Caribou boys lose tough game in overtime
CARIBOU, Maine — Junior Alex Allain had a hand in all the goals, scoring twice and assisting on another, to lead Hermon past the Caribou Vikings, 3-1, in a girls’ soccer showdown Saturday afternoon at Caribou High School.
It was the Hawks’ sixth victory of the season without a loss, while Caribou is now 6-2 and lost for the first time on its home field. It was a matchup pitting two of the top four teams in the Class B North division.
Allain, who has carried Hermon’s offense throughout the season, continued her torrid scoring pace as she scored the match’s first goal 6:59 into the first half, converting a cross from the right corner by Brianna Saulter.
Fifty four seconds into the second half, she set up Olivia Tardie, who sent a ball into an empty net after Viking goalkeeper Kerrigan Manter was caught out following a scramble.
Then with 23:15 left on the clock, Allain scored her third header of the season off a corner kick by Emma Allmon to close out her big day.
Allain has scored 13 of her team’s 25 goals this season and Hermon head coach MJ Ball said she is a threat in a number of ways.
“She can receive the ball with her back to the goal, she can go at you one on one, she can beat you in the air, she’s got pace and can beat you behind,” Ball said. “She’s got everything, which is great to see because it means she’s unpredictable but she’s dangerous.”
Caribou was able to tie the match at 1-1 with 1:27 remaining in the first half. Center back Hope Shea took advantage of a Hermon foul by launching a direct kick from 35 yards out that carried past the outstretched arms of Hawk goalkeeper Olivia Campbell, just under the crossbar and into the net.
“I thought we had three or four chances to put the game to bed in the first half,” Ball said. “We talked about it [during intermission] that if you don’t finish your chances, it can come back to haunt you. So in the second half, we really focused on trying to get in behind them and get some finishes. The early goal [by Tardie] really took the pressure off.”
The Hawks outshot the Vikings, 19-8, with Campbell needing to make just three saves for Hermon and Manter collecting 10 for Caribou. Emi Higgins had a particularly strong game on defense for the winners, helping to stop the few surges by the Vikings.
“Our overall passing and organization was very good,” Ball said. “We didn’t let much behind us and the only real dangerous shot was the one from distance that we got caught on.”
Shea, Caribou’s talented defender, suffered an injury eight minutes into the second half. She left the field and returned 10 minutes later, just after Hermon’s third goal. Viking striker Maddie Doucette, the team’s leading scorer, was also hobbled and unable to kickstart her team’s usually dangerous attack.
The Vikings are off until next Saturday, when they play John Bapst at Husson University in Bangor.
“We have some more big games coming up and we have to step up our level of play,” said Caribou coach Todd Albert. “We have to continue to possess the ball and have to do better at winning the ball out of the air.”
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Caribou boys tied the match against Hermon on a header by sophomore Alex Ezzy off an Austin Findlen corner kick with 4:32 remaining, but the Hawks scored on a similar play, with Matt Leach heading in a corner with 2:05 left in the second overtime to lift his team to the 3-2 victory.
Andre Rossignol converted a direct kick early in the second half to break a scoreless tie to that point. Leach knotted things midway through the half and then assisted on Caleb Cianchette’s goal with 12:59 to go before Ezzy tied it and sent the game into overtime.
The Vikes are now 1-6-1 and also take on John Bapst Saturday afternoon.
The Fort Fairfield Tigers recorded their seventh shutout victory of the season and ninth overall without a loss, beating Van Buren last Wednesday, 5-0. Coach John Ala’s team remains atop the Class D North standings.
The Tiger girls played to a 1-1 draw against the Crusaders and are now 2-5-2 and in 13th place in the division.
The LCS/MSSM girls are now 2-7 and in 14th place out of 15 Class C North teams after being shut out by both Wisdom last Wednesday (4-0) and Ashland Friday (10-0). The Eagle boys’ soccer team is 4-5 and in ninth in Class C following a 5-0 win over the Pioneers last Wednesday and a 7-1 loss at Ashland two nights later.
Skylar Mette scored Washburn’s only goal Thursday in a 9-1 loss at Ashland. The Beavers, at 3-8-1, are in 10th place in Class D North. The Beavers boys dropped a 3-1 decision that same day and hold a 2-8-2 mark, good for seventh place in the Heal Point standings. Jovanni Tavares put Washburn in front on a direct kick seven minutes into the match before the host Hornets stormed back in the second half.
