Sports Editor
It was a busy week for boys soccer, as both Ashland and Limestone-Maine School of Science and Mathematics notched their first wins of the season. Central Aroostook also continued its domination of Eastern Class D competition, improving to 6-1 on the season.
The following is a recap of the past week’s games.
Limestone-MSSM 4, Easton 3 — At Limestone Monday, the Eagles (1-4) notched their first win on the season with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Easton (3-5).
Nate Tucker scored two goals, his second breaking a 3-3 tie with 25:54 remaining to lift the Eagles to victory. Josh Forsman and Michael Allen also had solo goals and Zach Cote had two assists and Dylan Morgan had one assist for Limestone-MSSM.
Jonah Bacon had two goals for Easton, and Corey White added a solo shot and Zach Clark had an assist.
Zach Moreau stopped 14 of 22 shots for the Eagles, while his Bear counterpart, Cody Tompkins, had 12 saves on 23 shots.
Ashland 3, Washburn 1 — At Washburn Friday, Ashland’s Casey Cobb overcame a first half injury to score three unassisted goals to lead the Hornets (1-1) past Washburn (1-5). After a scoreless first half, Cobb creased the net just one minute into the second half. His second goal came with 21:02 remaining, while his third and final goal was at the 19:04 mark.
Washburn’s Jordan McLaughlin prevented the shutout as he ripped a shot into the net off a crossing pass from Mitchell Worcester with 18 minutes to play, but the Beavers were unable to score again.
Bobby Gardner had three saves on 10 shots for Ashland, while Connor Fitzpatrick had nine saves on 20 shots for the Beavers. Ashland held a 6-4 edge in corner kicks.
“I thought we controlled the play fairly well,” Ashland coach Kevin Paradis said. “We didn’t put away some really good chances and it may have been because of our 10-day layoff. We acted like we were very nervous.”
In the second half, Paradis moved Cobb from striker to half-back, and the move paid off instantly as he scored in the first minute of the half.
“[Casey Cobb] really broke down our defense in the second half,” Washburn coach Ben Goodwin said. “We had some opportunities in the second half and I was pleased with our effort.”
Central Aroostook 3, Widsom 2 — At St. Agatha Friday, the juggernaut that is the Central Aroostook boys soccer team continued to roll as the Panthers got two goals from Dan Brewer and another from Garrett Stiles to rally for the win over Wisdom. All three of Central Aroostook’s goals came in the second half. Tyler Rusby had 14 saves on 20 shots for the Panthers.
Rocky Chamberland scored two goals for Wisdom. Ryan Blanchette had 17 saves on 22 shots.
Van Buren 2, Fort Fairfield 0 — At Van Buren Friday, Derrick Rossignol and Matt Vick both had one goal to lead the Crusaders past Fort Fairfield (0-4). Marc Lajoie had two saves on four shots for Van Buren, while Chris Weeks had nine saves on 16 shots for the Tigers.
Southern Aroostook 5, Easton 1 — At Easton Friday, the Warriors had their way with the host Bears. Anthony Diaferio scored two goals to spark Southern Aroostook. Dakota Sleeper, Taylor Locke and Dylan Willette also had solo goals.
White notched the lone goal for Easton, while Caleb Bomar tallied an assist. Tompkins stopped 31 of 38 shots for the Bears. Jesse Boulier had seven saves on 15 shots for the Warriors.
Easton 4, Hodgdon 2 — At Easton Thursday, the Bears won their second straight game, and third out of four, as Easton doubled up visiting Hodgdon. Holden Turner booted in three goals, White added a solo goal and Clark had an assist for the Bears.
Chris Harris and Wade Estabrook each had one goal for the Hawks.
Tompkins stopped five of 11 shots in net for the Bears, while Dan McGillicuddy saved 15 of 31 shots for Hodgdon.
“I think we are finally starting to jel,” Easton coach Ryan Shaw said. “It’s been a tough stretch with so many games. We took our knocks early in the season, but are finally starting to get it.”
Central Aroostook 4, Southern Aroostook 3 — At Mars Hill Wednesday, Central Aroostook emerged victorious in a see-saw game with Southern Aroostook. In a game that appeared to be heading for overtime, Panther Stiles broke a 3-3 tie when he blasted an unassisted goal into the net with 6:32 remaining.
The Panthers had taken a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Brendan York and Spencer Stetson in the first seven minutes of action. Southern Aroostook cut that lead in half as Dakota Sleeper scored his first of two goals on the day with 27:11 remaining in the first half.
Central Aroostook’s Brewer dented the net two minutes later (25:38 remaining) to put the Panthers up 3-1, but once again the scrappy Warriors of Dyer Brook answered as Patrick Goodall scored with 24:28 to go in the first half, cutting the lead to 3-2.
In the second half, Sleeper scored 10 minutes into the half to knot the game at 3-3. That score held up for 24 minutes until Stiles produced the game-winning goal.
Tyler Rusby had five saves on 11 shots for Central Aroostook, while Jesse Boulier had 12 saves on 25 shots for the Warriors.
Easton 7, Limestone/MSSM 1 — At Easton Tuesday, the Bears erupted for their highest goal-scoring effort to date. Reid Clark tallied three goals to pace Easton, while White scored two goals in the first three minutes of the contest. Holden Turner also had two goals for the Bears.
“Hopefully, this game has opened up the scoring floodgates for us,” coach Shaw said.
Jack Westfall scored late in the game for the Eagles.
Cody Tompkins had fives saves on 13 shots for Easton, while Aaron St. Pierre and Moreau combined to make five saves on 24 shots for the Eagles.
Van Buren 5, Washburn 0 — At Van Buren Wednesday, the Beavers were blanked for the third time this season as the Crusaders held Washburn scoreless. Garik Theriault scored two goals to lead Van Buren, while A.J. Edgecomb had a goal and two assists; Caleb Roy had a goal and an assist; and Kyle Hewes had one goal.
Ethan Pendexter had 14 saves on 23 shots for Washburn, while Crusader Marc Lajoie had 10 saves on 10 shots for the shutout.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
Leaping into the air to avoid a collision with Southern Aroostook goalie Jesse Boulier, left, is Dan Brewer of Central Aroostook during Wednesday’s boys soccer game in Mars Hill. The Panthers won 4-3.
