By Christopher Shaban
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEWPORT — Taylor Fellows grabbed a rebound and fired a shot into the back of the cage to give Newport a thrilling 4-3 win in the final moments after Berlin had just tied the game. “This was a terrific battle, both teams came to play, and they gave their all, but we rallied when we needed it,” said Newport Head Coach Shannon Martin.
The emotions were all over the road in the final few minutes as Berlin had come back from a 3-1 deficit with players racing onto the field to celebrate a goal only to have rivers of tears flowing down their faces moments later while the young Tigers nervousness turned into joy and relief.
The Tigers earned their trip to the semi-finals against a team that was much better than their record or seeding showed. “We all knew they were good, and records mean absolutely nothing this time of the year,” said Fellows.
Newport opened the scoring with a goal from Madyson Norris, but Berlin would answer right back with a Cienna Langlais goal to square the match before the Tigers started to find their pace in front of a big crowd. “The way this team believes in itself is just something you need to experience, we all support each other and never give up,” said Chloe Greenwood. A Nevaeh Caron blast put Newport ahead then, when Maddox Lovely scored, the Tigers were in complete control, almost too much. Berlin had played some tough Division 2 opponents during the season and their big following that took the two-hour drive for a three o’clock game wasn’t ready to call it quits.
Emily Smith would inch Berlin a little closer to the Tigers with a goal to make it 3-2 as the Tigers looked to be playing to hold onto the lead instead of increasing it. With time winding down and Berlin swarming the Newport end of the field desperate for a goal, a penalty stroke was awarded to the Mountaineers. Langlais took the hit and the senior planted it in a perfect spot that Bri Robertson had zero chance of stopping to even things 3-3 as the Berlin team mobbed her at midfield with under four minutes remaining.
Martin called a timeout as her team looked shell shocked in the huddle. “That penalty stroke goal took the breath out of our sails. I made lots of eye contact during the break, I told them to play like the team they are and we went back onto the field with a purpose,” said Martin.
Newport raced onto the field with their fans behind them and acted like a new team, attacking Berlin with determination that earned them the #3 seed. Lovely, Peyton Blackinton, Caron and Katie Sharron were in no mood to let this one get away and pushed hard towards Berlin’s Luma Berry in net. With the crowd loud and play on the field intense with time disappearing, Fellows gathered in a rebound off of Berry from a rocket by Lovely. Fellows had one foot off the ground as her blast whistled past Berry and had that very distinctive sound of a ball hitting the back of the cage that gave Newport a 4-3 lead. A thrilled Lovely jumped all around the goal box before picking up Fellows as the Tigers raced in for a celebration, mobbing Fellows and punching their ticket to a trip to the New Hampshire Division 3 Semifinals on Tuesday.
“I was so nervous after they tied the game, we had a timeout and we regrouped and came out with a purpose, we just wanted it,” said Fellows.
Newport (13-3) will head to Exeter on Tuesday to take on #7 seed Bishop Brady (10-6) who knocked off #2 seed Newfound with a 2-1 score. Newport and Bishop Brady did not play each other in the regular season, but Berlin downed Brady late in the season 3-2. Game time is set for 5pm at Bill Ball stadium.
The other semi-final match pits #1, undefeated Gilford (15-0) against #4 Mascenic (12-3).
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