Vikings Ground Cardinals 4-2

By Christopher Shaban
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT- Stevens was riding a six-game winning streak, but they ran into a very hot Mascenic team and fell 4-2 on Thursday. After knocking off top ranked Newport and Conant in the last week, Stevens ended up being another victim to some quick offensive strikes.

Mascenic grabbed the ball on their first rush on net that ended with a score only 20 seconds into the game as Autumn Hughes found the beck of the cage. The Cardinals would knock on the door looking for the equalizer off the lumber of Taylor Bell, but the Vikings would put another shot into the net for a 2-0 lead after the first period.

With the Cardinals bearing down with some great stick work by Cameron Ferland and Page Simonds on the defensive end, it was Simonds who would get the Cardinals back in the game with a low blast for her first ever high school goal as she shouted, “Oh my god, oh my god,” while she raced into the cage to retrieve her shot. The Cardinals carried play into the half but headed into the break trailing 2-1.

“We’ve been trying to clean some things up during practice, this is the type of game we need at this point in the season,” said Stevens coach Patty Deschaine.

The Cardinals came back onto the field with a purpose and a rip by Sara Farro had eyes for the cage but smashed into the post and came back out 15 yards. Mascenic capitalized on a counterattack that resulted in another goal, before hitting paydirt only a few moments later for a big 4-1 lead.

The Vikings began to swarm the box with defenders, but Stevens adjusted going to the wings for rushes up the field. Izabela Eitpence and Jill Oulette carried play along the sidelines in front of the Cardinal bench and began to find a crack in the Mascenic defense as the final period began. “They were just crowding the middle, so we started to use the sidelines more and found some space to move,” said Eitapence. That seemed to work and when a cross found Richelle Girard on the opposite side of the field, her shot was true, and the Cardinals had cut into the lead 4-2 with time running out.

Elizabeth Benware and Elise Smith were smothering the middle of the field trying to give the Cardinals more offensive time, but Mascenic had improved greatly after losing to the Tigers two weeks ago and now have a four-game winning streak against some of the best Division 3 teams closing out the night with a 4-2 win. “Tomorrow is a new day, we will look back at this game, make some adjustments and get better, practice makes perfect,” said Simonds after the game.

Stevens (7-3) will hit the road for games at Mascoma (3-5) and Mascenic (7-1) before heading home for games against Newport (9-2) then Conant (6-3) before playoffs begin.