Boys’ Soccer

Kearsarge 3, Hopkinton 2, 2OT

Key players:  Kearsarge – Graham West (game-winning goal); Hopkinton – Fin Murphy (goal), Nolan Linstad (goal), Owen Wuellenweber (assist), Colby Boissy (4 saves)

Highlights:  West scored off a free kick with four minutes remaining in the second overtime to lift the Cougars over the Hawks. Murphy’s early goal in the third minute was the result of an early high press, which opened up a lane for him to put a nice shot into the side netting. Kearsarge went up 2-1 with goals in the 14th and 35th minutes before Linstad’s goal in the 54th from a sharp corner that Wuellenweber put right into the goal mouth before Linstad headed it home.

Coach’s quote:  “The really tough pill to swallow was that we’d created all sorts of quality scoring chances in both the second half and overtime. We put balls through the 6-yard box repeatedly, but simply could not find the game winner – including shots off the crossbar and posts. The Hawks will take this tough loss and use it as motivation to start consistently putting the biscuit in the basket. Our back line of Noah Aframe, Mike Pantano and Abram Standefer played a really impressive game, repeatedly reading through balls correctly and also blocking shots.” – Hopkinton’s Scott Zipke

Records: Kearsarge 8-3-1; Hopkinton 12-2-0