MADAWASKA, Maine — A malfunction with the lights on Madawaska’s soccer field brought an abrupt ending to Houlton’s season-opening game Thursday evening.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Houlton coach Caleb Byron said. “There was a pop and suddenly everything went black and everyone in the stands screamed. They tried getting it on for 15 minutes, but couldn’t fix it. It was pretty wild.”
The power outage occurred about midway through the second half of the contest, with Houlton leading 1-0. According to Byron, if a game has to be halted, it becomes an official game as long as it is after halftime.
Houlton’s Nick Perfett scored a header late in the first half on a corner kick from Pat Howe for the game’s only goal. The Shires controlled the ball for much of the game putting 26 shots on goal and being awarded 10 corner kicks.
Madawaska had four shots on goal and one corner kick. AJ Henderson made two saves for the Shires, while Andrew Nadeau made 14 saves for Madawaska.
In the girls’ game played earlier in the day Thursday, Shire Aspen Flewelling scored on a direct kick late in the second half to give Houlton a 3-1 lead and Houlton managed to hold off a late surge by the Owls for the 3-2 victory.
Shire Tyra Gentle scored Houlton’s first goal on a pass from Flewelling. Madawaska’s Hannah Nadeau evened things up with an unassisted goal, but Gentle helped Houlton back on top as she fed Kolleen Bouchard for a goal late in the first half, giving Houlton a 2-1 edge.
Madawaska’s Desiree Belanger scored a late second-half goal for the Owls.
Tessa Soloman made nine saves on 14 shots for Houlton, while Cassidy Beaulieu made six saves on nine shots for the Owls.
