BANGOR, Maine — The third time was the charm for the Fort Kent High School girls soccer team.
After losing to Bucksport in the Class C North championship game the past two seasons, the Warriors edged the defending state champion Bucks 1-0 at Cameron Stadium in Bangor on Wednesday night.
Fort Kent, now 16-1, will take on the Waynflete-North Yarmouth Academy winner in Saturday’s state title game.
Bucksport finished at 16-1.
Freshman Reese Doucette scored the game’s only goal 2:40 into the second half, and the Warriors did an excellent job protecting the lead by swarming the ball and not giving the Bucks much time to penetrate the attacking third.
They also did an impressive job defensively in one-on-one battles. They rarely got beat, and if they did, there was another Warrior ready to intervene.
The blustery wind and freezing temperatures turned it into a game of boot and scoot as both teams struggled to string together passes.
Ouellette broke the scoreless deadlock by sprinting onto a loose ball as Bucksport goalkeeper Jetta Shook dashed off her line to try to prevent a scoring chance. Ouellette and a Buck defender converged on the ball with Shook and Ouellette was able to poke it into the goal from 16 yards out.
Fort Kent goalkeeper Mia Voisine made a pair of important saves as she batted away a long-distance effort by Sam Cyr and held the near side to get her hands on a strong effort by Addison Gross.
A Buck had an opportunity on the rebound of Gross’ shot but sailed it over the crossbar.
Scoring chances were few and far between in the first half, and neither goalkeeper was forced to make a difficult save.
But both goalies were active and aggressive, coming off their lines to outrace attackers to the ball and covering it up.
Shook had one save on five Fort Kent shot attempts while Voisine wasn’t forced to make one on three Buck shot attempts.
Fort Kent had the wind in its favor in the first half and had an edge in possession but couldn’t transform that advantage into a goal.
Hannah Lovely turned in an exceptional performance in the back for Fort Kent while Madison Rose was stellar in the back for Bucksport.
