Soccer squads head to postseason across Aroostook County

3 years ago

HOULTON, Maine — The regular season has come to a close for boys and girls soccer squads, but their time on the pitch is not yet complete.

The postseason begins Thursday, Oct. 29, with semifinal action for the top four seeds in girls soccer, while the bottom four seeds play in a consolation bracket. The boys take the field on Friday, Oct. 30, using the same formula.

Because of COVID-19, changes to the fall soccer schedule saw Aroostook County squads only face each other, with some schools playing an opponent they have not seen in a number of years. The season was also shortened to eight games, with two games set aside for the postseason.

The Division 1 standings for girls revealed a three-way tie for first place. Fort Kent (6-2) won top honors based on the tiebreaker formula of head-to-head matchups and common opponents’ records. Caribou (6-2) placed second; Fort Fairfield (6-2) finished third; and Hodgdon (5-2-1) is fourth.

The remaining standings were: 5, Houlton (4-3-1); 6, Presque Isle (4-4); 7, Central Aroostook, (4-4); and 8, Madawaska (2-6).

The Division II girls standings are 1, Wisdom (7-1); 2, Ashland (6-2); 3, Katahdin (4-4); 4, Washburn, (4-4); 5, Southern Aroostook, (3-5); 6, Easton, (1-7); 8, East Grand, (1-7); and 8, Van Buren, (0-8).

The Division 1 girls semifinal games scheduled for Thursday are No. 1 Fort Kent hosting No. 4 Hodgdon at 4 p.m. and No. 2 Caribou hosting No. 3 Fort Fairfield at 4 p.m. Consolation bracket games see No. 8 Madawaska at No. 5 Houlton at 2 p.m.; and No. 7 Central Aroostook at No. 6 Presque Isle at 6 p.m.

The Division II girls semifinal games slated for Thursday are No. 1 Wisdom hosting No. 4 Washburn at 3 p.m.; and No. 2 Ashland hosting No. 3 Katahdin at 4 p.m. Consolation bracket games are No. 5 Southern Aroostook hosting No. 8 Van Buren at 2 p.m.; and No. 6 Easton hosting No. 7 East Grand at 3 p.m.

Boys soccer
There was little question on the top seed for the Division I boys as Hodgdon finished with an 8-0 record, but a tiebreaker was needed to determine seeds 2-5. Both Caribou and Madawaska finished with 7-1 records, but Caribou earned the No. 2 seed over No. 3 Madawaska based on their games against common opponents.

Likewise, Presque Isle and Central Aroostook finished with 6-2 records, but the Wildcats earned the No. 4 seed using the tiebreaker. CAHS finished fifth, followed by 6, Fort Kent (4-4); 7, Houlton, (1-6-1); and 8, Fort Fairfield, (0-8).

The Division 1 boys semifinal games, slated for Friday, see No. 1 Hodgdon hosting No. 4 Presque Isle at 2:30 p.m. and No. 2 Caribou hosting No. 3 Madawaska at 4 p.m. Consolation bracket games see No. 5 Central Aroostook hosting No. 8 Fort Fairfield at 3:30 p.m. and No. 6 Fort Kent hosting No. 7 Houlton at 4:30 p.m.

The final standings for Division 2 boys were: 1, Van Buren, (6-2); 2, Easton, (5-2-1); 3, Wisdom, 4-3); 4, Southern Aroostook, (3-4-1); 5, Katahdin, (3-5); 6, Ashland, (2-5-1); 7, Washburn, (0-8) and 8, East Grand, (0-8).

The Division 2 semifinal games for Friday are: No. 1 Van Buren hosting No. 4 Southern Aroostook at 2:30 p.m. and No. 2 Easton hosting No. 3 Wisdom at 5 p.m. Consolation bracket games see No. 5 Katahdin hosting No. 8 East Grand at 2:30 p.m. and No. 6 Ashland hosting No. 7 Washburn at 5 p.m.