The Presque Isle and Houlton girls are home and the Ashland girls and Central Aroostook boys on the road for regional championship soccer matches Wednesday afternoon.
The Wildcats host the Hermon Hawks at 5 p.m. at the Johnson Athletic Complex in the Class B finals, while Houlton hosts Dexter at 4 p.m. for bragging rights in Class C.
Ashland takes on Penobscot Valley in Howland at 2 p.m. in the Class D girls title game. Central Aroostook also travels south to take on Bangor Christian at 2 p.m. at Husson University in Bangor in the Class D boys finals.
No. 2 Presque Isle girls (13-3) vs. No. 9 Hermon (13-3-1) — The Wildcats are home against a familiar playoff opponent. They have met the Hawks in the post-season six of the last seven years.
The Hawks won their first two playoff matches on the road, beating No. 8 Mt. View, 4-0, before surprising top-seeded Caribou in overtime, 3-2. At home Saturday, Hermon blanked No. 13 Maine Central Institute, 2-0, to earn the B North championship game bid. Hermon features senior Alex Allain, who has scored 26 goals on the season from the center midfield position, with four of those coming in the playoffs.
“We can’t let her get great looks. She’s great with either foot and is also a very good passer,” said PI coach Ralph Michaud, whose team will mark Allain on free kicks and corner kicks.
Hermon lost to Presque Isle during the regular season by a score of 3-1 in a game played Oct. 9 in Presque Isle. Since then, coach MJ Ball’s Hawks have reeled off six consecutive victories, with four coming on shutouts.
Presque Isle has utilized the goalkeeping of junior Savannah Rodriguez and the scoring of junior Madison Michaud (33 goals) en route to its stellar season. Michaud scored all three goals in the regular season matchup.
“Our back will always know where (Michaud) is,” Ball said. “We have to deny service to her.”
The Wildcats lost back-to-back road games in mid-September to Caribou and Fort Kent but have since won 10 of 11. Presque Isle defeated Brewer in the quarterfinals, 3-1, before shutting out Waterville in the semis Saturday, 4-0.
The Wildcats are playing in their sixth regional championship game in the last 14 years under Michaud, including titles in both 2008 and 2011.
No. 1 Houlton girls (15-1) vs. No. 2 Dexter (12-4) — The Shires are back in the Class C regional championship game after recording wins over Bucksport (8-0) and Orono (5-1) in their first two playoff matches.
The top-seeded Houlton squad, coached by Tim Tweedie, has reached the title game three of the last four years but is still looking for that elusive championship.
Senior Kolleen Bouchard has recorded hat tricks in both post-season contests for Houlton, whose only loss during the regular season came at Madawaska Oct. 9.
The Shires will have a chance against the Tigers, who beat Narraguagus in the quarterfinals before topping Central of East Corinth in the semis.
The only common regular season opponent is Orono. The Shires swept the Red Riots by scores of 3-2 and 3-0 prior to eliminating them from the playoffs Saturday, while Dexter split its two games with Orono, losing 3-1 before winning the rematch, 5-0.
“Houlton is a good team. They have some very talented kids. Their kids up front put a lot of pressure on you. We’ll have our hands full. We’re going to have to be solid on defense,” said Dexter coach Jody Grant.
No. 2 Ashland girls (15-1) at No. 1 Penobscot Valley (14-2) — The Hornets are the defending state champions and are hoping for another bid at a state title, but they first need to defeat a tough opponent in the Howlers on the road.
Ashland faced adversity during the summer when its all-time leading goal scorer, senior Mackenzie Carter, was lost for the season to a knee injury. Coach Peter Belskis said the Hornets have compensated with a multi-faceted attack which features three dynamic scorers in Morgan Doughty and Amber Chasse, who have tallied 29 goals each, and Shelby Stolze, who has netted another 23.
“We are almost as prolific as we were last year,” Belskis said. “I think we are more dangerous because we have more players with confidence that they can score.”
Ashland, which has playoff victories over Katahdin (10-0) and Bangor Christian (8-0), has outscored its opponents by a 115-7 margin this season. Goalkeeper Megan Cote has 11 shutouts to her credit and she has allowed only five goals in her 15 starts.
Belskis said PVHS is a young, talented team, featuring 26-goal scorer Lexi Ireland. Riley Buck (14 goals) and Judy King (nine) are other offensive threats. PVHS’s only regular season losses were to Piscataquis Community High School and Searsport. The Howlers beat Aroostook County teams Washburn (4-0) and Madawaska (2-1) in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
No. 2 Central Aroostook boys (15-1) at No. 1 Bangor Christian (14-2) — The Panthers of Mars Hill are going for their first regional championship in school history. They last were in the finals in 2011, against this same Patriots squad.
Bangor Christian has been the dominant team in the region throughout the decade. The Patriots have beaten Hodgdon (2-0) in the quarterfinals and Fort Fairfield (1-0) in the semifinals of this year’s post-season. Dean Grass scored goals in both contests and goalkeeper Austin Keib garnered shutouts. He had seven more during the regular season.
Central Aroostook features a high-scoring offense and a stingy defense under coach Wallace Endy, who is in his first year of his second stint as the Panthers coach. CA has scored 102 goals in its 16 matches for an average of 6.4. The defense also has been stellar with six shutouts for goalkeeper Brayden Bradbury. The Panthers have surrendered one goal or less in 11 matches.
The Panthers have several players who are capable goal scorers, with Hunter Wardwell leading the way.
Bangor Daily News sportswriter Larry Mahoney contributed to this article.
