Ciera Berthiaume, the senior Women’s Soccer player out of Windham, Maine, who led the Huskies in goals scored and assists in the past two seasons is the first Husky Hero of the Week for the “COVID-19 Fall Sports Season”.
In past issues, The Free Press would highlight a player and their impact on not only their team but also their contribution to the school and community. This semester presents a difficult challenge due to the cancellation of sports competitions between schools. With that being said, The Free Press will be focusing their efforts on recognizing those seniors who will not get to play in their last season due to the ongoing pandemic.
Before coming to USM, Berthiaume played soccer at Windham High School. While there, Berthiaume became a four-time Southern Maine Athletic Association (SMAA) All-Conference player. She helped lead the Windham Eagles to two Class A Western Maine Championships and State Championships as a sophomore and junior. To cap it all off in her senior season, Berthiaume was named to the 2017 Maine State Class-A All-Star team and the All-New England Region team.
After graduation, Berthiaume took her talents and education to USM where she majors in English. It didn’t take long for Berthiaume to find success on the pitch leading the Huskies with 33 points, 13 goals, and seven assists. This athletic performance landed her on the Little East Conference (LEC) All-Second team and helped lead the Women’s Soccer team to their best record in school history. She also recorded a hat trick in USM’s 3-0 LEC quarterfinal win over The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. By then end of the 2018 season, Berthiaume had kicked her way into the USM Women’s Soccer record books for scoring the second-most goals in a season.
Berthiaume’s second season was more of the same tune. Berthiaume’s team-leading 26 points, 11 goals, and four assists landed her on the LEC All-Conference Second Team for the second year in a row.
Berthiaume’s success didn’t stop on the pitch, it continued out into the classroom as she earned the William B. Wise Scholar-Athlete Award for two consecutive seasons. Athletes who win this distinguished award must have a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative grade point average for the fall and spring semesters, be a full-time student both semesters and be a member of a varsity team for a full season.
After two successful seasons, Berthiaume would have been going into her final season as a Husky. While USM has canceled the fall sports season, the LEC is still hopeful of a return of fall sports “potentially in the spring”, said President of the LEC Council Dr. Frank Sanchez in a press release video this summer.
With the current state of fall sports being canceled, and the future unknown this may be Berthiaume’s final season. She was on pace to shatter the previous record of most goals scored in a career (28) with 36 career goals. She was also on pace to break the previous career record for most points (74) with 88 career goals. Both of these records have not been broken for over 20 years. What makes these numbers even more staggering is that Berthiamue has only played two seasons for the Huskies as she did not play her freshman year at USM.