The Fort Kent High School girls soccer team will get another crack at Maranacook High of Readfield in Saturday’s state Class C soccer game in Lewiston beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Maranacook beat the Warriors 5-0 in last year’s final.
Fort Kent punched its ticket to another state game appearance by shutting out its three C North playoff opponents, including the 3-0 triumph over Orono in Tuesday’s final.
Senior striker Reese Doucette had a pair of goals, and freshman Hayden Plourde had the other, all in the first half.
“We played pretty well,” said fourth-year head coach Mindy Forino. “There are definitely some things we could finetune a little more but, overall, it was a good game.”
The Warriors had beaten Orono 4-2 and 3-2 during the regular season, and Forino felt if her team played up to its potential, it would triumph for a third time.
“The girls put it all together,” said Forino.
Forino had stressed to them that they needed to come out strong and they did.
“I told them they had to come out fired up from the first whistle and not give up until the end of the game. I was so proud of them because they really, truly did that.”
Forino said she has a “wonderful team,” and unlike other teams she has coached, it doesn’t rely on just one or two players.
She said everyone contributes.
“All 11 of our starters are talented and then we have bench players we can rely on,” said Forino, who has guided the Warriors to a 14-1-2 record with the only loss coming to Class B North finalist Presque Isle. “The talent is a little deeper than usual.”
She said the other thing that sets this team apart from her other teams is the “team chemistry.”
“They truly click as a whole. They love each other and show up and play for each other and the community,” Forino said. “We haven’t had anything that has divided the team.”
She has a dynamic one-two scoring punch up front in senior Doucette, who has scored close to 100 goals for her career, and sophomore Tilly Daigle. They have combined with Plourde, who comes off the bench, to score the vast majority of the team’s 62 goals.
Sophomores Lilly Bouchard and Laney Caron and senior Kiley Marquis supply the Warriors with a formidable attacking midfield and they are well-supported by defensive midfielders Karley Robichaud, a sophomore, and Avery Werntgen, a senior.
The solid back line features senior Niah Durost, junior Avery Marquis and senior Kamryn Martin.
Sophomore Trinity Daigle is the goalkeeper.
Forino said Saturday’s game with Maranacook will be interesting.
“I’m excited. I think we can definitely compete,” Forino said. “It’s just a matter of figuring out between now and then the things we need to work on, working on them in practice and analyzing Marancook.”
She said last year’s final was a “tough game.”
“I’m hoping the morale is a little bit different this year,” Forino said. “You know how it is, on any given day, every team is beatable.”