By Christopher Shaban
Staff Writer
The season opener for the Cardinals could have not gone any better, at least in the early going. The Lebanon tactical game just wore down Stevens as the visitors came back from a 2-0 deficit to grab a 3-2 win in double overtime in the opener for both clubs.
After 80 minutes of grueling soccer, the Raiders just kept chiseling away at the Stevens defensive wall in front of Cooper Moote and eventually the non stop bombardment paid dividends for Rob Johnstone’s team as they headed back to Lebanon with the win with a big crown in attendance. Alex Dyer put the Cardinals on the board first with a non-stop rush on net that found the twine eight minutes into the game.
The Cardinals hit pay dirt again when Dylan Chambers’ monster throw ended up in the goal for a 2-0 Cardinal leads that lasted into the half. The Cardinals were opportunistic while Lebanon seemed frustrated after the first 40 minutes.
“The Cardinals were sky high during the break as Chambers was yelling at everyone to keep it up and stay locked in.”
The Lebanon soccer program is one of the best in the state on New Hampshire and it showed with patience and a non stop attack on Moote and the Cardinal defense over the rest of the game. The Raiders were in control for most of the second half and eventually tied things up with 11 minutes remaining with numbers flooding the box and a midfield that controlled play.
Lebanon had all the momentum heading into the first overtime but the pesky Cardinals managed to push things into a second overtime with exhausted legs as they were totally defensive. Eventually a Lebanon attacker broke free and his blast from 10 yards out spelled doom for the Cardinals to cap a great Lebanon comeback securing a 3-2 win.
On the other field, if there ever was a game when one team played better, dominated time of possession, controlled the field more, and just seemed to play a game that they should have won, Friday was that day for the Stevens girls soccer team.
Tim St. Pierre’s Lady Cardinals played a solid game except for a fluke goal off the toe of Delaney DeShane at the eight-minute mark of the first half to grant Lebanon the win.
The Cardinals looked to tie things up with an almost perfect second half but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Molly Derosier, Riley Murphy, Stella Lavertue and Jenna Bonneau all put pressure on the Lebanon during a furious final few minutes to find an equalizer.
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