Lee standout Shelby Pickering was busy playing in a soccer game against Bangor Christian on Sept. 7 when she scored a goal – one of four she had during the Panda win – and everything just stopped for a minute. At the time, Pickering wondered what was going on.

Then, Lee athletic director Randy Harris spoke over the loudspeaker, clearing up the mystery.

The goal Pickering had just put into the net was the 127th of her career, breaking what was believed to be the state scoring record of 126.

Pickering needed five goals at the start of the season and has scored eight so far for a career total of 130 as the Pandas have gone 3-0 in their defense of the Class D state title they won last year.

Pickering, who started her high school career as a center midfielder, scored 25 goals as a freshman. The next year she switched to the striker position and scored 40 goals. As a junior she logged 57, which is the single-season record.

Pickering had an idea she was close to the career record but said she wasn’t paying much attention. She leaves that stuff to her father Tom, who coaches the Pandas.

“My dad usually doesn’t tell me the stats,” said the quiet, reserved senior striker. “All that’s important is [whether we] win or lose.”

Harris and the Pandas were to present a plaque to Pickering Monday afternoon before a game against Woodland.

The old record was held by former Waterville standout Deb Cormier, who amassed 126 goals while leading the Panthers to four straight titles from 1980 through 1983.

Cormier is now the girls soccer coach at Messalonskee High in Oakland.

Pickering has racked up an impressive athletic resume in her three years at Lee.

She was named the girls Eastern Maine Class D Player of the Year by the Maine Soccer Coaches Association last year, scored three goals in a 4-0 win over Waynflete of Portland in the state final, finished seventh in the state cross country meet, helped Lee win the Eastern Maine Class D basketball title, was named a third-team All-Mainer for basketball, and was a first-team third baseman for the Lee softball team.

Pickering already has kicked off her senior year in fine form.

In addition to her career accomplishment last week in soccer, she was 10th in Saturday’s Caribou Invitational cross country race, the second Lee runner to finish as the Pandas finished second overall in a field of mostly Classes B and C teams.

And the soccer team has outscored its opponents 23-0 in just three games through Monday’s 3-0 win over Woodland despite an incredibly young lineup.

Pickering starts on the front line with freshman Aarika Ritchie. The midfield is made up of sophomore Jodi Worcester and freshmen Dana Houghton, Amanda Gifford and Kimmy Thurlow.

Junior Liz Read is the sweeper, while senior Michaela Ham and juniors Erica Hanscom and Laci McLaughlin are the fullbacks. Freshman Brooke Harris and junior Marci Moors rotate at stopper and Marci’s twin sister Jackie is the starting goalie. Jackie Moors had the shutout in the Class D final last year.

“Me and Michaela are the only two seniors on the team, so we already told the freshmen we want to go undefeated in Eastern Maine,” Pickering said before heading down to the field for Monday’s game.

Brooke Harris was the top Lee finisher in the Caribou Invitational, and while Gifford and Thurlow also finished in the top 25.

Pickering played soccer as a freshman with Deidra Ham, the former Lee star whose 119 career goals may rank third behind Cormier and Pickering.

Kinney named Shead coach

Joni Kinney had been associated with the Shead girls basketball team as a player and as an assistant to longtime Tigerettes boss Bob Davis. Now Kinney will get a chance to be with the Tigerettes of Eastport in a new role – as the head coach.

Kinney, a 1995 graduate of the school who played under Davis, will take over for him this winter.

“We all felt she was ready to move up to the next level, so she’s going to give it a try,” Shead athletic director Paul Theriault said.

Davis was serving his fourth stint as the program’s head coach. His youngest daughter, Samantha, graduated in 2004 and Davis decided to resign for good. He had coached in the 1977-78 season, then from 1981 to 1992, from 1995 to 1998, and 1999-2003.

Kinney was a 5-foot-6 forward for the Tigerettes. She now teaches at Perry Elementary School, which is a feeder school for Shead. She also served as an assistant coach under Davis and former coach Dean Preston since 2001.

DSA heading back to Europe

The Dutch Soccer Academy has decided to head back to Europe after last spring’s trip to Holland.

The DSA will be holding two tryouts for the trip. The fee for the tryout is $10 per player and all players must preregister.

There will be one tryout in either the Auburn area or Bangor area, depending on where the bulk of the registrations come from. Regardless of location that tryout will be Sept. 26 from 4 to 6:30 p.m.

The Aroostook County tryout will be Oct. 3 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle.

Soccer players must be at least 14 to try out and college freshmen are eligible. There are spots for 50 people, including players and chaperones.

The dates of the trip are April 15-24, 2005. The group will be in England and Holland.

The cost of the trip is $2,100, which includes round-trip bus fare to Boston, round-trip airfare to London and Amsterdam, meals, lodging, uniform, and a team warmup suit.

The DSA took 39 high school-age soccer players on the weeklong trip last March. The two teams, split up by gender, played Dutch teams and did plenty of sightseeing in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in Holland and then went to Belgium.

The DSA is run by the husband-and-wife team of Robbie and Tammy Krul.

Robbie Krul is a native of Delft, Holland, and is licensed to coach by the Dutch National Soccer Association. He is the head coach of the Northern Maine Community College soccer team.

Tammy (Thibodeau) Krul, a Caribou native, was a member of the women’s soccer team at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H., where played on teams that won two NCAA Division II championships. The two met while they were attending and playing for Franklin Pierce.

The Kruls have been running DSA camps since 1997.

To pre-register or for more information call 492-1147 or e-mail dsa@dutchsocceracademy.com. The DSA Web site is dutchsocceracademy.com.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.