Sports

Cosmos cruise to win over Rebels

By Poody Walsh
Correspondent
SPRINGFIELD — There were a lot of things that could have gone wrong in Springfield Thursday night. Not only was it the season opener for the girls, but there was a new sheriff in town as Pete Peck was the new head coach and he really didn’t know what to expect.

“I’ve heard different things from different people about this team,” said Peck.

What he did know was that he had some height, speed and a couple of girls who can shoot, so he knew that there was a good foundation in place. And that was enough on this night as the Cosmos rolled to a rockin’ chair 52-12 win over Leland and Gray on a chilly night in a Southern Vermont League game at Riverside Gym.

For six years Peck coached the Springfield boys, leaving five years ago as he started his own business. However, when he wasn’t coaching he said, “I really missed it.”

So when he jumped on the opportunity to sell the business and put himself in a job that allowed him to coach, he grabbed onto the opportunity.

Unfortunately, the Cosmos’ opener was just a day after Peck had knee surgery, so he ran the team while standing on crutches. As it turned out he didn’t have to do a whole lot of coaching, as the Cosmos went out to a 19-2 lead in the first period and coasted along to the easy win.

For the Rebels, it was their third game of the year, having beaten Arlington and lost to Brattleboro.

For the most part Peck liked what he saw. There was a little bit of concern about the pace of play after taking the early lead.

“But I think we picked up the pace in the fourth quarter,” said Peck.

If there was one area to be a bit worried about it was the defense.

“I know we just held the other team to just 12 points, but there are some things we have to work on,” he said.

But there will be little time to work on the defense as the Cosmos go right back at it Friday night as Bellows Falls comes to Riverside. The Rebels also play Friday as they go to Arlington.

Where the Cosmos had a big edge was on the boards, where 5-foot-10 Gabby Wardwell was dominant. She also got eight points as did Megahn Stagner. Springfield’s leading scorer was Hailey Perham with 12.

Hannah Landers had eight points to lead the Rebels.

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