PRESQUE ISLE – For Brittany Bearden, the clock couldn’t tick fast enough.

As she stood at midfield, waiting to possibly check in, Bearden’s Presque Isle Wildcats were mere seconds away from the program’s first-ever Eastern Maine regional soccer championship.

“I don’t know, I just broke down because I couldn’t believe it,” the excited senior said.

The dream and belief became a reality for Bearden and her teammates Wednesday night, as the top-ranked Wildcats got two goals from Kayla Legassie, including one with 14:12 to play in regulation, to give top-ranked Presque Isle the Class B regional title with a hard-fought, 3-2 win over No. 2 Winslow at the Johnson Complex.

The Presque Isle boys scored three unanswered second-half goals, two by Warren Zubrik to defeat second-ranked Camden Hills of Rockport 4-1 earlier in the day.

Both clubs advance to Saturday’s state championship games at Hampden Academy, with the Wildcat boys going for the first time since 2005.

The PI girls will play Western Maine champ York while the boys will take on the winner of the WM final between Falmouth and Yarmouth. Game times will be announced today.

Wednesday night’s girls game had all the makings of an instant classic, as the Wildcats and Black Raiders battled valiantly.

Presque Isle got two quick goals early in the first half before Winslow rallied to tie it early in the second.

The equalizer, a breakaway goal from senior Arian Kumlangngam 1:35 after intermission, could’ve broken the Wildcats spirits, but that didn’t even come close to happening.

“We see it every day, every game that goes on, goals are scored the last second of the game, anything can happen so we knew it didn’t matter,” Presque Isle senior Sarah Porter said.

The 16-1 Wildcats kept scratching and clawing, dominating the midfield and attacking the wings with their quickness, trying valiantly to regain the lead.

It was only fitting that one of Presque Isle’s stars, Legassie, sent the team from the Star City into its first-ever state final.

Legassie dribbled past a Black Raider defender along the endline, finally got free and blasted a low shot through the gloves of Winslow keeper Beth Fisher.

Fittingly, Legassie thanked her lucky stars after that shot.

“I actually tried those shots down there (in the semifinals), but this one went right through her hands in the right corner, and I was like thank you,” said Legassie, who scored the game’s first goal 13:13 in.

Fisher actually came up with that shot, but turned her body and the ball crossed the goal line, resulting in a 1-0 PI lead.

Porter set up Mackenzie Pinette on a corner kick two minutes later while Jordyn Mallett put 15-2 Winslow on the board with a free kick with 14:08 to play.

After Legassie’s second goal, the Wildcats controlled the midfield soundly and kept the Black Raiders’ speedy attackers from penetrating the offensive third.

Then, as the clock hit zero, the ghosts of past postseason losses were erased.

“[It’s our] senior year, it’s our last chance. We just had to come out be ready for this game,” said Porter, a smile plastered to her face.

Kelsey Park came up with two saves on six Winslow shots while Fisher had six on 13 for the Raiders.

In the boys game, the Wildcats came out of the gates roaring early and often, but couldn’t cash in on numerous first-half scoring opportunities.

Presque Isle finally scored first, at the 4:22 mark, as Russ Mortland headed home Eric Morris’ direct kick.

Morris sent a high, arching boot into the penalty area from the left corner, and Mortland headed the ball through Ian Cushing’s legs.

Camden Hills answered with 18 seconds to play, with Josh Andrews booting home an Andrew Stevick cross.

It wouldn’t stay tied for long, as Mortland scored his second goal of the match 1:42 into the second half.

Morris once again provided the setup, sending a corner kick into the heart of the penalty area, where the tall, lanky Mortland easily headed the ball home.

That opened the floodgates for the Wildcats.

“As soon as we got that first one we just started playing really well,” said Mortland.

Zubrik scored the first of his two 12 minutes later, controlling a Mortland rebound and one-touching it past Cushing, who came out too far.

Zubrik capped the scoring with 14:09 remaining, accepting a pass from Morris just inside the penalty area, making a move on a Windjammers defender and knocking the ball home.

“For some reason, all season we’ve been a better second-half team,” said Wildcats coach Scott Young, whose club won its 15th straight and improved to 16-0-1 while the Windjammers finished up 13-3-1.

Presque Isle controlled the midfield better in the second half, winning a high percentage of the balls in the air and utilizing its quickness up front.

“We re-gathered our composure in the second half and played more our style,” said Young.

“We knew that they had a lot of confidence going into the half but we knew at halftime we were the better team,” added Dillon Kingsbury, who made six saves on 11 shots.

Cushing finished with seven saves while Derek Drechsler had one save in relief for the Windjammers, who were outshot 15-11.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

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