CHESTER, Vt. — Fortunately for Green Mountain, Enosburg didn’t realize that Paige Karl is an elite soccer player until it was too late.
The Chieftains were 3-2 winners on three first-half Karl goals in a Division III playdown game Wednesday — a game that looked like a rout at the start and shifted to a hold-your-hat finish.
It may not be fair to single out Karl, who plays on a team that has won 31 games in the past two years, but what can’t be ignored is the 37 goals she has scored this year and 79 for her career.
“She’s certainly the best soccer player we’ve seen this year,” said Enosburg coach Jason Hart.
Enosburg, at 6-8 and the 14th seed, came into the game as a huge underdog to the third-seeded, 14-1 Chieftains. And the game was only 12 seconds old when Paige put her team up 1-0 on a corner kick.
“Not many girls could have made that kick,” said Hart.
While Karl will take credit for the goal, she believes she had a little help.
“The wind seemed to push it in,” she said.
The Chiefs jumped ahead 3-0 before the Hornets, who left Enosburg at 10 a.m. for the 3 p.m. game, punched one in before the half. Enosburg closed to within one with 15 minutes to go in the second half, forcing the Chiefs to hold on.
Hart thought the difference in the two halves was the changes he made during the break.
“We started marking No. 9 (Karl),” he said.
“They double-teamed her,” said GM coach Carolynn Hamilton.
“There was someone in front of me and someone in back of me,” said Karl.
Hamilton also believed that Enosburg’s record was deceiving.
“They play some Division I teams,” she said. “That’s a good team over there.”
As for the Hornets’ slow start, Hart didn’t feel the three-hour bus ride was the reason.
“I thought we played with a lot of energy right at the start,” he said.
Following Karl’s corner kick goal to start the game, the senior got goals two and three in similar fashion. Both were from inside the 15-yard line on high, hard shots that bounced off the hands of the Enosburg keeper. That 3-0 lead looked very comfortable even when the Hornets made it 3-1 before the half on a Lacie Reed tally.
The pace of the second half slowed to a near crawl until Enosburg narrowed the gap to a single point when Kayla Lovelette tapped in a Michaela Chase corner.
“Now we’ve got a game,” said Hart at the time.
But it was too little too late as the Chiefs tightened up on defense.
Green Mountain finished with a 14-3 edge in shots on goal and 6-2 in corners.
The last two years under Hamilton’s tenure have been something special, even though she admits that she has been blessed with gifted players. Still, after reaching the championship game last year, the Chiefs have come back with what is now a 14-win season despite losing 15 players from last year’s team to graduation. Wednesday’s win was the 12th straight this season, as the team has not lost since a Sept. 7 game with Proctor. Seven of those wins have been by shutout and the Chiefs have outscored their opponents 52-19.
Green Mountain will host the quarterfinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Vergennes.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.