Late-match position switch pays off
as FF stays unbeaten
Local teams trying to position themselves for post-season
Ryan Player is perfectly content at his regular center midfield position, but with his team trailing by a goal late in the Oct. 6, 2015 home match against Central Aroostook, his coach felt the need to move him to offense.
The switch paid off as the Fort Fairfield junior scored the tying goal with 5:28 left and assisted on Chris Gill’s game-winner 38 seconds later, keeping the Tigers undefeated with a 3-2 victory over the Panthers in a matchup of Class D North powers.
“Ryan doesn’t really like to play striker,” said Fort Fairfield coach John Ala. “He’d rather assist on a goal than score himself, but we needed his offense, and he came through.”
Both squads were coming off lengthy layoffs because of the harvest recess, with Fort Fairfield having gone two weeks without a game and Central Aroostook one. It took awhile for each team’s offense to click, but the goals came in bunches over the final 28 minutes.
The Tigers opened the scoring with a breakaway goal by junior forward Landon Kinney 12:35 into the second half, but the visitors bounced back with a couple quick strikes.
At the 20:25 mark, Fort Fairfield goalkeeper Dalton Cassidy made an initial save on a shot taken by Central Aroostook’s Dustin Pryor, but Alex Boulier was there to boot in the rebound to tie the match. Just over two minutes later, the Panthers’ set play specialist, senior Dane Kingsbury, lofted a superb corner kick that Cassidy attempted to punch away. The ball caromed off the crossbar and trickled over the line to give the Panthers the 2-1 edge.
The score stayed that way, and at the six-minute mark, Ala sent Player to the front line. About 30 seconds later, Player scored off a nifty through ball from Isaac Cyr and soon after that made a throw-in that found the foot of Gill, who sent it past Panther goalkeeper Hunter Crouse to break the tie.
The talented Player, who moved back to Fort Fairfield in June after spending his sophomore year in Colorado, said it was the first time this season he was called upon to make the move up front.
“The option has always been there, but we just haven’t had to use it,” Player said, “but coach thought this was the time and it worked.”
Cassidy finished with 10 saves on 14 shots for Fort Fairfield, while Crouse made eight saves on 25 shots.
Player said it has been a season where everything has come together and hopes it continues with the playoffs approaching.
“We’ve just been solid everywhere,” he said. “We have a strong bench, and Dalton is one of the best [goalkeepers] around and keeps us in every game.”
Fort Fairfield has handed Central Aroostook its only two losses of the season. The Tigers also prevailed way back on Aug. 18 in Mars Hill, 4-1.
“Credit them because they closed it out the way I was hoping we would have,” said Central Aroostook coach Cody Tompkins. “They are a good team … well coached with some really good players. They are going to go deep in the playoffs, and I hope we do, too.”
In other recent action, the Fort Fairfield girls and boys recorded wins at Limestone Monday, with the girls taking a 3-0 decision and the boys prevailing, 7-0.
Morgann Towle, Taylor Churchill and Chelsey Pelkey scored the Tiger goals in the girls’ contest, with Sarah Watt picking up the shutout in goal, while Jonah Daigle and Player each had two goals and Giberson, Chris Gill and Greg Jellison one apiece for the FF boys. Cassidy saved all eight shots he faced to earn the shutout in goal.
The Fort girls are 9-2 and in fifth place in Class D North, while the boys are now 10-0-1 and atop the division standings.
At Ashland Friday, the Tiger boys played to a 2-2 tie with the Hornets. Isaac Cyr and Giberson scored Fort’s goals. In the girls’ game, Ashland rolled to a 6-0 win to remain undefeated.
To begin the busy week, the Fort Fairfield girls had their offense going in a 7-3 triumph over Central Aroostook last Tuesday at home. Churchill had three goals and an assist, Towle had two goals and an assist and Pelkey a goal and two assists to lead the charge. Alexis Coiley chipped in with a goal and an assist.
The Tiger squads resume their schedule today with home matches against Southern Aroostook. East Grand is the opponent for home games Saturday before the regular season wraps up at Washburn next Tuesday.
The Beavers, who have been off for over a month due to the harvest break, host Van Buren Thursday and Southern Aroostook Saturday before closing with Fort Fairfield. The Washburn boys have a 6-4-1 record and are in eighth place in the D standings, while the girls stand at 1-9-1 and are in 15th.
In addition to the loss at Fort Fairfield, the Central Aroostook girls fell at home to Madawaska Thursday and tied Wisdom Saturday, 3-3. The Panthers hold a 6-4-1 record and are seventh in the standings.
The Panther boys bounced back from the tough loss at Fort Fairfield to stop Madawaska, 8-2, and Wisdom, 5-1. Against the Owls, Pryor recorded a hat trick and senior Riley McGrath notched his first career goal. Caleb Harris, Ben Thomas, Zach Crouch and Colby Kingsbury had the other CA tallies. The squad improved to 9-2 and is in fifth place with three games still to play.
The Panther squads were at Ashland Tuesday, and then host Easton Thursday before finishing against East Grand in Danforth Monday.
Like Washburn, the Bear squads have been off since mid-September and have four to play, doing it over a six-day stretch. A home match against Van Buren Tuesday started it, and after the CA contests Thursday, the opponents will be at Wisdom Saturday and Katahdin Monday, both on the road. The Easton girls are 4-6 and in 13th place — one slot out of a playoff position. The boys’ team is currently 5-4-1 and in 13th, with the top 14 qualifying.
The Presque Isle teams are in the post-season hunt with some big games ahead of them. The boys are now 5-4-3 and in seventh place in Class B. The Wildcats have not allowed a goal in their last five matches, which coincided with freshman Jason Dumais taking over as the starting goalkeeper. PI stopped both Hermon Thursday and John Bapst Saturday by 2-0 scores.
Freshman Jonah Hudson, who missed the first half of the season with a broken foot, collected his first career goal in the win at Hermon. Presque Isle hosts Caribou Thursday before making the trip to Ellsworth Saturday to take on the No. 1 and undefeated Eagles.
Following up the loss to Hermon (see story), the PI girls took care of John Bapst in overtime Saturday, 3-2. Maddie Michaud scored off a Taylor Williams assist for the game-winning goal. Michaud also scored earlier in the match, with Williams notching the other goal.
The Presque Isle girls are 7-4-1 and in seventh place entering tonight’s home game against sixth-seeded Caribou. The regular season wraps up Saturday in Ellsworth.
