By Adam Aucoin
THE RUTLAND HERALD
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Get yourself a defender who can do it all. The Springfield girls’ soccer team has one in sophomore Macie Stagner.
Stagner’s fingerprints were all over the Cosmos’ 3-1 win against Division II Hartford Thursday afternoon at Gurney Field.
Stagner scored twice and was a key defensive presence as well in the Springfield win.
Cosmos coach Ray Curren has moved the sophomore up in recent games to generate more offense and it has paid off handsomely. Thursday’s effort put Stagner in a tie with Lexi Tewksbury for the team lead in goals with five.
“Moving her up was the move we did against Bellows Falls, but we stuck with it to have more offense and I think it worked,” Curren said.
“We had the majority of the play. You can’t put two Macies out there, so she has to play one or the other.”
Stagner opened the scoring with 25:03 left in the first half, striking a ball from well outside 18-yard box that floated over Hartford goalkeeper Sydney Stillman’s head and into the net.
The Cosmos dominated much of the possession throughout the opening half. The Hurricanes had a flurry of pressure late in the half, but there weren’t a ton of chances that challenged Springfield keeper Camden Gramling.
Hartford did break through with about 26 minutes to play. Hurricanes sophomore Izzabelle Sirois had a nice run down the right side and deposited a shot in the back of the net.
Springfield quickly responded with a goal three minutes later. Stagner was at it again, sending an initial shot on Stillman that was stopped, getting another crack at it that didn’t go in, before finally putting it home on the third chance.
That goal gave the Cosmos all the momentum they needed as they added an insurance tally from Ella Donahue with 17:39 to play and dictated the run of play for much of the rest of the contest.
“At 1-1 with 26 minutes to go, I felt pretty good,” said Hartford coach Jeff Acker. “Then they come down and get the second one.
“Those are things we talk about all the time, getting yourself to the front of the goal because that’s how goals are scored. (Springfield) got to the front of the goal. We had chances where their goalie bobbled it a little and we didn’t take advantage.”
Seeing the response after the tying goal was a positive sign for the Cosmos.
“We reacted pretty well after the goal. We could have put our heads down,” Curren said.
The win earned Springfield a season split with the Hurricanes. Hartford beat the Cosmos 4-3 in overtime in Springfield’s season opener last Wednesday at Maxfield Sports Complex.
“Springfield really was the aggressor,” Acker said. “They got out on their front foot and got us on our back foot a little. That kind of stuff is contagious.”
Hartford’s squad is young this season, so the Hurricanes are looking for development. There were glimpses of strong play in Thursday’s contest, whether it was the Sirois goal or the bits of pressure they had in other spots.
“We don’t the have the history to recall on to say, ‘I know how to turn this around,’” Acker said. “We’re learning.”
Stillman had a busy day for Hartford in goal, making 19 saves. Gramling had four saves for the Springfield.
The Cosmos (2-2) are at Fair Haven on Thursday. The Hurricanes (1-3) are at Windsor on Wednesday.
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adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com
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