By Adam Aucoin
THE RUTLAND HERALD
FAIR HAVEN, Vt. — There isn’t much that Fair Haven senior Brittney Love hasn’t seen on a soccer pitch. She always knows which runs to make, finds the right pass and puts her team in the best position to win.
Love did all of that in the Fair Haven girls soccer team’s 9-0 win against Springfield Thursday night at LaPlaca Field.
Love played all over the field and made a difference everywhere she went, scoring twice and dishing out five assists in a dominating Slater effort.
“(Brittney) just loves getting the ball to her teammates,” said Fair Haven coach Teri Perry. “Everybody thinks of her as the goal scorer, and they worry about that. Last year, she had just as many assists as goals and she made that another goal for herself this year.
“As an attacking mid, you should have a lot of goals, but you should also be distributing the ball throughout the field. She’s done that very well.”
Before Springfield even knew what hit them, the Slaters had already put two goals up on the scoreboard, both assisted by Love.
Sophomore Maddy Perry got a pass in the box from Love and scored 55 seconds into the game and a beautiful cross by Love found junior Ayame Merkel far post for Fair Haven’s second goal less than four minutes later.
“We like to jump out early every time because we like to see everyone in every position and we like to see everyone score,” Love said. “When we get up there, we like to create combinations. That helps us with our passing.”
The Cosmos did a good job of evening out play for stretches of the first half, but once the floodgates opened, there was no closing them.
Sophomore Elizabeth Love played a beautiful ball in the box for her older sister Brittney Love to score on.
The two connected once again later in the half when the older Love sister used her speed to slither through the Springfield defense and score deep in the box.
Another great cross by Brittney Love led to the final goal of the opening half with Maddy Perry getting her leg up to deflect it in.
Coach Perry mixed up positioning in the second half, using some of her best scorers in the back and getting others a chance to shine up top.
Holly Gannon scored off a Merkel assist with 28:29 to play and Merkel netted her second of the day about three minutes later on a Brittney Love assist.
Gannon scored once again soon after on an assist by Lily Briggs, before Kate Hadwen finished the scoring on an own goal by Springfield coming off Hadwen’s shot.
It was a special moment for Hadwen, who is known for being Fair Haven’s standout goalkeeper. Hadwen and Maddy Perry combined for the clean sheet, the fourth shutout in five games for Hadwen.
“(Kate’s) lucky she scored because she was coming out at that point. It’s fun for her in games like that to come out and see the field,” coach Perry said. “She used to field play as well. It’s good to get some touches on the ball because we do want a goalie that we can play the ball back to.”
Versatility is a luxury, and the Slaters have lots of it.
“Last year, I didn’t think we would have so many interchangeable players, but we do,” Brittney Love said. “It’s good to see because we’re seeing a lot of different people score this year. They’re getting a lot more confident in every position they’re playing in.”
Fair Haven has to be feeling confident, sporting a 5-0 record. The Slaters are at Woodstock next Friday.
For Springfield, games like Thursday’s are learning experiences.
“The girls battled hard, and they had good sportsmanship,” said Cosmos coach Ray Curren. “It’s hard when you’re down 8 or 9 to nothing.
There’s a lot of life lessons there about how you act and how you compose yourself.”
Springfield (2-3) is at Brattleboro on Saturday.
Follow on Twitter: @AAucoin_RH
adam.aucoin
@rutlandherald.com
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