Eight goals is more than enough as Pirates advance to quarterfinals

Speed scores five times,
including No. 80 of her career

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    GUILFORD — In what was likely the last home game of her career, senior striker Alex Speed (one of eight members of the Class of 2015 on the roster) had a day to remember during a Class C East preliminary round contest vs. 11th seed Washington Academy of East Machias on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 25. Speed would pick up five goals, and a pair of assists, as No. 6 Piscataquis Community High School tallied a season-high goal total in an 8-1 victory, earning the squad’s first berth in the quarterfinals since 2011 or when the current seniors were freshmen.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    JUST WIDE — PCHS freshman Erin Speed (3) and senior Miriah Pettit and Washington Academy’s, from left, senior keeper Paige Sinford, freshman Hailey Wood, senior Alayna Caricofe and junior Glenda Francis watch as a shot by Speed rolls just to the left of the goal post during an Oct. 25 Class C East preliminary round game. The shot was one of the few that missed the mark as the Pirates scored a season-high eight goals in the 8-1 victory between the sixth- and 11th-seeded teams. PCHS will now play at No. 3 Fort Kent in a quarterfinal set for Oct. 29.

    Speed began to familiarize herself with the Raider goal — the game was an all-buccaneer matchup — just over 10 minutes into play. Senior Miriah Pettit kicked the ball from the middle of the field over the Washington defense and then a foot race was on. Speed got to the ball and she dribbled toward the goal for a quick shot past Raider senior keeper Paige Sinford for the 1-0 advantage at the 29:56-mark.
    Just over six minutes later Speed, on an assist from her sister freshman Erin Speed, again got the ball and had a clear path to the goal. Speed found the left corner of the net to put her team ahead at 2-0.
    Sophomore Ashley Porter would get the visitors on the scoreboard, the lone blemish for the Pirates, but Speed’s day was far from over. On an assist from her sister, Speed dribbled right up to the goal for a point blank shot as her third goal of the opening 40-minutes session gave PCHS a 3-1 lead with less than three minutes to go in the half.
    The Pirates were only getting started on the scoring sheet in the first half. Pettit scored twice in the first eight minutes of half No. 2, on assists by Erin and Alex Speed respectively, to up the lead to 5-1. 

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    THE BETTER OF THE TWO PIRATE SQUADS — Pirate freshman Bailey Lemieux and Washington Academy Raider junior Glenda Francis fight for the ball during the Oct. 25 prelim. The Guilford-based Pirate nicknamed team won the matchup, 8-1.

    Speed concluded the regular season by scoring the 75th and 76th goals of her career, and in the first half against Washington she added to this total to 79. In the second half, after receiving a pass from junior keeper Haylee Patterson, Speed sprinted up the left side of the field past the Raider defense.
    With an unobstructed shot, Speed got the ball inside the right post for her milestone 80th goal in a PCHS uniform. Goal No. 4 for Speed made the game 6-1 with 19:21 to go.
    At this point Patterson’s day in goal concluded, as head coach Joe Gallant put junior Delani Bennett in. The pair would combine on an 11-save day, with only one goal against.
    Speed picked up her second assist, she had a hand in seven of the eight goals, with less than 10 minutes remaining. She passed the ball from out of the box to Erin Speed, who then sent it back and in for goal No. 7 as the sisters finished the day with six goals and five assists.
    The busy day on the Raider side of the field came to an end with 7:32 to play. Speed, on an assist from junior Tijana Kand, once again lived up to her last name by getting past the Washington midfield. Despite having several defenders between her and the goal, Speed was able to get a shot off and put it precisely where she wanted, in the right side of the Raider net. Her 81st career goal was her fifth of the day and the eighth for the Pirates.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    FOOT ON THE BALL — Dribbling up from midfield is senior Sarah Taylor of PCHS as Washington sophomore Lydia Day applies the defensive pressure and Pirate freshman Lexi Harris, Washington senior Toni Bridges and a hillside of spectators look on.

    The victory was the fifth in a row for PCHS and helped extend a streak to 7-1-1 in the team’s last nine games. The Pirates are now 11-3-1 in 2014, Washington’s season was ended with a record of 4-9-2.
    On Wednesday, Oct. 29, the Pirates are scheduled to travel to northern Aroostook County to face third seed Fort Kent Community High School (the two programs met in a 2011 quarterfinal with PCHS being defeated three years ago on the road). Fort Kent will enter the game with a record of 7-4-3, having played an entirely different slate of opponents than the Pirates.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    ON TO THE QUARTERFINALS — Junior Tijana Kand and her PCHS teammates will be playing in the Class C East quarterfinals for the first time since 2011 after the No. 6 Pirates bested 11th seed Washington Academy, 8-1, in a prelim on Oct. 25. PCHS will travel to Fort Kent for the next round, which was where the squad played in its last quarterfinal appearance.

GIRLS SOCCER
Class C East prelim
No. 6 PCHS 8,
No. 11 Wash. 1

WA    1           0        —         1
PC      3          5        —         8
    First half: P — A. Speed (Pettit); P — A. Speed (E. Speed); W — Porter; P — A. Speed (E. Speed).
    Second half: P — Pettit (E. Speed); P — Pettit (A. Speed); P — A. Speed (Patterson); P — E. Speed (A. Speed);
P — A. Speed (Kand).
    Saves: P — Patterson and Bennett 11; W — Sinford 12.
    Corner kicks: P — 4; W — 0.
    Records: P 11-3-1, W 4-9-2.