Sports

Pollari’s goal gives Sunapee a thrilling 2-1 win

By Christopher Shaban
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CLAREMONT — Sometimes there are games that you wish would go on forever and Wednesday’s matchup between the Stevens Cardinals and Sunapee Lakers locked up in one of the best games of the year so far under the lights at Monadnock Park.

The smaller battles between specific athletes throughout the game were the storyline Wednesday night as classic matchups were all over the field in this dandy. In the midfield the battle was between Jenna Bonneau and Liz Tschudin while in the Sunapee defensive end that duel was between Vanessa Pollari and the Cardinal attacking duo of Stella Lavertue and Molly Derosier.

Sunapee head coach called last years Laker win on the same field the turning point of the season as Sunapee marched all the way to a state championship title and haven’t lost a game since.

“Tonight’s game was a hard clean fight against one of the best teams we’ve faced, it was just a battle and probably better than last years,” Cooney said.

Right off the bat the Lakers forced play with multiple shots on net as Brynn Smith led the charge. An open net lit the eyes of Smyth but the Cardinal back line stood up to the challenge early as Brynn Murphy cleared away a sure goal to keep things square. Sunapee adjusted to the speed of Stevens, sending deep into the corners that were run down and crosses placed toward net. Hundred goal scorer Abby Pollari drew the attention of Zahna Rice as these two players could be the best at their position in the entire division shoved and pushed each other for position all night long with neither backing down.

The Lakers drew first blood when Tschudin grabbed a loose ball just above the goal box and with no hesitation turned and fired, her shot froze everyone as it hit net for a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals’ Haley Knight saw plenty of action in the Cardinal net as she made multiple saves to keep the lead from growing while Mia Hamm had a relatively peaceful game so far, but that was about to change. Hamm was forced to come way off her line to smother a charging Lavertue as the Cardinal intensity grew. With numbers pushing forward, Molly Derosier slotted a beautiful cross to Lavertue and this time it found the net as things remained tied into the half 1-1.

With the wind howling and rain starting to fall, the second half was full of back and forth action as Sunapee looked for the go ahead goal midway in. Smyth clanked one off the cross bar and Sophie Hubert’s bid was swallowed up by Knight but the momentum had swung in the Lakers favor. In the first half, A. Pollari was sitting on the front line while Rice marker her hard but Cooney shifted Pollari back into a midfield position to get her runs on net.

“In the first half, I was exhausted, Rice was just a load tonight and I just couldn’t find any space,” Pollari said.

The position shift left Pollari unmarked off a Smyth cross and with daylight between Pollari and the goal, she planted one in the back of the net to give Sunapee a 2-1 lead with less than eight minutes left and the game winner.

“We are a pretty young team and I really liked the way our younger players responded tonight against a really strong opponent,” said Cooner after the game.

The Lakers chewed up the clock with perfection with runs into the corners and a keep away tactic along the sidelines that gave Sunapee its fifth straight win on the season.

“I think we were frustrated in the first half because of the speed of Stevens but we just kept playing our style with some adjustments and found a way to win,” said Pollari after the game.

With Wednesday night’s goal, Pollari is one point away from being the Sunapee all-time leading scorer as she is tied with Molly Puchtler with 139 points.

The same teams will meet at Sunapee on Saturday at 1 p.m.

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