Tiger boys and Hornet girls
striking in early-season victories
The Fort Fairfield boys and Ashland girls are picking up where they left off last fall, rolling to a pair of lopsided soccer victories to open the season.
The Tigers, the defending Class D state champions, eased past Central Aroostook last Tuesday, 9-1, and Van Buren Friday, 8-0. They faced their toughest test last night with a game at Class C Fort Kent and will play at Washburn Thursday before hosting Ashland Saturday.
Fort Fairfield had strong second halves in both victories, scoring 12 of its 17 goals after intermission.
Against the Panthers, Chris Gill tallied three goals and Chris Giberson, Ryan Player and Jonah Daigle had two each. Player picked up two assists and Colby Langner had one, while Malcolm Langner saved three of six shots in goal for the winners. Brayden Bradbury collected nine saves on 26 shots in goal for CA and Caleb Harris scored the Panthers’ lone goal with 1:27 to play in the first half.
“We played very unselfish and got everyone involved,” said Fort Fairfield coach John Ala. “This created good ball movement, which opened up space and led to our offensive opportunities.”
In the win over Van Buren, Player had the hat trick, Jonah Daigle added a pair of goals and Solomon Daigle, Colby Langner and Dawson Watson netted one apiece.
The Ashland girls were the 2015 Class D Northern Division champions and finally opened their campaign Monday at Easton. It didn’t take the Hornets long to make their mark as they scored 23 seconds into the match courtesy of junior Morgan Doughty, who went on to score three more times in the 10-0 shutout over the Bears. Mackenzie Carter, another junior, also scored four goals, while Cassidy Pelletier and Kassandra Nelson each booted in one. Goalkeeepr Megan Cote saved three of seven shots for the shutout.
The Hornets play their first home game Thursday against undefeated Central Aroostook at 5 p.m. and then are back on the road Saturday against Fort Fairfield and Tuesday against Washburn.
The Central Aroostook girls moved to 3-0 after blitzing Fort Fairfield last Tuesday, 11-0, and holding off Wisdom Friday, 3-2. Kate Levesque and Breann Bradbury, both freshman, led the charge against FF with three goals apiece. Olivia Pelletier had two in the win.
In topping the Pioneers, the Panthers scored all their goals in the first 10 minutes, two by Levesque and one by Jadeyn Giberson, and they survived a late comeback effort by Wisdom.
Fort Fairfield was able to bounce back from the lopsided loss to CA by shutting out Van Buren Friday, 6-0. Kayla Tisdale had three goals and Kailanny Hernandez notched one and set up three others. Gracie Griffeth and Emma Campbell also had FF goals to give first-year coach Jocelyn Carvell her first varsity victory. Emily Everitt faced only four shots and saved three to garner the shutout in goal.
Washburn was also able to pick up an easy win over the Van Buren girls in a game played last Wednesday. The Beavers gained their first win after opening with consecutive losses behind sophomore Kassie Farley, who broke free for five goals in the 10-1 victory. Skylar Mette, a freshman, had a hat trick and classmate Maggie Castonguay contributed a pair of goals. Castonguay started in goal but took to the field after Julia Dahlgren replaced her. Megan Caron had the Crusaders’ lone goal.
On Friday, Washburn made it two wins in a row after getting past Southern Aroostook, 3-1. The Warriors jumped out to the early lead before Farley knotted the game prior to halftime and Kristen Sarmiento and Mette added unanswered goals in the second half. Castonguay made nine saves on as many shots, while SA’s Marissa Boulier had a busier day in goal with 17 saves on 23 shots.
The Easton girls were 6-0 losers at Madawaska Friday to open the season.
The Ashland boys were able to salvage a tie in their opener Monday behind a goal by Alex Kaiser which came with just 1:16 remaining in regulation. Jordan Doody had given the Bears the lead with 6:26 left in the first half. Jake Flewelling of Easton and Steven Bellanceau of Ashland, with six saves each, were solid in goal for their respective teams.
The Bears blanked the Madawaska Owls Friday, 1-0, on a goal by Keegan Kinney from Doody which came in the first minute of play. Flewelling garnered the shutout in the hard-fought win.
“I was happy with how we fought off their attempts to tie the game,” said Easton coach Ryan Shaw. “Success if built from the back line and I thought our defense was pretty decent for the first time out.”
Central Aroostook was able to beat Wisdom Friday, 8-0, thanks to two goals each by Harris and Hunter Wardwell and single goals by Chandler Garrison, Clark Bradbury, Ethan Pryor and Jacob Carvell. Brayden Bradbury saved eight of 12 shots for his first career shutoutin goal.
The Beaver boys played to a 2-2 deadlock with the Crusaders last Wednesday before losing at home to SA two days later, 2-1. Coach Ben Goodwin’s team took a 1-2-1 record into last night’s game against Central Aroostook in Mars Hill.
Presque Isle is still playing preseason games and don’t open regular season action until Sept. 3 when they host Foxcroft Academy for a girls’ game at 1 p.m. and a boys’ game at 3 p.m.
