HOULTON, Maine — Showcasing speed on both sides of the field, the top-ranked Houlton girls soccer team posted a convincing 2-0 shutout over No. 5 George Stevens Academy Friday evening in Eastern Class C girls semifinal soccer.
With the win, Houlton (14-0-2 overall) advances to the Eastern Class C championship where the Shires will face No. 3 Fort Kent (9-4-3) on Wednesday 5 p.m. at Presque Isle Middle School. Fort Kent advanced to the regional championship with a 2-1 upset victory over No. 2 Orono earlier in the day.
Georges Stevens Academy of Blue Hill ends its season with a 10-6 record.
Houlton and Fort Kent met twice during the regular season, with the two squads battling to a scoreless stalemate on Sept. 12 at Houlton and the Shires notching a 2-1 victory at Fort Kent.
In Friday’s game, senior Emily Mooers scored both Shire goals off passes from freshman Kolleen Bouchard. Her first goal came quickly, just 3:26 seconds into the game as Bouchard sent a crossing pass to Mooers that ricocheted off GSA goalie Megan Nowland and made its way to Mooers for an open net goal.
Her second goal came with 22:10 to play in the second half, when Bouchard fed a streaking Mooers along the left side of the scoring area who sent a shot to the upper corner of the net that Nowland could not make a play on.
“This win is great, but it’s not over with yet,” Mooers said. “Up 1-0 early was nice, but it wasn’t enough for us to feel safe. We tried to control the ball tonight, and we did a better job of that in the second half.”
Houlton dominated the flow of the game using its quickness and athleticism to maintain possession of the ball. The Shires held a healthy 17-7 advantage in shots and 6-1 edge in corner kicks. Shire goalie Katie Condon notched her ninth shutout of the season, making seven saves. Nowland had seven saves for the Eagles.
GSA coach Stephen Bemiss credited Houlton’s speed along the front line as being the deciding factor in the game.
“I tried to tell my girls, after watching Houlton play Madawaska on Wednesday that speed was of the essence with Houlton,” Bemiss said. “They go right after the ball and the way that they play, they are very good.”
Houlton coach Tim Tweedie said as good as the play was from his speedy front line, it was the defensive play of Emma Drew, Natalie Hill and Chelsea Gentle that was the difference.
“We can afford to be a bit more aggressive because we have some really good players in the backfield who also have speed,” Tweedie said.
The Shires also have a rock solid goalie in Condon who has allowed just eight goals on the season. But as nice as the win was for the Shires, coach Tweedie told his squad afterwards that they had not yet played their most important game.
That game will come today in the Eastern Class C championship.
