OAKLAND — It’s 12 consecutive victories and counting for the Winslow boys soccer team.
But the 12th win didn’t come easy.
Tied 2-2 midway through the second half, back-to-back goals from Braden Rodrigue and Carter Calvo gave the No. 3 Black Raiders a 4-2 win over No. 6 Caribou in a Class B North quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon at Veterans Field.
“We knew it’d be a tough game coming into it,” said Winslow senior midfielder Joey Richards, who had a goal and an assist. “But we played our game, leaned on each other, fought and won.”
Winslow (12-2-1) — owners of a 12-match win streak dating back to Sept. 12 — moves on to play the winner of No. 2 Ellsworth vs. No. 10 Mount Desert Island, played on Wednesday night, in the semifinals. Caribou finished 10-4-1.
Rodrigue, a junior midfielder, had a goal and assist, while sophomore Brody Willette added a goal for the Black Raiders.
Sam Hebert tallied both goals for the Vikings.
The Black Raiders showed needed resiliency late in the second half when Rodrigue scored his goal with 16:55 remaining in the game. Coming off a corner kick, Rodrigue was just able to maneuver his head on the ball and knock it beyond the goal line for the score.
“I was actually looking away (from the corner kick) for a second,” Rodrigue said. “Then I just turned around, jumped up and got a good header and good timing on it.”
Less than three minutes later, Calvo, a freshman forward, sealed the win with a goal from about 25 yards out for the final 4-2 score.
“With 40 minutes left (in the game), we just knew, for (the seniors), if we don’t win this half, that’s it, we won’t play high school (soccer) ever again,” Richards said. “I think that was a big motivator for us.”
25201# 01soccer OAKLAND, MAINE October 25, 2023 Winslow’ Tyler Nadeau and Caribou’s Sam Hebert (cq) go after the ball during the Class B North soccer game at Messalonskee High School Wednesday October 25, 2023. Winslow went on to the game 4-2. (Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel) Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Winslow jumped out to a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the match, when Richards received a cross from Rodrigue and nailed a shot into the net for a goal. Caribou answered late in the half, when Hebert found space in a scrum in front of the Winslow net to tie the game 1-1.
The Black Raiders responded less than three minutes later, when Richards sent a beautiful left-footed pass to Willette to the left of the Caribou goal. Willette promptly fired a shot into the far side, giving Winslow a 2-1 lead, where it remained until halftime.
“I always feel like, with a longer layoff, it takes a little bit to get into (the playoff opener),” Winslow head coach Aaron Wolfe said. “Second half, especially early in the second half, I felt like we had a lot of good chances. Especially early in the second half, I felt like we had a lot of good chances and probably played our best early in the second half, which was good to see.”
Caribou, which showed great passing throughout the match, refused to quit. Hebert managed to move his way once again near the Winslow net, past two defenders, notching a goal and tying the game 2-2 with 25:29 remaining before Rodrigue and Calvo put the match away.
“Caribou is a very good team, I actually thought the top three teams in the (Penobscot Valley Conference) may be the three best teams,” Wolfe said. “Even though we were the higher seed, I felt like we may have been the underdog. Every time Caribou would do something, we just responded right away. That’s the mark of a good team.”
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