Tuesday will be a busy day for local teams as the varsity soccer regular season begins to wind down for local squads.
The Caribou teams head south to Newport for matches against Nokomis that both get underway at 1 p.m. The games were originally set for Monday, but were postponed due to the weather.
Also on the schedule Tuesday, Van Buren plays at Easton, with both the girls’ and boys’ games beginning at 3:30 p.m., while Central Aroostook makes the trip to Ashland. The girls’ match is at 4 p.m. and the boys play at 6 p.m. Katahdin boys and girls travel to Danforth for a matchup with East Grand. The boys game is at 2 p.m., followed by the girls at 4 p.m.
Monday night the Houlton girls fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in a stunning 4-0 upset to Madawaska. Not only was it the Shires first loss, but it was also the first time the team did not muster a goal.
With the game played in a steady, heavy rain, Houlton (12-1) was unable to get its high-powered offense on track against the Owls. Madawaska, one of the top squads in Class D North, improved to 9-2 with the win.
“The weather was a factor, but we have to adjust,” Houlton coach Tim Tweedie said. “We could end up playing in the rain during the playoffs, so while the field was in very poor shape, we can’t use it as an excuse for poor performance.”
Madawaska’s score five minutes into the game appeared to fire up the Owls.
“They’re too good of a team to give momentum to,” Tweedie said.
Hannah Nadeau scored a pair of goals, while Jenna Dugal and Emily Boucher notched solo goals for the Owls. It was Madawaska’s seventh straight win. The Shires had beaten Madawaska 1-0 back on Aug. 31.
Cassidy Beaulieu made eight saves on 10 shots for the Owls, while Tessa Solomon made five saves on 10 shots for Houlton.
Despite the loss, Houlton has likely secured the No. 1 seed in Class C North.
“What is important is that we have a good week of practice and start our preparation for the playoffs,” coach Tweedie said. “The quarterfinals are going to get here quickly and we’ll need to get ready because Class C is deep this year.”
The Presque Isle boys squad won its sixth consecutive match Monday, but it certainly wasn’t easy.
In a game played during a steady rain at the Johnson Athletic Complex, Adam Paterson scored on a header off a Torey Levesque corner kick with 1:59 to play in the second half to tie the match and Zechariah Morse notched the game-winner off a Griffin Guerrette assist with 4 minutes left in the second overtime period as the Wildcats notched the 2-1 comeback win.
Randon Mortland’s free kick set up the decisive goal.
“We showed some mental toughness,” said PI coach Joe Greaves. “Down a goal, late in a rainstorm, the boys had to dig deep to pull it off.
“Games late in the season get tougher and tougher and have more of a playoff atmosphere to them,” he added. “Now we want to keep this momentum going forward.”
James Peterson put the Hawks up 1-0 six minutes into the second half before PI mounted its late comeback. Hermon’s record is now 5-5-1.
PI goalkeeper Jason Dumais turned away six of eight shots and Hermon’s Isaac Varney saved 10 of 14.
Other soccer summaries from Monday are as follows:
Presque Isle girls 3, Hermon 1 — Maddie Michaud scored three goals, all in the second half, to increase her season total to 26 and lead the Wildcat girls to their ninth win of the season against two losses.
During the match played in Presque Isle, Olivia Nash gave the Hawks the lead at intermission, but Michaud scored on a penalty kick and then twice more later in the half off assists by goalkeeper Savannah Rodriguez and Eleanor St. Peter. Hermon fell to 7-2-2 with the loss.
Houlton boys 3, Madawaska 0 — At Madawaska Monday, the Shires got back to the .500 mark (6-6-1) with the shutout over Madawaska. Houlton’s Keegan Gentle got the ball rolling 20 seconds into the game as he converted a pass from Abe Lorom.
Later in the first half, Pat Howe scored on a pass from Gentle. The third goal of the game came at the end of the first half from Nick Perfitt, who pounded in a deflected ball inside the 18.
