NEWPORT – Lebanon jumped out to a 3-0 lead late in the first half over the hometown Tigers, and although Newport fought back with two goals to bring the game to within a goal, the Raiders were able to escape Newport with a win, 5-2.
Lebanon’s outstanding goalkeeper, Hope Brown, was tested early and often by Newport but she was dominant, keeping the Tigers scoreless in the first half.
Newport’s Selena Coronis, Maddie Miller and Lacey McNeel were aggressive and controlled play for quality minutes but just couldn’t find the back of the cage. As Newport pressed play, a quick strike by the Raiders Jenny Lopez netted the first goal and soon after, Sydney Gonyea upped the Lebanon lead to 2-0.
“We were doing a lot of good things but we just couldn’t push the ball into the goal in the first half,” said Newport coach Steve Christensen. The Raiders would increase their lead to 3-0 just before the half ended and seemed to have everything going their way.
“This team fights like no other team I have ever coached,” said Christensen. Following the intermission, the Tigers roared back and took control of the game. In the opening minute, Newport’s Liza Bates blasted a shot that cut the lead to 3-1 as Hayley Avery, Morgan Roberts and Megan Howard were controlling the middle of the field for the Tigers.
“Once we scored that first goal, it changed everything for us and we had all the momentum going our way,” said Coronis after the game.
Newport continued their aggressive play as McNeel and Miller placed good shots on net and the corners started to mount for the Tigers. As Newport began to pressure Brown more, Coronis ripped a shot that found the back of goal, and all of a sudden Newport had sliced the lead to 3-2 barely 4 minutes into the second half.
Lebanon’s Gonyea then used her speed to slice through Tiger defenders to score a deflating goal, giving Lebanon a 4-2 lead. Newport’s Bates made a bid to cut into the lead but Brown made a beautiful glove save and her defense cleared the zone.
Maddy Finnell would tack on another goal late for the Raiders as Lebanon improved their record to 7-3-1 with a hard fought 5-2 win.
“When we scored our first goal, it was like a weight had been lifted off from us and I knew we were back in the game,” said McNeel after the game. “We dug deep to fight back today but the hole was just a bit too deep to climb out of but it was a good team effort against a very good Lebanon team.”
Newport out-shot Lebanon 9 to 7 and had a 16-2 advantage in corners.
Newport now stands at 4-5 and will host Kearsarge (5-3-1) on Friday.
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