Rossignol, Wilson lead VB
past Ashland in D final
By Kevin Sjoberg
PRESQUE ISLE – After winning an Eastern Maine title in 2007, the Ashland Hornets have made it back to the regional championship in each of the three years since, only to be denied on all three occasions.
The latest bid came last Wednesday, and even though coach Peter Belskis’s squad made another comeback attempt, Van Buren proved to be a worthy champion with the 3-1 victory.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
BALL WORK — Rachel Gillis of Ashland brings the ball out of the corner during last Wednesday’s Eastern Class D championship against Van Buren. The Hornets lost 3-1.
Parise Rossignol, a talented freshman who scored 27 goals and added 12 assists on the season, put the Crusaders up 1-0 just over 10 minutes into the game. She took a volley out of the air from the top of the 18-yard box and connected on a perfectly-placed left-footed shot that found the upper-left corner of the goal.
“It was a pretty classy goal,” said Van Buren coach Jay Edgecomb.
Rossignol made it 2-0 with 15:20 left before intermission when she chased down a punt off the foot of goalkeeper Ashlie Wilson and turned it into a breakaway. Her low hard shot got past Ashland goalie Macie Bellanceau.
Ashland had the better of the opportunities in the game’s first 10 minutes, including a direct kick by senior back Whitney Donovan that soared just over the crossbar and a hard shot by Brooke LaBelle that went wide of the right post. The Hornets made another rally at the end of the first half, but a couple good attempts by Kayla Cote were just off the mark.
To start the second half, Cote had another great scoring chance, only to see Wilson deliver her best save of the contest. Finally, Ashland got on the scoreboard when Cote took a nice cross from LaBelle and beat Wilson with a shot that came with 13:54 remaining, making it a one-goal match.
The Hornets kept the pressure on and had a couple furious offensive flurries, but Wilson and the Van Buren defense were able to keep the ball out of the net.
“The girls were prepared for that,” Edgecomb said. “They knew they were going to be tested and they finished the job.
“Ashlie, in my opinion, is one of the top two goalies in Aroostook County,” he added. “She’s very athletic and aggressive.”
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
CHECK PLEASE — Ashland’s Gabby Cyr, left, leans into Van Buren’s Chantal Rioux as they battle for the ball..
Belskis said the Van Buren goalkeeper was certainly the difference maker in the contest.
“She made three or four spectacular saves late and that guaranteed them the win,” Belskis said. “She was fantastic.”
The Crusaders closed out the scoring when Erika Searles jumped on a fumbled save attempt by Bellanceau with 5:50 to go and connected from 20 yards out to make it 3-1.
Ashland held a 19-5 shot advantage in the match.
“I knew it would come down to which team would take advantage of their opportunities,” Belskis said. “Hats off to Van Buren because they did that. They got the early lead and were able to get in their defensive shell.
“But I liked the way our girls responded. I thought we’d make a run and we did. I can’t say enough about the way they battled, both in the final and throughout the playoffs,” he added.
Ashland needed comeback wins in the quarterfinals against Schenck and in the semifinals against Washburn to reach the championship game.
