Staff Writer
The Houlton Lady Shires soccer coach Tim Tweedie was satisfied with the way his girls played in the Eastern Maine quarterfinals against No. 1 Orono, despite losing 5-0.
FINISH SEASON – The Lady Shires finished their season with a 5-0 loss to Orono in the Eastern Maine Class C semifinal game in Orono last Thursday. Playing their last soccer season for the Houlton High School girls’ varsity soccer team are, from left, Anna Caron, Erika Lackey, Lainey Herring, Amelia Butler, Megan Skehan and Courtney Putnam.
“I feel we went into the game as prepared as we possibly could have been,” he said. “The girls were playing good soccer and we were healthy. We just ran into a superior team.”
Four different players scored for the Red Riots.
“Orono is a very balanced team that doesn’t depend on just one or two players,” Tweedie said. “They have five or six who can put the ball in the back of the net, as well as great defense. By the way, they only have one senior.”
Tweedie said his girls really didn’t get a chance to challenge Orono’s goalie Elizabeth Fox, who turned away five of eight shots she faced. Houlton goalie Madison Lezotte blocked 11 of 20 shots faced, as the Lady Shires finish the year at 9-6-1.
“I’m not really disappointed,” said Tweedie. “I do know they aren’t five goals better than us, but they are a superior team. They deserved to win.”
But, Tweedie has nothing but the utmost respect for his girls.
“These kids worked really, really hard this year,” he said. “As freshmen, they won four games and were outscored by 32 goals. Lainey [Herring] and Anna [Caron] hadn’t even played soccer before. Four years later, they outscore their opponents by 29. That’s a significant turnaround.”
Tweedie said the success lays in the girls’ work ethic.
“Counting summer soccer, preseason scrimmages and everything else, the girls played 28 games since June,” he explained. “I can only think of two or three games where I felt they weren’t giving me their all.”
The Lady Shires will be graduating Herring, Caron, Erika Lackey, Courtney Putnam, Amelia Butler and Megan Skehan.
“I really will miss this senior group,” Tweedie said. “We’ve developed a special bond. It certainly will be strange for me to step back on the field next June without them.”
