HOULTON, Maine — Facing an unknown opponent can always be challenging as the Houlton and Narraguagus boys soccer teams learned Friday evening in a Class C North preliminary playoff.
The two teams traded goals in the first half and all signs seemed to indicate a defensive game was in the works.
All that changed in the second half, as the No. 8 Shires exploded for five unanswered goals to blast their way past ninth seed Narraguagus, 6-1. With the victory, Houlton (7-5-3 overall) advances to the quarterfinals, where the Shires take on top-ranked, and undefeated, Sumner (13-0-1) Wednesday in East Sullivan. The time for that game has not been finalized.
Houlton senior Jaron Gentle scored three goals in Friday night’s game, including converting a penalty kick. Freshman Jed Gilpatrick chipped in two goals for the Shires, while senior Keegan Gentle had an assist.
“I have a preferred side to go with on my penalty kicks, but I am not going to tell you,” Jaron Gentle said of his successful penalty kick in the second half. “I know what I am going to do no matter what a goalie is doing.”
Jaron Gentle put the Shires on the board first with 15:20 remaining in the first half as he took a feed from his cousin Keegan Gentle to give Houlton a 1-0 lead. Narraguagus’ Jonathan Ramirez evened things up four minutes later as he scored an unassisted goal for the Knights.
The score remained knotted at 1-1 at the halftime break, before the Shires erupted in the second period to put the game away.
“It was a tight first half, but we slowed things down a bit in the second half, took our time with our shots and we made some nice passes, which led to goals,” Gentle said.
Narraguagus ends its season with an 8-5 overall record.