Hornets down Panthers in D girls’ showdown
PI teams to begin play with home matches Saturday
Through their first three matches, the Ashland girls look like a team that could contend for another title.
The Hornets have been a force early on. After their debut win at Easton Aug. 22, they handled previously unbeaten Central Aroostook at home Thursday, 5-1, and then blanked Fort Fairfield on the road Saturday, 6-0.
Against the Panthers, Mackenzie Carter opened the scoring on an assist from Micayla Driscoll 7:16 into the match to put Ashland on top. Breann Bradbury tied it off a Jadeyn Giberson assist with 15:41 to play in the first half before the Hornets’ Morgan Doughty connected on a direct kick from 20 yards out to make it 2-1.
Freshman Shelby Stolze scored two second-half goals and Carter added another as Ashland dominated after intermission. Megan Cote made seven saves on 10 shots for Ashland in goal, while Caitlyn Harris saved 10 of 22 shots for the Panthers.
Central Aroostook won both of its other games last week, not allowing a goal in the process. CA stopped Washburn last Tuesday, 9-0, behind Kate Levesque’s four goals and three by Giberson. On Monday, Giberson tallied three more and Levesque added a pair in a 6-0 shutout of Wisdom. The Panther girls are now 5-1 on the season.
The Washburn Beavers (3-3) recorded a 4-3 win over Fort Fairfield Thursday behind Skylar Mette, a freshman striker who tallied all four of her team’s goals, including the game-winner late in overtime. Kailanny Hernandez, Grace Griffeth and Sadie Edgecomb were the goal scorers for 1-4 Fort Fairfield.
The Easton girls are now 0-3 following a 5-0 loss to Wisdom Friday. The team travels to Washburn and Ashland for games Thursday and Friday after having hosted Madawaska Tuesday. The Bears have yet to score a goal so far on the young season.
The Presque Isle girls finally open their season Saturday with a 1 p.m. home game against Foxcroft Academy.
In boys’ action, Fort Fairfield is cruising after a 3-0 week. The defending Class D state champs are perfect through five matches after tipping Fort Kent in overtime last Tuesday on an overtime goal by Chris Gill and then blanking both Washburn on Thursday, 4-0. and Ashland Saturday, 5-0.
Against Ashland, Ryan Player scored three goals and Chris Giberson and Jonah Daigle each chipped in with a goal and an assist. Goalkeeper Malcolm Langner had his third shutout of the season by saving both shots he faced.
The Central Aroostook Panthers are now 4-2 after winning two of three this past week. Hayden Kingsbury scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Washburn last Tuesday. CA was blanked at Ashland Thursday, 2-0, but on Monday found its winning ways in a 5-2 triumph over Wisdom. Five different players scored goals — Ben Thomas, Kingsbury, Hunter Wardwell, Caleb Harris and Zach Crouch.
The Hornets were able to pull out the win over the Panthers behind Alex Kaiser and Lucas Craig. Both goals came in the first half, with Kaiser scoring off a Craig assist and Craig later converting a penalty kick. Steven Bellanceau saved 10 shots on 20 attempts for the shutout in goal for Ashland, with a 1-1-1 record heading into Tuesday’s game against Washburn.
The Easton Bears are without their field leader in senior Hunter Brown, who suffered a broken nose during a practice last week. Still, the Bears stand at 2-0-1 after beating Wisdom Friday, 3-1.
“We struggled with moving the ball as we are still trying to figure out how to replace [Brown],” said Easton coach Ryan Shaw. “It wasn’t a pretty game, but we were able to pick up the win.”
Collin Sotomayor, Isaac Currier and Kooper Kinney scored the goals for the Bears, who are in the midst of a busy stretch as they hosted Madawaska Tuesday and play at Washburn Thursday and Ashland Friday.
The Beavers were 1-4-1 heading into yesterday’s game against the Hornets.
The Presque Isle Wildcats are at home Saturday for a showdown against Foxcroft Academy beginning at 3 p.m. It is the first game of the season for both squads.
