Lady Shires’ squad well-balanced

Houlton girls’ varsity soccer coach Tim Tweedie would like to stay out of the bullseye of opposing teams, but in reality he knows that coming back from a season of winning 10 games, including a prelim puts them on the radar.
“I hope a lot of coaches are expecting a drop off in play from our team,” he said. “But, I don’t think that will be the case. Any time you win in the playoffs, coaches notice.”
Even though the Houlton girls’ squad lost several key players from a year ago, there are others who are stepping up to the fill the gap. All-Conference players Martha McPartland and Chelsi Murray are back and ready to lend their leadership. McPartland is a four-year starter at stopper and Murray is a three-year letterman, coming off a sophomore season where she had double-digit goals and assists.
“Martha’s play has garnered her recognition from a couple of college coaches,” said Tweedie. “And, I think Chelsi can expect a few calls to come her way this year also.”
Not only have McPartland and Murray made their presence known, so have the other younger players who are developing each year.
“I caution anyone who [might want] to completely focus their attention on Martha and Chelsi alone,” Tweedie said. “The thing I love about this year’s team is how balanced we are. We’ve had good teams in the past few years, but each time we’ve been carried by just a few players. This team is different.”
Tweedie said this year’s players are dedicated and well-rounded athletes playing both summer soccer and basketball.
“They’ve worked hard the last two summers to develop and it’s really beginning to show,” he added.
The girls played basketball each Monday and Wednesday and then played soccer every Tuesday and Thursday, and even sometimes on Sunday.
“I estimate they played between 30 to 35 combined basketball and soccer games this summer,” Tweedie said. “That shows how committed this group is to winning.”
Tweedie realizes how lucky he and coach Shawn Graham are to have such devoted athletes and families.
“I didn’t hear one kid complain about how much we were doing,” he said. “In fact, several of them would call me or text me and want me to get pick-up games together on their off days. They really enjoyed being around each other and playing sports.”
But it wasn’t just soccer and basketball that drew the players’ interest. They played hockey, rode horses or they were busy doing something to stay in shape.
This year, the Lady Shires dropped Caribou and Presque Isle. Despite losing the perennial powers, their schedule remains competitive.
“Those two schools were on different planets than us in regard to development,” said Tweedie. “In addition to being larger schools than we are, Caribou is home to the Dutch Soccer Academy and Presque Isle has a million dollar soccer facility. They are expected to be good. We are simply not at the same place as those two schools. But, we will be. Within a few more years, I wouldn’t mind picking them back up. I think we’re getting close to being at a place where we can compete with them again.”
The Lady Shires return five other starters from a year ago — Vanessa Sanderson, Madison Lezotte, Amanda Fogarty, Taylor Bailey and Abby Kinens — who are all very, very good, said Tweedie.
“I’m going to have a tough time deciding which players to nominate for All-Aroostook, Penobscot Valley Conference all-stars and All-Eastern Maine teams because we really have several players worthy of the recognition,” explained Tweedie.
Sanderson and Fogarty are probably the Lady Shires’ most athletic players, according to their coach, and those two will couple with Becca Waite to form a solid midfield.
“All three players are capable of 10 or more goals this season,” Tweedie said.
Tweedie has an offensive-minded player in Kinens, who he said was the fastest player on the squad. As a freshman she scored eight goals. Bailey is anchoring a defense that kept Madawaska and Van Buren from putting a shot on goal for 50 minutes of preseason soccer, noted Tweedie.
But, the key to the entire season rests on the shoulders of goalie Madison Lezotte.
“Because of scheduling, I obviously haven’t seen every teams’ keeper. But in my opinion, Madison is the best that I have seen in Class C East. She is extremely aggressive and confident in the net, and I expect her to turn some heads this year.”
Rounding out the rest of the roster are seniors Brooke Deveau and Hiba Bilal;  juniors, Brooke Emerson, Lily McLaughlin, Collette Ritchie and Taylor Lindsay;  sophomores, Tara Beals and Makala Folsom and  freshmen, Mikaelah Tracy, Marina Cameron and Emily Fitzpatrick.