CARIBOU, Maine — Junior Alex Allain had a hand in all the goals, scoring twice and assisting on another, to lead Hermon past Caribou 3-1 in a girls soccer showdown Saturday afternoon at Caribou High School.
It was the Hawks’ sixth victory of the season without a loss, while Caribou is 6-2 and fell for the first time on its home field. It was a matchup pitting two of the top four teams in the Class B North division.
Allain, who has carried Hermon’s offense throughout the season, continued her torrid scoring pace. She scored the match’s first goal 6:59 into the first half, converting a cross from the right corner by Brianna Saulter.
Fifty-four seconds into the second half, she set up Olivia Tardie, who sent a ball into an empty net after Vikings goalkeeper Kerrigan Manter was caught out following a scramble.
Then with 23:15 left on the clock, Allain scored her third header of the season off a corner kick by Emma Allmon to close out her big day.
Allain has scored 13 of her team’s 25 goals this season, and Hermon head coach M.J. Ball said she is a threat in a number of ways.
“She can receive the ball with her back to the goal, she can go at you one on one, she can beat you in the air, she’s got pace and can beat you behind,” Ball said. “She’s got everything, which is great to see because it means she’s unpredictable but she’s dangerous.”
Caribou was able to tie the match at 1-1 with 1:27 remaining in the first half. Center back Hope Shea took advantage of a Hermon foul by launching a direct kick from 35 yards out that carried past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Olivia Campbell, just under the crossbar and into the net.
“I thought we had three or four chances to put the game to bed in the first half,” Ball said. “We talked about it [during intermission] that if you don’t finish your chances, it can come back to haunt you. So in the second half, we really focused on trying to get in behind them and the early goal [by Tardie] really took the pressure off.”
The Hawks outshot the Vikings 19-8, with Campbell needing to make just three saves for Hermon and Manter collecting 10 for Caribou. Emi Higgins had a particularly strong game on defense for the winners, helping to stop the few surges by the Vikings.
Shea, Caribou’s talented defender, suffered an injury eight minutes into the second half. She left the field and returned 10 minutes later, just after Hermon’s third goal. Viking striker Maddie Doucette, the team’s leading scorer, also was hobbled and unable to kickstart her team’s usually dangerous attack.
The Hawks next play Foxcroft Academy in another road contest Tuesday, while the Vikings are off until Saturday, when they play John Bapst at Husson University.