By KAMERON TOWLE
NORTH SUTTON, N.H. – The No. 8 Kearsarge Cougars girls soccer team hosted the No. 9 Lebanon Raiders in the first-round of the D-II playoffs on Thursday. Kearsarge’s season came to a close, losing to the Raiders 1-0 after letting up a goal early in the second half.
For the Cougars, they maintained control of the ball and were pressing deep in the Lebanon end for the majority of the first half, but weren’t able to put the ball in the back of the net.
“We certainly dominated the first half and owned the possession,” said Kearsarge head coach Emily Wagaman.
In the first half, Kearsarge out-shot Lebanon 15-6.
“The second half was probably a little bit more back and forth,” said coach Wagaman.
Lebanon scored the only goal of the game eight minutes into the second frame, as Megan Gradijan scored off a nice crossing pass from Zoe Soule to put the Raiders up 1-0.
Kearsarge didn’t give up. In fact, they were right on the doorstep of tying the game three times over the final thirty minutes of the game, but Lebanon’s keeper, Sally Rainey, was there to snuff out every attempt at an equalizer.
With 29 minutes left, the Cougars’ Lili Baer kicked a lob-shot from the right side that travelled to the upper left-hand corner of the goal, and the shot would have perfectly sunk in if not for Rainey lunging and knocking it out of harm’s way.
Then, just six minutes later, Caroline Camp dribbled along the left side of the baseline and came out 1-on-1 with Rainey right at the doorstep. A big blast ricocheted off Rainey and over the net.
With five minutes left on the clock, Jordan Busch received a pass from Camp and ripped a left-footed shot from the middle of the field, but an outstretched arm of Rainey was there once again to fight off the Cougar attack.
Lebanon coach Breck Taber, on Rainey’s performance Thursday, said, “She is one of a kind,” and when asked if it was the coaching that put her in the right positions, he smiled and said, “It’s really all her.”
“They’re goalie was certainly tremendous, but we just missed the opportunities that we had,” said coach Wagaman. “I think we played with a ton of heart, and had a lot of opportunities. Unfortunately we didn’t capitalize on any of them. I’m super proud of these girls this season. They stepped up extremely well.”
Kearsarge graduates 15 seniors from their girls soccer program that had an impressive 9-5-2 regular season in Division 2.
“I’m extremely proud of the 15 seniors this season,” said Wagaman. “…They’ve stepped up as leaders and have done a great job. They were a force to be reckoned with.”
Lebanon (7-6-4) moves on to the D-II quarterfinals and will face the tall task of travelling to No. 1 Bow on Sunday.
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