Ashland coach Peter Belskis and Fort Kent coach Robby Nadeau are excited about having high school state soccer finals in Aroostook County for the first time next November and are hoping their teams will get the opportunity to play in them.

The Class C and D boys and girls games will be held at the Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex in Presque Isle.

“That’s good news for us. It’s a great idea,” Nadeau said. “We’ve had to travel to Deering (in Portland) and Scarborough to play our (most recent) state games.”

The Aroostook County sites are part of a five-year rotation decided on by the Maine Principals’ Association soccer committee five years ago, according to Mike Burnham, the MPA’s assistant executive director.

“We wanted some equity,” Burnham said. “The Aroostook County teams travel south every year, so we thought it was appropriate to hold a couple championships in Aroostook County.”

The rotation will be evaluated after the 2015 championships, he said.

Two Eastern Maine title games, the Class C and D girls games, were held at the Johnson Complex’s artificial turf this season when a snowstorm prevented grass fields at the home sites of the higher seeded teams from being used.

The Fort Kent girls topped Houlton 1-0 in penalty kicks, and Ashland nipped Penobscot Valley of Howland 1-0 in regulation.

Ashland went on to capture its first state girls soccer title since 1989 with a 2-1 overtime triumph over Richmond at Hampden, while Fort Kent lost to Sacopee Valley of South Hiram 1-0 at Portland.

Having the games in Presque Isle “will give us the opportunity to show people from other parts of the state that we play good soccer in the County,” Belskis said.

“We have a good venue, and we’ve got enthusiastic fans who will come out for big events. We had 800 to 1,000 fans on our side for the game against Penobscot Valley,” he added.

“There is something to be said for being able to sleep in your own bed [the night before a game],” Nadeau said.

It is 313.5 miles from Fort Kent to Portland and 39.1 miles from South Hiram to Portland.

It is 320 miles from Fort Kent to Scarborough, where the Warriors lost the 2012 state final to Waynflete of Portland. It is 8.1 miles from Portland to Scarborough.

It is 56.1 miles from Fort Kent to Presque Isle.

Even though Hampden is an Eastern Maine site, it is 144 miles from Ashland to Hampden and 91.6 miles from Richmond to Hampden.

It is 18.8 miles from Ashland to Presque Isle.

“Our (Aroostook County) teams, especially in ‘D,’ have been well-represented in state finals,” Nadeau said. “We have some great soccer teams in the County.”

In Class D, 11 Eastern Maine schools are from Aroostook County, and there are 21 teams in boys soccer and 19 in girls.

There are just three County schools among the 16 in EM Class C: Fort Kent, Madawaska and Houlton.

Aroostook County schools have fared well when it comes to Class C-D state finals.

Seven of the last nine EM title-holders in boys Class C have been from Aroostook County along with three of five for the girls — all from Fort Kent.

In Class D, before Bangor Christian’s string of six consecutive boys EM titles, Aroostook County clubs had won six of the previous eight regional championships.

Aroostook County girls teams have won eight straight regional championships in “D” including consecutive state crowns: Washburn in 2013 and Ashland last Saturday.

Belskis and Nadeau praised Presque Isle athletic director Mark White for getting the field cleared off, which allowed them to play their regional finals. And they know he will have the facility primed and ready for the state games next fall regardless of the weather.

“There was no issue with the field whatsoever. It was as if it had never snowed,” Nadeau said.