By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
In the pouring rain, the Houlton Shiretowners captured their second Eastern Maine Class C title in a row last Wednesday at Houlton High School.
Playing in less than desirable field conditions, the Shires attacked the visiting Orono Red Riots early and often, including scoring the game-winner at the 33:02 mark of the opening half.
Orono’s goalie came out and appeared to call his defender off the ball. Instead, Orono’s defender stayed with senior striker Jimmy Fitzpatrick. The confusion on Orono’s side was costly, as Fitzpatrick pushed his way to the left and booted the ball inside the left corner of an open net.
“They were pushing me back and forth,” said Fitzpatrick. “They were really shielding, so I had to push through to get to it and put it in the back of the net. And, that’s what I have to do.”
The goal held up even though Orono pressed the Shires hard in the final 15 minutes of the game, adding even more intensity in the last nine minutes of the game.
The Red Riots had a scoring chance with under 15 minutes in the game, but the ball went wide of the goal. With 8:32 left, Houlton coach Mike Carlos could be heard yelling, “They are pressing us.”
“We were under stress,” said senior defender Ethan Morse. “We had to keep fighting hard to keep them out of our goal.”
The Shires defense again buckled down and held their ground.
“We have faith in our defense,” said Fitzpatrick. “They played great all year.”
The Shire defenders let up just 16 goals all season.
“They are incredible,” said Fitzpatrick. “They need a lot more thanks than the offense.”
Though the play on the field became ragged and rough at times, the Shires kept their focus.
“We weren’t losing sight of the gold ball,” said Fitzpatrick. “As a senior, that’s what I wanted.”
Morse also was active moving up the field on a couple of goal runs.
“I was free so I made a run,” he said. “Gage [Hunt] gave me the ball and I kept running through.”
Morse felt the impact of his offensive movement, as he was tripped up and grounded.
“It got rough, but we had to keep our heads and just play our game,” Fitzpatrick noted. “It was tough to play today.”
“It feels good,” said Morse of claiming their second consecutive Eastern Maine Class C regional title. “It is just one more obstacle we had to overcome to get that gold ball.”
