By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
MARS HILL — A cold, blustery night could not keep the Central Aroostook girls soccer team from heating things up on field in an Eastern Class D preliminary girls soccer playoff game against Southern Aroostook.
No. 7 Central Aroostook (8-7 overall) withstood a second-half flurry from No. 10 Southern Aroostook to come away with a 3-2 victory. The Panthers advanced to face No. 2 Ashland (13-1) Tuesday in the quarterfinals. The Hornets beat CAHS 4-2 in Mars Hill and 2-1 in Ashland during the regular season.
Houlton Pioneer Times
Photo/Joseph Cyr
PLAYOFF ACTION — In the top photo, Central Aroostook’s Ivy Davis, front, races with SACS’ Lily Leavitt as they chase the ball Thursday in Mars Hill.
CAHS’ Karli Levesque scored twice in the first half, while teammate Molly Anthony produced what turned out to be the game-winning goal 11 minutes into the second half. Chloe Raymond and Cassidy Lyons each scored for the Warriors (8-7 overall).
Panther goalie April Santiago made six saves on nine shots, while Marissa Boulier made a number of spectacular saves for the Warriors in net, stopping four of 15 shots.
CAHS coach Joe Levesque said the game plan coming into the game was to simply play Southern Aroostook straight up to see if they could gain momentum in front of their hometown fans. That game plan worked well in the first half as the Panthers dominated control of the ball.
After the break, the Panthers came out tentative in the second half, particularly after scoring their third goal to take a 3-0 lead. Panther coach Joe Levesque made some changes to his lines, moving his speedier, goal scorers to the back line in an effort to keep the ball away from their goal.
Warrior Chloe Raymond reacts after getting hit with the ball kicked by CAHS’ Jayden Giberson. CAHS won 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
“We didn’t really need to score any more goals, so we were essentially trying to keep the ball out of the net,” Levesque said. “Sometimes when you do that, you get a little complacent and thing can happen for the other team.”
That scenario is exactly what played out as the Warriors clawed their way back from a 3-0 deficit to pull within a goal of tying.
Second-year Warrior coach Kaylea Harbison said her young squad was extremely excited to be appearing in the postseason. Her halftime pep talk appeared to strike a chord as the Warriors battled back into the game, showing patience and poise on the pitch.
“We have a tendency in the second half to slow down, so I tried to keep them focused,” Harbison said. “Once they got that first goal, their spirits lifted. Then they got that second goal, making it 3-2, and they were really excited. It was great to see that happen.”
