November 13, 2024
Sports Column

Lawrence’s goaltender duo unique

Allie Woods is a sophomore and Teraysa White is a freshman at Fairfield’s Lawrence High School. They also comprise what may be the only female goaltending tandem in the history of high school hockey in Maine.

They alternate starts and also play for the JV team. In addition, they are goalie partners for the Maine Selects Under-16 girls team. They are hockey junkies who have a genuine passion for the sport.

“I love the game. I can’t get enough. I’ve played hockey every single day for the last two months,” said White.

“I never get tired of it,” said Woods.

Lawrence is winless and both goalies see a deluge of shots. But Woods said that helps their development.

“[Facing a lot of shots] makes you a better goalie,” said Woods.

Woods said the two used to be not-so-friendly youth hockey rivals.

“But now that we’re on the same teams, we’ve combined our personalities and we’re real good friends. We get along great. We hang out together and do normal friend stuff,” said the 15-year-old Woods, who is from Clinton.

“When we aren’t playing hockey, we have girls nights out,” concurred the 14-year-old White, who lives in Fairfield.

They continually push each other to get better and they constantly compare notes.

“When we see something we’re doing wrong, we tell each other and improve on it,” said White.

“We’re there to support each other,” said Woods.

They are students of the game.

White’s father, Doug, a former Winslow High School goalie, videotapes all of their games.

“We go over to her house and go over the tape. We see what we need to work on. It’s neat. It does a lot for us,” said Woods.

They also learn from watching each other in practice and games.

“If I see something that works for her, I’ll try it in practice the next day, and then I’ll use it in a game,” said White.

Lawrence coach Josh Blaisdell said they have both played well and it has been a “good situation.”

“They have different qualities. Allie is aggressive and is one of the best communicators we have. She’s one of our leaders. Teraysa has all the fundamentals. She just needs to get used to the speed,” said Blaisdell.

They were both inspired by their fathers.

Allie Woods said when her dad, Kelly, was coaching her in mini-mites, she would stand in the net and wouldn’t leave. So he figured she might as well be a goalie.

White said her dad led Winslow to a state championship and “he’s my hero.”

“My mom [Donna] was a goalie, too,” said White, who followed the family tradition.

Both girls said they have been blessed by having exceptional coaches at Lawrence High and with the Selects. As a result, “we’re getting better all the time,” said White.

Both of them would like to play in college.

The girls enjoy playing on a boys team.

“It’s neat being a girl in a boys world,” said White.

Woods, who was the starting goalie at Lawrence at the tail end of last year, had the pleasure of facing another girl goalie in Brewer’s Christine Thoms last weekend as Thoms entered the game late in Brewer’s 5-1 win.

“It was pretty weird. But it felt good to see another girl out there,” said Woods.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.


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