Janelle Tweedie of the Central Aroostook Panthers, left, crosses the ball against Shead defender Justine Cheney, while the Tigers’ Sarah Bartlett watches from behind during Friday’s preliminary playoff soccer match in Mars Hill. CA blanked Shead, 9-0, to advance to the quarterfinals. (Courtesy of Dave Allen Graphics)
The MSSM, Caribou and Ashland boys’ soccer teams and the Central Aroostook girls all won preliminary playoff matches played Friday or Saturday and are bound for the next round.
The Penguins beat Madawaska at home Friday night, 3-0, while the Vikings and Hornets, both ranked 12th in their divisions, pulled off upsets on the road over higher seeded teams. Caribou topped Brewer in a Class B clash Saturday, 2-1, while in Class D, Ashland won by the same score over Jonesport-Beals the previous afternoon.
The Central Aroostook girls cruised to an easy 9-0 home win over Shead of Easport Friday.
The MSSM girls team was eliminated Friday, falling in a road contest against Bangor Christian, 1-0.
Summaries of the five matches involving the local squads follow:
MSSM boys 3, Madawaska 0 — The MSSM Penguins broke a scoreless tie with just over three minutes to play in the first half on a Ryan Berry header off a corner kick, and leading scorer Tobyn Blatt provided a pair of second-half insurance goals in the victory over Madawaska.
Blatt recorded the assist on what proved to be the game-winning goal.
“We practiced headers from crosses the night before, as that is something we struggled with throughout the season,” said MSSM coach Jon Hamilton.
Ten minutes into the second half, Blatt rocketed in a shot from just outside the penalty box for the team’s second goal and he added another with just 31 seconds remaining in the match. He now has scored 20 goals on the season. Harrison Walters picked up an assist on one of Blatt’s goals.
Hamilton credited his team’s defensive effort in shutting down Madawaska’s strong offensive attack.
Myles Benica stopped 12 of 15 shots in goal for the No. 7 Penguins (7-2), who will next take on No. 2 Central Aroostook in the Class D North quarterfinals. That match is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, in Mars Hill.
Andrew Nadeau turned away seven of 13 for the Owls, the 10th seed in the division which finished with a 7-8 record.
Caribou boys 2, Brewer 1 — A strong start Saturday propelled the Vikings to the upset win over the Witches in the Class B North prelim matchup.
Caribou improved to 7-8 and will next travel to Winslow to take on the No. 4 Black Raiders Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m.
“They are an extremely talented, deep and veteran team who were the state runners-up last year,” Caribou coach Scott Hunter said. “It presents a great opportunity for us to do something special. There is no pressure on us, but we will have to put together our best game of the season and I think we are playing some of our best soccer right now.”
In Saturday’s win, Parker Deprey’s free kick from midfield bounced once and was headed by Alex Ezzy over Brewer goalkeeper Matt Mousseau to the foot of Tommy Pinette, who finished it off to give Caribou the 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, Austin Findlen hit a low shot to the far right corner off a Cullin Caverhill assist, making it 2-0. That was the score at halftime.
Connor Roope put the Witches on the board with 11 minutes to play when he lofted a shot over the fingertips of Caribou goalkeeper Noah Hixon, who had made a diving save on a Gavin Matthieu shot earlier in the half to keep Brewer scoreless.
MSSM Penguin Harrison Walters heads the ball as he is marked by Madawaska Owl defenders Anthony Daigle, left, and Caleb Bassett during the playoff game held in Limestone Friday. (Courtesy of Dave Allen Graphics)
Hunter said Saturday’s victory was attributed to the solid play from everyone in the lineup.
“It was a total team win as our three forwards put constant pressure on Brewer’s back line, preventing them from moving forward and our center midfielders worked tirelessly to stop the counter attack and connected with passes as we controlled play,” Hunter said. “Our backs played smart tough defense in front of Noah.”
Hixon finished with seven saves on 13 shots and Mousseau saved seven of 17 shots.
Brewer, which finished with a 9-5-1 record, had beaten Caribou during the regular season by a score of 3-2.
The Ashland boys’ and Central Aroostook girls’ soccer teams won Friday’s preliminary playoff matches to advance into the next round.
The Hornets defeated Jonesport-Beals in an upset, while the Panthers cruised to an easy 9-0 home win over Shead of Easport.
Summaries of the matches follow:
Ashland boys 2, Jonesport-Beals 1 — After a scoreless first half, the 12th-ranked Hornets fell behind early to start the second, but made an impressive comeback and earned the opportunity to play No. 4 Fort Fairfield in the quarterfinals, which were held Tuesday in Fort Fairfield.
“The key was that our guys didn’t hang their heads after we gave the goal, but actually started to take control of the game even though we were behind,” said Hornet Coach Trevor Hews. “Everyone kind of dug in and battled back.”
Ashland came up with the equalizer when Alex Kaiser scored off a Dylan Haley assist with 23 minutes to play and then got the game-winner thanks to the same combination with just over nine minutes remaining as Kaiser headed in a corner kick by Haley.
Hews said Jonesport-Beals then pushed everybody up to try to tie the score, but Steven Bellanceau made a big save with five minutes left and Ashland held on.
“It was a great win for our guys obviously to keep our season alive,” Hews said.
Central Aroostook girls 9, Shead 0 — The No. 5 Panthers had an easy time of it against the visiting Tigers in Friday’s Class D North prelim.
Central Aroostook scored its first three goals in a 2:16 stretch of the first half, two by senior Kassie Levesque and the other by freshman Libby Grass. Levesque then added her third goal of the half to make it 4-0 at intermission.
The team put in five more goals in the second half, two by Kayla Martin and one each by Katie Levesque, Brea Bradbury and Kassie Levesque. Bradbury finished with three assists, Kassie Levesque had two and Keara McCrum and Grass added one each.
Goalkeeper Caitlyn Harris, who was injured in a collision with a Shead player early in the second half and was removed from the match, combined with backup Macey Coffin for one save on three shots.
Shead goalkeeper Maddie Greenlaw collected 10 saves on 27 shots. The No. 12-ranked Tigers finished with a 6-8-1 record.
Central Aroostook traveled to take on No. 4 Madawaska Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
Bangor Christian girls 1, MSSM 0 — Michaela Stevenson scored the only goal of the match in the second half as the No. 6 Patriots shut out the Penguins, seeded 11th, in the Class D North preliminary playoff played in Bangor.
Sydney Tozer had the assist on the winning play, which came on a corner kick. Shannon Shaw saved all six shots to pick up the shutout in goal. Bangor Christian earned a date with No. 3 Southern Aroostook in the quarterfinals, to be played Tuesday, Oct. 24 in Dyer Brook.
Bella Martin had a busy day in goal for MSSM, facing 31 shots and saving 15. The Penguins finished with a 4-5 record.
