MCI, Bucksport post upset wins> 7 Eastern Maine final pairings set

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The matchups for Saturday’s Eastern Maine high school soccer finals were decided in Classes A, B and C Wednesday, while one Class D girls game postponed by snow.

In schoolboy action, top-seeded Waterville beat No. 4 Presque Isle 2-1 in the Class A contest. Waterville (15-0-1) awaits No. 2 Brunswick (13-2-1) in Saturday’s title game.

Class B featured two upsets as No. 6 Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield edged No. 2 Winslow 2-1 and fourth-seeded Houlton blanked No. 1 Ellsworth 1-0. The 13-3 Huskies head north for Saturday’s championship game against the 12-2-1 Shiretowners.

In Class C, No. 1 Piscataquis Community of Guilford nipped Penobscot Valley of Howland 2-1 in overtime and No. 2 Madawaska topped No. 3 Narraguagus of Harrington 2-1. The 12-1-3 Pirates entertain the 11-4 Owls in the regional title contest.

Top-seeded Van Buren and No. 7 Ashland advanced in Class D. The Crusaders beat No. 4 Shead of Eastport 5-2 and the Hornets downed No. 6 Fort Fairfield 4-2. Van Buren 12-2-2 plays host to 10-6 Ashland in Saturday’s EM final.

Five of the eight schoolgirl contests were shutouts. In Class A, No. 2 Brunswick eliminated Bangor 2-0 and No. 4 Waterville edged No. 1 Hampden Academy 3-2.

The 14-2 Dragons and the 12-1-2 Panthers play for the EM crown Saturday in Brunswick.

In Class B, fourth-seeded Bucksport beat No. 1 Mount View of Thorndike 2-1 and No. 2 Mount Desert Island halted No. 6 Houlton 2-0. The 12-2-3 Golden Bucks take on the 13-2-1 Trojans Saturday at Mount Desert.

In Class C, the top seeds prevailed as No. 1 Madawaska blanked No. 5 Hodgdon 4-0 and No. 2 Searsport nipped No. 6 Lee Academy 1-0. The 13-2-1 Vikings head to the St. John Valley Saturday to face the 13-0-2 Owls.

Second-seeded Greenville beat No. 6 Bangor Christian 1-0 in Class D, where the game between top-seeded Ashland (10-2-2) and No. 4 Wisdom of St. Agatha (8-4-3), was postponed until Thursday at noon at the University of Maine-Presque Isle.

The 7-4-2 Lakers await the winner for Saturday’s title game at the home field of the higher remaining seed.

Boys soccer

Class A

Waterville 2, Presque Isle 1

At Waterville, Brian LeBrasseur scored the game-winner with 1:40 left in regulation.

Ben Wheeler netted the first goal for Waterville off an assist from LeBrasseur. Sean Flood saved 15 of 19 shots.

Jeremie Bragdon scored the goal and Gene Cronin turned away eight of 16 shots for 11-4-1 Presque Isle.

Class B

MCI 2, Winslow 1

At Winslow, Jeff Giallombardo scored twice to lead Maine Central Institute.

Mike Thompson had an assist and Shawn Souza saved nine of 14 shots for the Huskies.

Mark Gunning tied the game at 1-1 for 15-1-1 Winslow off an assist from Travis Bickford. Jared Poulin stopped eight of 11 shots.

Class C

Piscataquis 2, PVHS 1 (OT)

At Guilford, Kyle Harrington took an indirect kick from David Emrich and booted home the game-winner from eight yards out with 6:18 left in overtime, lifting Piscataquis to victory.

Emrich had scored off a Trey Gilbert assist to put the Pirates on the board at 27:43 of the second half. John Riitano made 13 saves on 14 shots.

Mike Houde had tied it for 9-5-2 Penobscot Valley at 21:42 of the second half, with Lucas McCannell getting the assist. Matt Lindsay made 10 saves on 13 shots.

Madawaska 2, Narraguagus 1

At Madawaska, Ben Marshall netted two goals to lead Madawaska into the finals.

Marshall kicked the first goal off an assist from Ben Bouchard and headed in the second off a pass from Luke Pennington. Shawn Pelletier stopped six of nine shots.

Silas Rossi scored for 12-2 Narraguagus off an assist from Andrew Batson. Bruce Hall saved 15 of 30 shots.

Class D

Ashland 4, Fort Fairfield 2

At Fort Fairfield, Lee Bennett scored one goal and assisted on two others in the first half, sparking the Hornets into the title game.

Bennett set up Charles Robinson’s goal to make it 1-1, assisted on Darren Belskis’ go-ahead tally, then scored an unassisted goal. Rustin Lovewell scored the clincher with 10:55 left, with Robinson getting an assist.

Aaron Bennett made five saves on 12 shots for Ashland.

Andrew Bugbee scored both goals for 8-7-1 Fort Fairfield. Peter Solomon and Joel Brahim provided assists, while John Hayes made 15 saves on 25 shots.

Van Buren 5, Shead 2

At Van Buren, Chanel Wright scored four goals and assisted on the other, propeling Van Buren to victory.

Brian Pelletier had three assists and goalie Nate Marquis turned away seven of 11 shots for the winners. Zach Cote scored a goal and an assist.

Shayn Small and Ricky Cox each registered a goal and an assist for 11-3-2 Shead. Cliff Urquhart saved 10 of 26 shots.

Girls soccer

Class A

Brunswick 2, Bangor 0

At Brunswick, Anne Jacobs scored a goal and an assist to lead Brunswick to victory.

Molly Chester added an insurance goal and Casey Jacobs had an assist for the winners. Stephanie Peters saved both shots she faced.

Anne Wright turned away 13 of 19 shots for 14-3 Bangor.

Class B

MDI 2, Houlton 0

At Mount Desert Island, Hollie Walker broke a scoreless tie off an assist from Maija Kaldro with 16:12 left in regulation.

Kaldro sealed the victory for MDI when she netted a goal with two minutes left in the game off a pass from Lara Law. Lacey Richards stopped two of three shots.

Jessica Prosser made 13 saves on 20 shots for 7-8-1 Houlton.

Bucksport 2, Mount View 1

At Thorndike, Jaime Gilman and Jessica Gordon each scored a goal for Bucksport.

Katie Pelletier and Kara Henderson each had an assist for the winners. Kelly Downes made nine saves on 16 shots.

Nina Graham netted a goal off an assist from Sarah Cole for 13-1-2 Mount View. Jessica Trundy saved two of six shots.

Class C

Madawaska 4, Hodgdon 0

At Madawaska, the Owls showed their appreciation for the community’s efforts clearing the field of 9 1/2 inches of snow by shutting out the Hawks.

Kristin Pelletier scored twice for Madawaska and Christine Lavertu provided a goal and an assist. Erin Pelletier had the other goal. Jenny Boucher and Nicole Soucy notched assists.

Steph Gagnon made six saves on nine shots.

For 10-4-2 Hodgdon, Danielle Fitzpatrick registered 13 saves on 31 shots.

Madawaska coach Ed Marshall explained that 10 parents, three recreation department employees and five members of the school department staff spent 12 hours Tuesday removing snow from the 11th Avenue field with snowblowers and other machines. It took another three hours to finish preparing the field Wednesday morning.

Marshall said the playing surface was surrounded by four-foot snowbanks and an army of 25 snowmen made Tuesday night by Madawaska students.

“All night long I was worried about what the field would be like,” Marshall said. “I got goosebumps when I saw it. The field conditions never came into play.”

The Madawaska-Narraguagus boys game was played on the same field later Wednesday because the boys’ field was covered with snow.

Searsport 1, Lee Academy 0

At Searsport, Sarah Webster scored the game’s only goal less than four minutes into the second half, lifting the Vikings into the regional finals.

Jessica Barton saved nine of 15 shots for the winners.

Tori Nute recorded 13 saves on 19 shots for 9-6-1 Lee Academy.

Greenville 1, Bangor Christian 0

At Greenville, Sara Ward saved 11 of 12 shots to lead Greenville in the shutout.

Kim Folsom netted the game-winner with 6:40 left in regulation off an assist from Kathryn Bushey.

Stephanie Regan made 10 saves off 19 shots for 8-5-1 Bangor Christian.

Waynflete 3, Valley 0

At Bingham, Amanda Waterhouse scored two goals and an assist to lead 11-0 Waynflete of Portland.

Whitney McMullan netted a goal and Anna Shapwell stopped six of 15 shots for the winners.

Megan Dunton saved three of six shots for 6-7 Valley of Bingham.