Ashland boys lose top soccer scorer> Senior Darren Belskis suffers knee injury

Under ideal conditions, teams hit their peak right before the playoffs and ride the wave into the postseason.

For the Ashland boys soccer team, that plan has hit a bump.

The 11-3 Hornets, who are seeded fifth in Eastern Maine Class D, will have to play without Darren Belskis, their leading goal scorer (25 goals) and a key offensive cog. Belskis went down with a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee and probably won’t return for the postseason.

“We were a team that no one could defend, and we’re not the same team without him,” said Ashland coach Peter Belskis, who is Darren’s father.

Although Darren Belskis won’t play, the Hornets still have a multitude of offensive possibilities on a team that has racked up 93 goals.

There’s Charles Robinson (21 goals), who now holds Ashland’s career goals record with 60 so far (Belskis was at 58 career goals when he hurt his knee) and has been credited with 13 assists. Lee Bennett has 22 goals and 14 assists. Rustin Lovewell finished the regular season with 18 goals and 10 assists.

But Darren will be missed. He leads the team with 17 assists and was an effective scorer when Robinson was heavily defended.

“In the season, when [the opposition] doubled up on Charles, Darren could break through,” Peter Belskis said. “With Darren out it makes us vulnerable.”

Former University of Maine basketball player Fritz Marseille started his new job as the Hermon High athletic director last Wednesday.

Three days later, the 1994 UMaine graduate already had a Penobscot Valley Conference cross country championship meet for which to prepare, so it’s lucky former AD Tim Thornton hasn’t gone anywhere.

“It’s a positive thing that he’s an assistant principal,” Marseille said. “He already had things in order and he lent a helping hand.”

Marseille shouldn’t have too much trouble running athletics at the school. He’s got two degrees in physical education, including a bachelor’s from UMaine, and was the student activities and recreation supervisor at the Penobscot Job Corps in Bangor.

Marseille, who is originally from Chicago, transferred to Maine from South Suburban Community College in South Holland, Ill.

A 6-foot-6 forward, Marseille started for two years under former coach Rudy Keeling. He tries to return to Orono, but with a wife and two young sons, getting away for a game or two can be hard.

“I go as often as I can, as much as possible,” he said. “I’d like to try to get to three games this year.”

When Paul Henderson resigned from his post as the Foxcroft Academy ice hockey coach, Skowhegan High School gained a coach for its first-ever varsity team.

It also created problems for the Ponies.

The Dover-Foxcroft school now has a hole to fill with the season less than a month away. The school has advertised the opening in area newspapers.