It’s hard to say ‘let’s eliminate these particular players’ so we will have to focus 100 percent of the time,” Michaud said. “Plus we will have to make the most of our own scoring opportunities.”
In other soccer matches Wednesday, Woodland travels to Hodgdon for boys and girls contests at 3:30 p.m., while the Southern Aroostook boys and girls head to Stacyville to take on Katahdin at 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday soccer summaries
Ashland girls 2, Central Aroostook 1 — At Ashland, Amber Chasse’s goal off a Morgan Doughty corner kick less than 10 minutes into the second half proved to be the game winner as the Hornets edged Central Aroostook.
Shelby Stolze scored Ashland’s first goal on a Willow Hall assist, tying the game four minutes after Kate Levesque scored the Panthers’ goal on a direct kick in the first half.
Ashland goalie Megan Cote made seven saves on 10 shots. Central Aroostook’s Caitlyn Harris made 15 saves on 22 shots. Ashland is now 11-1 and Central Aroostook fell to 7-5.
Easton boys 5, Van Buren 3 — At Easton, Isaac Currier scored twice to lead the Bears to victory in their first game after a three-week harvest break.
Collin Sotomayor and Kooper Kinney each added a goal and an assist for 6-5-1 Easton, while Camden Michaud also scored for the Bears.
Matt Burgess scored twice and Noah Pelletier once for 5-8 Van Buren.
Kody Carter earned the win in goal, collecting six saves on 10 shots. Van Buren goalie Colby Lapointe made seven saves on 16 shots.
Easton girls 6, Van Buren 0 — At Eaton, Isabelle Morin netted five goals and an assist and Delia Bonner contributed the other goal and had three assists as the Bears were successful in their first game since Sept. 19. The team is now 3-7-2 and the Crusaders fell to 2-10-1.
Caribou boys 6, Nokomis 0 — The Vikings are now 5-6 as Bailey Griffeth scored three goals and Cullin Caverhill, Alex Ezzy and Nic Sleeper added one apiece in the game played at Newport. The Warriors are now 0-12.
East Grand boys 7, Katahdin 0 — At Danforth, the Vikings shut out visiting Katahdin to improve to 6-7 on the season. Katahdin drops to 2-8-1 on the year. Thomas Gilman scored three goals to lead the team. The remaining four goals were not available.
Katahdin girls 4, East Grand 2 — The Cougars (5-5-1) doubled up on the Vikings (2-9-1) in Danforth. Individual results were not reported.
