The Caribou Vikings have been quite the road warriors this postseason. The fifth-ranked Caribou girls have posted impressive road victories over No. 4 Gardiner and top-ranked Presque Isle, which hadn’t lost a game to an Eastern Maine foe since 2007.
Coach Todd Albert’s club will need to take down another unbeaten if it wants to advance to the Class B state championship game. Caribou hits the road again today to take on 16-0 Winslow for the regional crown at 2 p.m.
Today’s other two contests are rematches from a year ago and feature reigning state champions.
Defending Class D champ and undefeated Southern Aroostook (16-0) hosts No. 2 Ashland (14-2) in Dyer Brook at 1 p.m. while Waterville, which captured the Class A title a year ago, hits the road to play Brunswick at 1:30 p.m.
One regional title was settled Tuesday, with Orono beating Fort Kent 1-0 in the Class C game.
The state championship games are Saturday, with two games apiece taking place in Scarborough and Hampden. Both sites have artificial turf.
Class B: Going into play Saturday, Presque Isle had Caribou’s number, as the Vikings hadn’t beaten their Aroostook County archrivals since 2003.
But the Vikings played the Wildcats tough in the regular season, losing 2-0 and 3-2, so Albert figured a breakthrough was on the horizon.
“I told the girls after we lost to them the last time, I think we’re the kind of team they wouldn’t want to face in the playoffs,” Albert said.
Caribou edged Presque Isle 2-1 in penalty kicks Saturday, and the Vikings made five to the Wildcats’ four.
Ironically, the last time the Vikings beat the Wildcats in 2003 was when Caribou last advanced to a regional championship game.
The Vikings fell to Belfast that year. The team last advanced to a state championship game in 1988, when Caribou played in Class A.
Caribou has gotten plenty of contributions offensively in its last two games, with Jenna Selander leading the way with three goals and one assist.
Olivia Sleeper has handed out a couple of assists for Caribou, which heads into today’s play 11-4-1 while Morgan Swan has two goals and Jessica Zybult another.
Brittany Doak, one of Class B’s top goalkeepers, withstood a strong offensive team in Presque Isle and posted 13 saves in Saturday’s victory.
Kim Curtis and Alli Veilleux have been the main offensive weapons in the postseason for coach Scott Wood’s Black Raiders.
Curtis has two goals and three assists while Veilleux has a pair of goals.
One of Curtis’ two goals came on a penalty kick with 7:23 left in regulation during Winslow’s 1-0 semifinal triumph over No. 3 Old Town.
“They’ve got some good players. We know we’ve just got to play our game [and] we can’t get into a shootout like we did against Gardiner,” Albert said.
Caribou held off Gardiner 6-5 in the quarterfinals.
Winslow goalkeeper Jessica Gordon posted her 11th shutout of the season in the semifinals.
The Raiders are meeting an Aroostook County team for the second time in as many years in the regionals. Winslow fell to Presque Isle 3-2 last fall.
Class D: Ashland only had two losses in the regular season, both at the hands of the Warriors.
Southern Aroostook hasn’t had much trouble in the first two rounds, eliminating No. 8 Fort Fairfield 3-1 and dispatching fifth-seeded Easton 3-0.
Coach Holly Vining’s Warriors are balanced offensively with numerous weapons, such as Evangeline Goodall and Elizabeth Goodall, Janel Rockwell and Jasmine Rockwell, Kim Pratt and Rochelle Nadeau.
“It’s been that way pretty much all season,” Vining said. “It’s been kind of nice, we don’t really rely on any one person to come through. It’s a real team effort, which is good.”
Emily Cummings has been stout in goal this fall for Southern Aroostook.
Ashland has outscored its first two opponents by a combined 10-1, as coach Peter Belskis’ Hornets ousted No. 7 Central Aroostook of Mars Hill 7-0 and No. 6 Limestone 3-1.
“They’re a very strong team offensively. They’ve scored a lot of goals this season and shut a lot of teams out,” Vining said.
The Hornets are led offensively by Brooke LaBelle, Macie Pelkey and Jessica Jimmo while Taylor Baker is strong in goal.
These teams aren’t exactly strangers. This will be the sixth time they’ve played in two seasons, including twice in a regional final, so the Warriors aren’t exactly expecting to cruise into another state game.
“There’s no way that they’re underestimating Ashland, especially after playing them so many times,” Vining said.
Class A: No. 3 Waterville bested No. 1 Brunswick 2-1 in the 2008 regional final en route to winning the state title.
This time, the game will be played on the Dragons’ turf, and Brunswick comes in undefeated at 16-0 and the Purple Panthers are 14-1-1.
Both teams won their respective semifinal contests in narrow fashion, with Brunswick edging a determined Messalonskee of Oakland club 2-1 and Waterville tripping Bangor by the same score.
The Dragons and Panthers each boast prolific scoring threats in Alison Walton and Jordan Pellerin, respectively.
