Cardinals Defeat Tigers to Win First Deschaine-Flint Cup

By Chris Laclair
Eagle Times Sports Editor
CLAREMONT, NH — The first Deschaine-Flint Cup between the Stevens Cardinals (10-2-1) and their rivals, the Newport Tigers (12-2), was one for the history books.

The game was the first of many annual games to be played in honor of retired Stevens field hockey head coach Patty Deschaine and longtime Tiger field hockey scorekeeper Sandra Flint.

Deschaine coached the Cardinals for the past 20 years before handing the reigns over to her assistant, Abby Hudson, this season. Flint ran the scoreboard for the Tigers for more than 40 years before stepping away from the game that she loves, although you will still see her cheering on the team from the sidelines.

“Wow, it’s a nice honor, a very nice honor (to have a cup named after her and Flint),” Deschaine said. “When they talked about it, I was like … and then it’s like, wow, it’s a reality.”

“It’s a privilege,” Flint said. “It’s like a whole new season when the kids play for a rival cup.”

Fans filled the stands from both communities and cheered on the girls from start to finish. The atmosphere had a playoff feel to it as seedings were on the line for both teams. The Cardinals would hold the cup over their heads with a battle tested 4-1 victory.

The Cardinals came out ready to play as they controlled possession on the Tigers side of the field for the first several minutes of the game. Emma Bell gave her team an early spark with aggressive play that seemed to energize her teammates. They had a few early opportunities to score on corners that were negated by a solid Tiger defensive stand that denied any shot attempts on goal.

Newport came back with their own pressure with several nice long ball passes from Katie Sharon to Maddox Lovely. Stevens defenders held their ground and continued to deny shots on goal. The Tigers would get a few corners, but nothing transpired from them as the first quarter ended.

Stevens opened the second quarter up with a great scoring chance near the box that Newport managed to deflect out of bounds. Callie Demars took a crack at it with a shot that barely went wide left of the net.

Isabela Eitapence would score with two minutes left in the half on a beautiful redirection of the ball in the air to send it past the right side of goaltender Breanne Robertson, as she had no chance to react to it.

Newport would find themselves with a great scoring opportunity to start the second half as Maddox had a chance for a one-timer, but the ball sailed over her stick on her shot attempt. Maddox would again have another opportunity as she pushed the ball from half field on a break to the left side before being stopped a few feet in front of the goal by Cardinal defenders to break up the play.

The Tigers would find the back of the net one minute into the fourth quarter with a score off the rebound as Jazmyn McNamara slipped a shot past goaltender Paige Simonds. It was the only goal of the game that Simonds allowed on five shots on goal.

Momentum seemed to be back on the Tigers side until Eitapence dribbled around defenders to create a scoring opportunity for Jillian Ouellette, who snuck the ball in from the left side of the box for the eventual game-winning score.

Elizabeth Benware would put Stevens ahead 3-1 on a shot just inside of the 16-yard box. The goal seemed to deflate the Tigers, as they were tired due to being shorthanded with injuries, including one of their star players, Taylor Fellows, that they lost for the season with a torn ACL in a preseason game.

Lillianna Clark would score an insurance goal and put the nail in the coffin with a one timer for the game’s last goal.

“That was a tough loss; I think Stevens earned it,” Newport Head Coach Shannon Martin said. “They played aggressively. The Stevens team clearly wanted it, you know, they showed up ready to play. We were slow to warm up (in the first half). The second half, I think we started to put a lot of pressure on them, but we couldn’t find the back of the net. They had all the right motions, they were working together and pushing hard — we just couldn’t get it in. We will see them again, I am sure. It’s a good rematch, you know?”

“We showed up, we came ready to play.” Hudson said. “I am so proud of them as we have a lot of injuries right now as we don’t have our full starting team out there. They did a phenomenal job. Everyone of them came ready to play and I cannot be happier. Whenever we play Newport, it is a tough game. It is always a tough game, so I know if it comes down to it (a rematch in the playoffs), it will be a good game. The rivalry between the two towns is huge.”

Game Notes: There were a lot of Newport and Stevens dual connections in the game. Martin was a Stevens graduate and Cardinal field hockey player. Flint was a Stevens graduate, as well. Cardinals assistant coach Maddy Miller is a Newport graduate. Her father, Jeff Miller, is the athletic director for the Tigers. Newport ended its regular season at 12-2. Their individual goal scoring totals for the season were Peyton Blackinton, 21; Maddox Lovely, 14; Katie Sharron, 10; Jazmyn McNamara, 6; Jasmyn Lee, 3; Nevaeh Caron, 2; and Natasha Carpenter with 1 goal.