By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
The Houlton Lady Shires finished strong in the Class C Heal Point standings. As of Tuesday, they were in third-place in the Heal Point standings. However, a game was to be played yesterday that could impact where they land in the final Heal Points.
The Lady Shires will wait for their opponent out of the preliminary game played this Friday.
They will be at home for the quarterfinal game on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
The Lady Shires finish the regular season with a 9-2-3 record. They are behind top-seeded Orono, 12-1-1 and second-place Fort Kent, 7-4-3.
According to Houlton coach Tim Tweedie, the Lady Shires are peaking at the right time of year. In their last two games, the Lady Shires upset No. 1 Orono on Saturday in Orono, 1-0, after losing at home by the same score, while they tied Madawaska 1-1 at home on Oct. 14, after losing 3-1 in their season-opening contest.
On Saturday, Natalie Hill scored on a first-half penalty kick that stood up for the win. Goalie Tanika Toby blocked 12 of 17 shots, including an Orono penalty kick. Orono keeper Vicky Goodwin had eight saves on 14 shots.
“The reason we were successful in both of those games was because we were able to dictate the speed of the game,” explained Tweedie. “More than anything, we take pride in how hard we work and if we are successful in the playoffs, that will be the reason why.”
In the Lady Shires’ first game of the year, they allowed Madawaska three goals in 20 minutes.
“We simply were not ready to play,” said Tweedie.
In the last 13 games, the Lady Shires’ defense has anchored the team, as they have given up only six goals in that timeframe and they have racked up seven shutouts.
“That doesn’t happen by mistake,” said Tweedie. “Everyone on the team knows that their first priority is to put pressure on our opponents so that we can dictate the pace of the game. We have 11 girls on the field at all times that are willing to play defense and that makes it a lot of fun.”
Tweedie has guided many teams into the playoffs and he realizes his team must be prepared.
“In the end, we are 100 percent focused on simply getting better between now and our next game because as we learned last year, anything can happen in the playoffs if you don’t bring your ‘A’ game,” he said.
The Lady Shires faced a lower-seeded Calais squad in last year’s quarterfinal game. The teams ended regulation in a 1-all tie. They went through two scoreless overtimes before Calais won, 2-1, on penalty kicks.
“We have some things that we want to work on and are going to try to take advantage of a little ‘down time’ to fine tune our game,” said Tweedie. “I guess that’s the reward for playing a strong regular season.”
In the last week of the season, the Houlton girls also defeated Mattanawcook Academy 2-0 last Wednesday in Houlton.
Emily Mooers and Hill each scored first-half goals, while goalie Toby did not face a shot. The Lynx keeper Carly Mcdonald stopped 22 of 36 shots faced.
