Three second-half goals help Ponies win at PCHS
GUILFORD — Despite more than doubling the opposition’s shots on goal in the opening half – 18-8 – the Foxcroft Academy girls soccer team remained in a scoreless tie with neighboring rival Piscataquis Community High School during an Sept.15 interclass contest. The Ponies would find the goal three times in the second half and junior keeper Kiara Prescott continued her 10-save shutout effort as Foxcroft won 3-0.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
PAIR OF SECOND-HALF GOALS — Foxcroft Academy senior Grace Bickford and PCHS freshman Megan Beckwith race to a loose ball during a Sept. 15 game in Guilford. Bickford broke a scoreless stalemate with two goals early in the second half to help the Ponies earn a 3-0 victory.
“We had more intensity, we definitely were going more to the ball than we were in the first half,” Foxcroft senior Grace Bickford said, as her team improved to 4-1 with its fourth straight win after falling in the 2016 opener on the road in Aroostook County at Presque Isle High School.
Within the first four-plus minutes of the second half Pony senior Cassidy Panciera won control of a loose ball and she passed it to Bickford. Bickford’s low shot from the left side of the field snuck inside the right post to break the 0-0 stalemate at the 35:38-mark.
Just over three minutes later Foxcroft senior Makayla McCorrison had the ball near the right edge of the box. McCorrison passed to Bickford, who was positioned around the penalty spot, and Bickford lofted the ball into the air. Bickford’s snuck her shot beneath the bar to give her team a 2-0 advantage nearly eight minutes into the half.
“I was just trying to get it in the back of the net as much as I could,” Bickford said about her second goal in less than four minutes.
With 9:51 to go, the Ponies added an insurance goal. Freshman Olivia Wesley, on an assist by junior Jenna Clukey following a crossing pass, kicked the ball into the goal from outside of the left penalty area line.
Foxcroft Head Coach Chris Wesley said the team’s formation was switched in the second half, with the Ponies going from a 4-3-3 to having a player moved to the front in a 4-2-4 to open up the middle. “Once we controlled the middle of the field we could move the ball more,” Wesley said as the halftime adjustment resulted in the team’s three goals.
PCHS sophomore keeper Alivia Hunt finished with a game-high 26 saves, stopping 16 shots in the second 40-minutes session.
The Pirates – who have no seniors on the roster – stood with a record of 2-3 after the game.
Foxcroft and PCHS are scheduled to play again in Dover-Foxcroft on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
BALL CONTROL — Sophomore Jacalyn Pelletier of Foxcroft and Pirate freshman Elizabeth Adams, with sophomore Rosa Labbe in the background, look to dig the ball out of the corner during the Thursday Class B-C interclass contest.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
MIDDLE OF THE FIELD — Pony junior Jenna Clukey brings the ball across midfield while being pursued by PCHS junior Bailey Lemieux in the second half of the game on Sept. 15.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
ON THE DEFENSIVE — Freshman Shanoah Hill looks to clear the ball away from Foxcroft Academy senior Makayla McCorrison. McCorrison would end up with an assist on the second of three Pony goals in the second half.
GIRLS SOCCER
Foxcroft 3,
PCHS 0
FOX 0 3 | 3
PCHS 0 0 | 0
Second half:
FOX — Bickford
(Panciera); FOX — Bickford
(McCorrison); FOX —
Wesley (Clukey).
Saves: PCHS — Hunt 26;
FOX — Prescott 10.
Corner kicks: PCHS — 0;
FOX — 5.
Records: PCHS 2-3;
FOX 4-1.