DYER BROOK — It turned out to be a tough day on the soccer field for the Ashland Hornets.
After having lost to Southern Aroostook in last year’s Eastern Maine Class D championship match, Ashland was hoping to exact revenge in this year’s title game, but proved to be no match for the defending state champs.
Liz Goodall scored nearly 13 minutes into the match to stake SA to a 1-0 lead, and Evangeline Goodall made it 2-0 a minute later after converting a penalty kick.
Rochelle Nadeau knocked in a goal for Southern Aroostook with just over 6-1/2 minutes to go before intermission, giving her team a 3-0 cushion.
Ashland had its best chance to score late in the first half as SA goalie Emily Cummings came out to attempt to make a save and left a Hornet player open with a chance to score. However, she misfired and the Warriors maintained the momentum heading into halftime.
The aggressive SA squad continued to control play and won a majority of the 50-50 balls throughout the second half.
It wasn’t unti Liz Goodall scored off a Janel Rockwell pass with 6:22 remaining that SA broke through offensively in the second half, but the Warrior defense continued to hold strong throughout to allow Cummings to pick up her 10th goalie shutout of the season. She finished with four saves on eight attempts.
Taylor Baker, Ashland’s goalie, saved three of 11 shots during the contest.
Southern Aroostook, which also had beaten Ashland twice during the regular season, went on to capture its second consecutive state title on Saturday with a victory over Greenville.
Ashland, under coach Peter Belskis, ended up with a 14-3 record on the season as the No. 2 seed in EM Class D.
Hornets 0
Warriors 4
Staff photo/Gloria Austin
BROOKE LABELLE, right, a sophomore forward for the Ashland Hornets, dribbles the ball past Southern Aroostook’s Olivia Raymond during last Wednesday’s Class D title game. SA won, 4-0.
