HOULTON, Maine — After coming so close to a regional crown the past two seasons, could this be the year that the Houlton girls soccer team takes that next step?
Veteran coach Tim Tweedie has a bundle of talented returning players, but will have to cope with the loss of five starters (and nine overall) to graduation this past spring. So how will the new-look Shires fare? Coach Tweedie feels confident his club will once again be a playoff contender.
“I’m a defensive-oriented coach and we lost two excellent starting defenders (Chelsea Gentle and Evelyn Pratt) and our starting goalkeeper (Emma Hines), so we’ve got some work to do in that department,” he said. “In addition, Natalie Hill (the 2015 PVC Conference Player of the Year) and Katie Condon combined for 35 goals last year, so that won’t be easy to replace.”
Still, there are enough returning elements for the 11th-year coach to feel good about the upcoming season.
“I think with some time and hard work, we can get some of our other players to step up and replace [the losses] by committee,” Tweedie said. “I take a lot of pride in the fact that we don’t build our teams around one or two players, and that we have a strong feeder program. That’s the only way that a program can avoid having down years. We’ve finished in the top three of Class C for each of the last five years, and while we’re yet to put a banner on the wall, we’re making sure that we are a part of the conversation every single season.”
The Shires were 13-2-1 a season ago, which earned the team the No. 2 seed in Class C North. Houlton received a first-round bye; beat No. 7 Mattanawcook Academy 4-0 in the quarterfinals; and fell to No. 6 Bucksport 1-0 in the semifinals.
“I think we’ll be right in the mix again this year,” Tweedie said. “It is my hope that we can be close to that [13-2-1] again this year, but it will take a lot of hard work.”
Returning from last year are seniors Mackenzie Hunt, Emma Peterson, Chloe Davis, Morgan Grant and Hannah Foley; juniors Kolleen Bouchard, Mia Hanning, Aspen Flewelling, Tyra Gentle, Alexis Miller, Claire Gilpatrick, Anessa Wilde, Rebecca Mooers and Carolyn Mooers; and sophomore Jaime Brown.
Houlton also gained a new player when sophomore Tessa Solomon moved to the district from Bucksport. Solomon will likely take over the team’s goaltending duties.
Freshmen looking to make an impact include Amelia Ivey, Sierra Hoops and Samantha Condon.
Staying healthy is one of the goals this year. Houlton lost six players to various injuries last year. Continuing to play smart is another goal.
“I think the strength of this team will be intelligence and work ethic,” Tweedie said. “We have four girls on the team that play club soccer and they all have a great understanding of the game. In addition, we had several middle-schoolers who played travel soccer with the English Soccer Academy out of Caribou and that experience will help them a lot. I think our kids are becoming more ‘true’ soccer players versus athletes that can play soccer.”
Defending state champ Orono is the clearcut favorite to win Class C, the coach said. In addition, Central, George Stevens Academy and Bucksport will be tough competition.
Houlton opens the season at Madawaska Thursday, Sept. 1 at 4 p.m.
