PRESQUE ISLE — With the season at the halfway point for the Presque Isle girls soccer team, now is the time for the Wildcats to make their move.
Saturday’s 3-1 Class B victory over a tough Ellsworth squad may be a start for coach Ralph Michaud’s club, as Chandler Guerrette scored two goals and Chelsea Nickerson one to help the Wildcats improve to 5-2-1.
“You can see them starting to click a little bit,” said Michaud, whose team is in the midst of the potato harvest break.
“What helped us was it rained Friday and the girls didn’t work,” he said. “We have at least 7, 8 that work (during the potato harvest).”
The Ellsworth boys went on to defeat Presque Isle 4-2 in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader in a showdown of unbeatens.
Guerrette opened the scoring 1:15 into the girls’ match, knocking home a pass from Kayla Richards on a through-ball.
Ellsworth (3-3) tied it five minutes later, with Annika Firestone booming in a shot from 30 yards out.
Presque Isle took the lead for good 22 minutes before halftime with Chelsea Nickerson converting on a direct kick, while Nickerson set up Guerrette’s second goal 1:42 into the second half.
“I thought they were a very athletic, strong team,” Michaud said. “We know Ellsworth’s always going to be a battle.”
Meredith Stewart had four saves on six shots for the Wildcats while Jessica Toothaker saved 9 out of 12 for Ellsworth.
In the boys’ game, Cody Card scored a goal and assisted on two to lead unbeaten Ellsworth to its sixth victory.
Nick Holt added a goal and assist for the Eagles while Maks Grover and Kyle Haslam recorded a goal apiece. Andrew Austin added an assist and Jordan Carter made five saves on seven shots.
Wilder York and Brandon Bonville each scored a goal for 7-1-1 Presque Isle while Andrew Legassie and Isaac Lajoie each added an assist. Andrew Kofstad made five saves on nine shots.