There may have been as many as 500 people at the final regular season game between Presque Isle and Caribou boys, but to those participating, it seemed like a lot more.

“The fans were so loud, both Caribou and Presque Isle, that at one point I thought, it sounds like there are 2,000 people here,” Caribou coach Mark Shea said Monday. “It was definitely a playoff atmosphere.”

Caribou and Presque Isle will get a true taste of a playoff atmosphere Wednesday, when the heated rivals located about 13 miles apart will meet in an Eastern Maine Class B semifinal at Presque Isle.

Game time is 5 p.m. There will be an admission charge of $3 for adults and $2 for students.

Caribou-Presque Isle isn’t the only rivalry on the semifinal schedule this week. The Madawaska girls will host Fort Kent in an EM Class C semi.

Caribou, the No. 5 seed, advanced thanks to a 2-0 quarterfinal win over No. 4 Ellsworth Saturday. That put the Vikings into the game against the No. 1 Wildcats, who beat No. 9 Hermon 2-0.

Caribou hasn’t advanced this far in a postseason since 2001, when the Vikings made it to the Eastern Maine Class B final.

Based on the teams’ records, the 8-6-1 Vikings wouldn’t stand much of a chance against 14-1 Presque Isle. But the Wildcats’ only loss this year came in the regular-season finale against Caribou, a 2-1 victory for the Vikes in Presque Isle.

“The celebration wasn’t as big after the Ellsworth win as it was after the Presque Isle win,” Shea said. “I think that’s because they know they still have some work to do.”

Caribou is 6-1-1 on the road this year.

Presque Isle won the Sept. 1 matchup between the teams 4-1. There have been a number of factors in Caribou’s improvement this year.

First, the five sophomore starters and freshman off the bench have taken some time to come around.

The other factor has been Eamonn Harrigan, who started the season as a center midfielder but was moved to stopper. Since the move, Harrigan has shut down two of the top forwards in the state – Presque Isle’s Nate Carter and Ellsworth’s Demetrios Katsiaficas.

“If your No. 1 defender is able to shut down their No. 1 scorer, that takes a lot of pressure off your other players,” Shea said.

Chase Gagnon has been moved to center mid. Shea said Gagnon’s been a good replacement because he’s a defensive-minded player.

Harrigan hasn’t been all defense lately, however. He logged a second-half goal in Caribou’s win over Ellsworth.

At about 20 miles, Fort Kent and Madawaska are little farther away in distance, and it’s a relatively new classification rivalry because Fort Kent dropped down to Class C this year.

Nevertheless, the proximity of the schools has always made for exciting Warriors-Owls matchups. And this year, former Fort Kent girls soccer coach Dan Cyr is coaching the Madawaska girls, which adds to the rivalry.

Both games should draw plenty of spectators, although rain and snow is predicted for the middle of the week.

“It should be a good game and we’d like to think we’re in a position to beat them again,” Caribou’s Shea said. “I think the only thing that would keep people away would be the weather.”