Van Buren depth beats Wisdom

VAN BUREN – When Van Buren sophomore Kyla LaPlante removed herself from Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class D girls soccer championship game 10 minutes into the second half, she was also taking to the bench a team-leading 12 goals and nine assists.

A lower back injury which developed in practice two weeks ago had flared up, causing LaPlante to seek a replacement with her team leading 1-0 over Wisdom.

Freshman Nicole Corbin checked in at LaPlante’s striker position and it took less than five minutes for her to make an impact. When stopper back Sarah Johnson blasted a shot from 25 yards out off the crossbar, Corbin was there to head in the rebound.

The goal, which came with 24:58 left in the game, pulled Van Buren ahead by two goals and clinched what became a 4-0 victory.

The No. 1 Crusaders improved to 13-1-2, while Wisdom, which had also dropped both regular-season meetings to Van Buren, finished the year at 11-6.

LaPlante, who returned to the game two minutes after Corbin scored, said she has plenty of faith in her fill-in.

“We played striker together in junior high,” LaPlante said, “so I have confidence in her.”

Corbin, who is the Crusaders’ top forward reserve, but generally fills in at the wing position, attributed her goal to being “at the right place at the right time.”

“It was a really nice kick by Sarah,” said Corbin, who scored five goals during the regular season. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. It was there, and I did what I needed to get it in.”

Crusader coach Brian Hews said his team benefits from having the luxury of another capable scoring threat available to come off the bench.

“Nicole is a smart little player,” Hews said. “She has good skills and she made the right play on that goal.”

Wisdom put together its best scoring opportunities in the 10-minute period which followed Corbin’s goal, but was thwarted every time.

Van Buren, which played with the wind in its favor during the second half, added a pair of insurance goals in the final 10 minutes with junior Denise Marquis connecting for her second goal of the game off a Heather Parent cross at the 9:44 mark and senior right midfielder Kristin Ayotte burying a direct kick from 20 yards out with 52 seconds left.

The Crusaders had won the opening coin toss and elected to go against the wind in the first half. The decision paid off as Van Buren controlled play from the outset, thanks to the dominating presence of center midfielder Lukey Gagnon, and got on the scoreboard with 20:12 left before intermission.

Marquis, running down the left side, gathered in a LaPlante pass and directed a shot from eight yards out to the far post, past Pioneer goalie Jen Derosier.

“I called for the ball and Kyla gave me one of the most perfect passes,” Marquis said. “We’ve been playing together a lot and we have good chemistry.”

Although they were able to put only two shots on goal against Crusaders goalie Casey Violette in the first half, Wisdom showed some gritty play which allowed it to go into intermission still within striking distance.

“We were outplayed, but we never gave up,” said Wisdom coach Mim Gagnon. “My girls have heart and I give them credit for that.”

Violette finished with four saves on six shots, while the Pioneers’ Derosier turned away nine of 22 attempts.