By Chris Laclair
Eagle Times Sports Editor
HOPKINTON, NH — With only a few minutes left to play in the season for the Cardinals, Stevens Head Coach Jason Stone subbed out senior Captain Luke Belisle. Belisle gave a handshake to his teammate sophomore Josh Howe as he made his way to the sideline to embrace Stone for one last time with the coach that believed in his leadership from day one of his freshman year.
“I told him that he did a great job and thanked him … said I was sorry that it ended this way,” said Stone. “I told him that the score was not a representation of him as a player. He’s going to go on to make that Lions Club team and really show what he can do. And he’ll go to play college soccer with some players with ability like his that will help him excel.”
The No. 13 seed Cardinals lost 5-0 in their first-round matchup against No. 4 seed Hopkinton on Tuesday, Oct. 24, on the road. After losing earlier in the season with the same score, Stevens had created gameplays to improve this time around. Unfortunately, with key injuries to senior captain Jason Demars (who tried to play but couldn’t finish) and junior Mason Ferland, Hopkinton is too talented to beat shorthanded.
The Hawks controlled possession from the early start of the game. They had several scoring opportunities before senior Avery Condon’s no-look heel kick pushed the ball past Cardinal junior goaltender Nevin Marsh at the 14-minute mark in the first half. Senior Hawk and Captain Liam Boyle got the assist with the nice setup from the left side of the goal line.
Condon would add another highlight goal when he broke free of two defenders to rip a shot from the top of the box past the right side of Marsh for a 2-0 lead.
Senior Trigve Thomas continued to use the goal line to the Hawks advantage in the second half when he made a defender commit and dribble past him. He sent a perfect pass to sophomore Fin Murphy who whiffed on the kick. Luckily for the Hawks, senior Captain Cameron Bassett was in the right place at the right time. He sent the ball past Marsh to find the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.
Marsh would make a tough save on a header but couldn’t control the rebound. Sophomore Nolan Linstad collected the ball and sent a pass across the front of the goal to sophomore Kristof Cauley, who easily tapped it to extend their lead by four goals.
A few minutes later, Kristof would break past senior back Jackson Fellows for a one-on-one with Marsh. He shot low to the left side of the net, but Marsh made a great kick save. Cauley would get another chance 2 minutes later when he riffled a shot to the top left post for the final score of the game.
With 9 minutes remaining in the game, Belisle would give the Cardinals their first scoring chance of the game. Unfortunately for Stevens, the save was made; their only shot on goal for the game.
“We just weren’t good enough to give ourselves a chance to be in that game today,” Stone said. “We played hard again but our first touch and passing made it difficult. Defending most of the game makes it tough. Hopkinton is a good team. We gave them too many chances today and it caught up with us. The second goal before half time that they scored made us change our tactical plan a bit and exposed our middle of the field.
“I love this group and had a lot of fun coaching them. We have things to work on for next season. We have a nice group of young guys that will try to get it done next year,” he added.
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