HOULTON, Maine — If Thursday’s season-opening matches were any indication, the Houlton boys and girls soccer teams should be poised for yet another strong season.
The Houlton girls defeated Madawaska 1-0 in the first game of the doubleheader, while the Shire boys were victorious 2-0 in the night contest.
Both squads showed tremendous defensive skills in their respective contests. In the girls contest, Houlton (1-0) shut down what had been a high-scoring Owl offense that had previously been undefeated. In its first three games, Madawaska outscored its foes 38-3.
“This was a tough game,” Houlton coach Tim Tweedie said. “They (Madawaska) were averaging 13 goals a game, so to get the shutout was great. It’s clear to me, though, that we have some conditioning work to do.”
“I thought the level of competition we faced today, we have not seen,” Madawaska coach Tom Gerard said. “We had to make an adjustment at the half. We held our own and I thought we dominated play in the second half, but just couldn’t finish.”
Aspen Flewelling scored the game’s only goal with 20:40 to play in the first half as she fielded a through pass from Kolleen Bouchard from the right corner of the field and booted the ball through.
Tessa Solomon got the shutout as she made eight saves on 13 Madawaska shots. Cassidy Beaulieu made six saves on 18 shots for Madawaska (3-1).
Near the end of regulation, Madawaska had a chance to tie the game. The Owls, however, were called for obstructing the goalie, ending the potential scoring opportunity.
“We feel she had possession, even if it was only for a second,” Tweedie said. “She had the ball kicked out of her hands, and the official made the right call.”
“That was a judgement call,” coach Gerard said. “The official felt she had possession. One of the points of emphasis this year is protecting the goalie, so you can’t argue with that.”
In the boys’ game, Houlton’s Pat Howe scored an unassisted goal off of a deflection from a saved shot by Madawaska keeper Andrew Nadeau in the first period.
With six seconds remaining in the game, Shire Nolan Porter sent a cross to Keegan Gentle who one timed it into the back of the net to give Houlton the 2-0 victory.
Houlton’s AJ Henderson had four saves against five shots, while Nadeau made nine saves on 18 shots for Madawaska.
Photos by Joseph Cyr
