Sports Reporter
The Easton girls won their first playoff game since 1997 and the PI girls needed a big comeback to win their quarterfinal.
Those were some of the storylines as soccer’s post-season got under way last week.
Summaries of the matches played involving local teams follows:
Girls summaries
Southern Aroostook 3, Easton 0 – At Dyer Brook Friday, the Lady Warriors’ aggressive play led to a 3-0 win over the Bears.
“The girls came out strong and set the pace for the game,” said Vining. “They were winning the majority of the 50/50 balls, getting the ball on the ground and running offense. Our communication and passing was excellent.”
The Lady Warriors moved the ball through short passing around Easton defenders, while effectively changing from one side of the field to the other, which is how the initial goal was scored, as Janel Rockwell fielded a pass from her twin sister Jasmine from the opposite field. Janel lifted the ball to the upper left of the cage past the outstretched arms of Easton’s goalie, Taylor Burtt.
The Lady Warriors went ahead 2-0 when Rochelle Nadeau took a pass from Liz Goodall, beating Easton defenders for a one-on-one with the goalie. Nadeau drew Burtt out and kicked the ball before Burtt could block it with her hands. After the play, Nadeau landed on Burtt, and the ball bounded into an open net.
The last Lady Warrior goal came in the second half when Janel Rockwell tucked a shot into the upper left corner of the net, away from Burtt, who blocked seven of 24 shot attempts in the game.
Southern Aroostook’s offense was anchored by their defense, which kept Easton off the board.
The Bears did have a few runs on the goal, with a near miss on SA goalie Emily Cummings. An Easton player was able to elude Warrior defenders for a shot that went wide. Cummings collected her ninth shutout of the season after blocking two of four shots she faced.
“Ultimately, the girls just played really well,” said Vining. “Their experience with playoffs paid off for them against a young team who hasn’t had a lot of postseason play. Easton finished their season a [few] weeks earlier than we did, which was a tough position to be in heading into playoffs.”
The Lady Warriors are 16-0 and Easton finished their season at 10-5-1.
Presque Isle 2, John Bapst 1 – At Presque Isle last Tuesday, in what has been a common storyline for the Wildcats throughout the season, the Wildcats need some late heroics and a little bit of good fortune to come away with the win.
Behind 1-0 in the late going, Brooke Long-Postell’s direct kick from 30 yards out was saved by Bapst goalkeeper Laura Jordan, but after falling to the ground, Jordan rolled across the goal line to allow PI to knot the game.
Just over 3-1/2 minute later, Mackenzie Pinette put the Wildcats on top with a goal and PI prevailed.
It was the second time this season PI needed a comeback in the final minutes to defeat the Crusaders. Also for Presque Isle, No. 1 and undefeated during the regular season, it was the ninth time this year the team had won a game by two goals or less.
Lexi Chasse had staked the Crusaders to the lead when she scored with two seconds left in the first half.
Goalie Kelsey Park had three saves on six shots for PI. Jordan stopped 10 of 14 in goal for eighth-ranked John Bapst, whose final record was 10-6.
Easton 2, Bangor Christian 1 — At Bangor last Tuesday in an Eastern Class D quarterfinal, the No. 5 Bears (10-4-1) upset No. 4 Bangor Christian (7-7-1). It marked the first postseason game for Easton since 1997.
Ariana Babineau and Katie Cyr both scored goals for Easton, while Becca Bach scored for the Crusaders.
Taylor Burtt had 10 saves on 38 shots for Easton, while Sam Martin had six saves on 23 shots for Bangor Christian.
Ashland 7, Central Aroostook 0 – At Presque Isle last Tuesday, the second-ranked Hornets scored four unanswered goals by halftime and netted three insurance goals after intermission in a lopsided win over the Panthers.
The two teams played a competitive game in Mars Hill earlier in the month, but injuries took their toll on CA’s depth and the Hornets, last year’s EM runners-up, took advantage.
Macie Pelkey scored four times and added an assist, while Brooke LaBelle scored twice and Jessica Jimmo had a goal and an assist for the victorious Ashland squad. Kayla Cote picked up an assist and goalie Taylor Baker had the easy shutout, having to make just three saves on the evening while facing nine shots. It was her 10th shutout of the year.
Ashley Estabrook, on the other hand, had a busy night in net for the Panthers as she faced 35 shots and saved 13. No. 7 Central Aroostook’s final record was 4-8-3.
Southern Aroostook 3, Fort Fairfield 1 – At Dyer Brook last Tuesday, the No. 8 Tigers made it competitive with the top-ranked and undefeated Warriors, but fell by a 3-1 decision in the EM Class D quarterfinals.
Evangeline Goodall, Rochelle Nadeau and Kim Pratt all scored goals for SA. Evangeline Goodall notched an assist, while Liz Goodall and Janel Rockwell also helped set up goals.
Courtney Churchill scored for the Tigers, who ended their season at 7-7-1. Goalie Katy Donovan saved 10 of 25 shots to help keep her team in contention.
Emily Cummings of SA had six saves on seven shots.
Boys summaries
Southern Aroostook 5, Ashland 0 – At Presque Isle last Wednesday, the Hornets saw their season come to an end with the shutout loss to the Warriors in the quarterfinal matchup.
Ashland was the higher seed and the host, but Hornet coach Kevin Paradis expected a tough game after the two teams had split during the regular season.
After 25 minutes of scoreless soccer, SA finally broke through as Dakota Sleeper scored with 14:25 to play in the opening half. The score remained 1-0 heading into intermission, and Ashland had a great chance to even the match on its opening possession of the second half, but Casey Cobb just missed on an attempt. The Warriors then took the ball down to the other end and scored to make it 2-0, and then the floodgates opened as SA scored three more goals the rest of the way and continued to hold the Hornet offense in check.
Hornet goalie Jayme D’Ozier ended up with 24 saves on 29 shots, while SA’s Jesse Boulier saved all 22 shots he faced.
“Although I wish we could have advanced, I am happy with our season,” Paradis said. “My boys made me proud. I thought they handled themselves with class all year long in victory or defeat.”
Ashland ended up with an 11-4 overall record. The sixth-ranked Warriors ended up getting bounced in the semifinal round, losing to the No. 2 Bangor Christian Friday, 2-0.
Central Aroostook 4, Machias 1 – At Machias last Wednesday, the Panthers avenged last year’s quarterfinal loss to the Bulldogs thanks to a hat trick by sophomore Dan Brewer.
“We were focused and confident heading into that game,” Brewer said. “I guess you could say we had revenge on our minds.”
Brandon Anthony was the other Panther goal scorer. CA, the No. 5 seed in EM Class D, got five saves on 17 shots from goalie Ross Grass.
Matt Little scored the long goal for fourth-seeded Machias, which ended up at 9-5-1. Brewer said his brother, Kasey, did an excellent job marking Little throughout the game and giving him very few scoring chances. Goalkeeper Justin Weaver turned away 10 of 20 shots.
Presque Isle 2, Winslow 0 – At Presque Isle last Wednesday, the Wildcats scored a goal in each half to advance to the EM Class B semifinals with the shutout win over the Black Raiders.
Presque Isle scored with approximately 27 minutes to play in the first half when sophomore Isaac LaJoie connected from close range after teammate Josh Allen’s shot from 25 yards out was blocked by Winslow goalkeeper Mackenzie Michaud.
The Wildcat defense did its job, allowing very few good scoring opportunities, and the offense finally secured the win with a second goal, scored by Andrew Legassie with just over 14 minutes showing on the clock in the second half. LaJoie was credited with the assist on the play.
Dillion Kingsbury saved six of 10 shots for the ’Cats.
The Black Raiders, seeded seventh, had a final record of 6-8-1.
Gloria Austin and Joseph Cyr contributed to this story.
Staff photo/Gloria Austin
HIGH STEPPIN’ — Easton’s Kennedy Young gets ready to give the ball a boot during Friday’s match against Southern Aroostook.
Contributed photo/Dave Allen Graphics
IN THE NET — Presque Isle’s Isaac LaJoie scored the game’s first goal against Winslow last Wednesday. Black Raider defender Sam Smith watches helplessly as the ball gets tucked into the right corner of the net. The PI boys won the quarterfinal match, 2-0.
