East Grand girls fall to Schenck in prelims
Both the Houlton boys and girls, along with the Southern Aroostook boys have made it to the Eastern Maine soccer quarterfinal round.
Houlton girls scheduled to play Calais for third time
The Houlton girls were scheduled to play their contest at home yesterday to the Calais Blue Devils. The teams have met twice during the regular season, with Houlton winning both times, 3-1 on Sept. 5 in Calais and 2-1 on Sept. 28 in Houlton.
“The second time around, Calais looked even better,” said Houlton coach Tim Tweedie.
Houlton outshot Calais 21-6 in the first game, but only 13-10 in the second contest, picking up a late win.
“We’ve been working really hard since June to improve each week and hoping we would be playing our best soccer in October,” said Tweedie. “I think we’ve done that.”
Tweedie was pleased with where the girls finished in the standings, but knows that doesn’t buy them an automatic win, as both games against Calais were “very close” and Tweedie expected “them to be even better this time.”
Fitzpatrick Player of the Year;
others named to PVC teams; Shires play GSA today
Today, the No. 4 Houlton Shires will host No. 5 George Stevens Academy in a 3:30 p.m. game.
Coach Mike Carlos is in his fifth decade of coaching and doesn’t look to scout his opponents too much, but he relies on his team knowing their job on the field.
“We need to play our game,” he said simply. “We need to play hard and do the things we’ve been doing all season long. I believe whatever we do, we are going to do. Whatever they are going to do, they are going to do. Hopefully, whatever we are going to do is going to stop whatever they do.”
Recently, the Penobscot Valley Conference presented awards with Houlton’s Jimmy Fitzpatrick being named Player of the Year. Fitzpatrick, along with Kyle Bouchard, made the PVC First Team, while Brandon Ward and Kole Buzzeo were Second Team and Dan Swallow, Third Team.
“I am pleased all those guys made PVC,” said Carlos. “It speaks well about what we have tried to accomplish over the last four years.”
Carlos noted that this year’s seniors when they started as freshmen have only lost 13 games over a four-year period. This year the Shires have scored 64 goals, while giving up only 16.
“It’s been a good year,” said Carlos. “I think we are ready for the playoffs. The kids have had their eye on making the playoffs and attempting to win the gold ball this year. We thought we had a good season last year [EM champs], but we’d like to finish it off with a [state] championship this year.”
There will an admission charge for the Shires quarterfinal game. Cost is $4 for adults and $2 for students and senior citizens.
Southern Aroostook travels to Wisdom today for EM Class D quarterfinal
Last Friday, the No. 7 Southern Aroostook Warriors played a preliminary game against visiting Washburn, and earned a 2-1 win in double overtime.
“Washburn was a very good opponent,” said coach Cliff Urquhart.
But, Urquhart called the contest a “tale of two halves.”
“Washburn controlled play in the first half,” explained Urquhart, “and we controlled the second half. I thought it was a well played game. Both teams had great chances to win in overtime, but couldn’t convert.”
Cody Lassonde put Southern Aroostook on the board to tie the game at 1-all with a goal, set up by Trenton Cullinan, with 20:05 left in regulation. Washburn’s Noah Caron had scored the game’s opening goal.
Southern Aroostook won the coin toss and elected to shoot the penalty kicks first after a scoreless double overtime.
Mason Caron got SACS on the board with the first penalty kick score.
“The first one by Mason was very important,” said Urquhart. “It took the pressure off us in a way. Now, we were playing one ahead, instead of one behind.”
The Warriors came out on top in the penalty kicks, 4-3, with SACS goalie Austin White stopping Washburn’s attempt to tie when he made a diving save to his right. White and Washburn’s Jarrett Olson each had nine saves in the game. The Beavers end their season at 6-7-2.
Today, the Warriors are set to match up against host Pioneers in a 2 p.m. game in St. Agatha.
“We need to take advantage of scoring opportunities,” explained Urquhart. “We have been outshot in our last five games. Wisdom is a good club with a lot of team quickness.”
Urquhart noted that the Warriors are not playing possession soccer like they were at the start of the season.
“Defensively, we [need] a ‘bend, don’t break mentality,’” said Urquhart. “We have to keep the scoring low and hope to get a couple of breaks on the offensive end.”
This has been somewhat of a challenging year for Urquhart as a coach.
“We have dealt with a combination of low numbers, inexperience, youth and two season-ending injuries — Dylan Porter and Will McGary — from midfield, which hurt our control game,” he explained. “I am proud of the kids who battled through this and achieved our goal of qualifying for post-season play. Everyone on the team has chipped in and contributed in big ways.”
Urquhart said seeding isn’t as important as the fact he wants his squad to execute on sets.
“If we want to advance, we must keep our heads focused on soccer for an entire 80 minutes,” he added. “One of our biggest weaknesses this year has been lack of consistency.”
East Grand girls finish season with prelim loss;
Beaudoin sets schoolgirl record
Coach Chris Young said that his squad had the best girl’s soccer season at East Grand in the last 10 years.
The No. 9 Lady Vikings traveled to East Millinocket to face No. 8 Schenck in the Eastern Maine Class D preliminaries last Friday. The two teams had met in a pre-season scrimmage, with Schenck winning 4-3.
“I saw us as very evenly matched teams,” said Young.
Though coach Young said his team was playing their “best soccer,” as of late, the Lady Wolverines ousted East Grand, 4-2, from the tournament.
The Lady Vikings finish the season 9-4, while Schenck moves on to play No. 1 Washburn.
Schenck opened the scoring early in the first half when Ashley Leavitt scored her first goal seven minutes into the game. East Grand senior Shaunna Beaudoin knotted the game with an unassisted goal, but Schenck’s Olivia Lewis added the go-ahead goal for a 2-1 halftime lead.
In the second half, Schenck went up 3-1 on Kristen Thomas’ direct kick. Beaudoin answered for East Grand when she completed a Lauren Morse setup.
“We had several chances to tie the game before going down [two goals] late in the game,” said Young.
Schenck’s Leavitt hit her second tally off a Morgan Thompson pass for a 4-2 advantage.
East Grand senior Beaudoin finishes her high school five-year soccer career, as she started playing varsity as an eighth-grader, with 79 goals.
“She is the all-time leading goal scorer in East Grand history,” Young added.
Felicia Cowger emerged as a scoring threat, according to her coach, in the last few games East Grand played during the season.
“Our midfield really dictated our play,” said Young.
That bodes well for the Lady Vikings who will return 12 players to next year’s team, including their full midfield of Theresa Cousins, Adreanna Phillips and Cassidy Woo.
“They have all been solid in the midfield all year,” Young added.
