Having suffered its first loss of the season six days earlier, and trailing five minutes into Thursday’s match, it was unclear how the Pembroke girls’ soccer team would respond.
But the Spartans answered with a goal of its own one minute later and Kayla Paquin scored the game-winner in the 61st minute, lifting Pembroke to a 2-1 victory over Merrimack Valley in Penacook.
“I think today everybody was wondering how we would respond to our loss,” Pembroke head coach Jess Kaufman said. “I’m thrilled that the girls rose to the occasion and picked up the hard-fought victory.”
The win puts Pembroke (8-1) into a tie with Bow for the top spot in the Division II standings with identical records of 8-1.
The Pride (5-5) got on the board first in the fifth minute thanks to a goal from freshman Alyssa Woodman off a feed from Emily Knouse.
Pembroke freshman Cierra Hill assisted on an equalizer scored by Madison Bailey a minute later.
“Every match we have with (MV) is always quite a battle – very back-and-forth, very physical,” Kaufman said.
Despite the two teams trading goals, the match didn’t open up until the second half, after both head coaches made some adjustments.
Thanks to strong play in the midfield from McKayla Palhof, Sarah Davis and Kerragan McNeil and from defender Asia Hanson, MV upped the pressure on Spartan goalkeeper Katelyn Young and nearly took the lead with 20 minutes left to play.
The Pride took a corner kick that sent the ball into the 6-yard box. Palhof won the ball in the melee, but the attempt on goal hit the crossbar and came straight down where Pembroke senior defender Hannah Serafin blocked the ball on the line.
MV gathered the ball in the 12-yard box for another attempt, but the strike hit the inside of the post and bounced out.
“We did a much better job winning the ball in the second half,” MV head coach Nick D’Agostino said. “We just couldn’t score on our opportunities.”
“(MV) was pressuring hard for sure,” Kaufman said. “They would not give up. Nick (D’Agostino) is very tactical and MV is very organized. They never let up … (Young) made some key saves. She owned her box, that’s for sure.”
Shortly after the flurry of activity in front of Pembroke’s goal, the Spartans countered with a long ball from freshman Adrienne Dorr from the wing that grazed the head of a Pride defender, forcing goalkeeper Madison Merchant to make a save.
The ball glanced off of Merchant’s fingertips and bounced toward the goal line, where Paquin buried the game-winning strike in the 61st minute.
Kaufman attributes Pembroke’s seven-game win streak to open the season to a team-first mentality and the contributions from role players, such as freshman midfielder Britney Hill.
“She plays like she’s been out there for years,” Kaufman said. “It takes a lot of people to have so many good performances, but she is rock solid so often.
“The last three weeks have been the most challenging of our season,” Kaufman added. “We’ve played some of the top teams in our division and the girls have responded in ways that continuously surprise and please me. Our goal is not to peak too early, but keep getting better each game and sticking to the team mentality of team before self.”
Girls’ Soccer
Bedford 3, Concord 0
Key players: Concord – Grace Devanny, Emma Pope, Allison Yanski
Highlights: The Tide’s undefeated streak came to an end with a loss on the road to the Bulldogs.
Coach’s quote: “It was a wake-up call for our team. Bedford is a good team. I don’t think the score reflected the game, but we know we need to play better and find a way to score.” – Concord’s Phil Tuttle
Records: Bedford 7-1-0; Concord 6-1-1
Belmont 8, Laconia 0
Key players: Belmont – Julianna Estremera (3G), Katie Gagnon (3G), Kailey Gerbig (G), Rebecca Fleming (G), Emma Cochran (3 saves), Sana Syed, Jada Edgren
Highlights: Edgren logged her first major varsity minutes and Cochran made a big save in the first half, helping the Raiders take a 4-0 halftime lead and cruise to their fourth straight win.
Coach’s quote: “I’m very pleased with how we’re progressing. It’s nice to see the pieces of the things we’ve been working on in practice come together.” – Belmont’s Mark Dawalga
Records: Belmont’s 7-1-1; Laconia 3-6-0
Portsmouth 2, Concord 0
Key players: Concord – Liam Devanny (7 saves), Duvan Morikawa-Montenegro (midfield), Danny Aybar (defense), Grant Rienstra (defense)
Highlights: Although the Tide doubled Portsmouth’s shot attempts on goal, the Clippers scored off a corner kick in the 39th minute and scored again off a counterattack with four minutes left in the match to hand Concord its first loss of the season.
Records: Portsmouth 6-3-0; Concord 6-1-1
Bow 4, Oyster River 3
Key players: Bow – Max Elsasser (2G, A), Ryan Leonard (G, 2A), Matt Ferland (G)
Highlights: The Falcons built a 1-0 and 2-1 lead before taking a 3-2 lead at halftime against one of Division II’s top programs. Ferland, playing in his first game this season after missing the first eight due to an injury, scored the game-winning goal for Bow with 11 minutes left to give the Falcons a 4-2 lead. The Bobcats scored with five minutes left, but were not able to score an equalizer.
Coach’s quote: “We played very well in the first half. We were back on our defending heels too much in the second half, but made the plays when we had to. Oyster River is a quality team.” – Bow’s George Pinkham
Records: Bow 6-3; Oyster River 8-2
ConVal 2, Kearsarge 1, OT
Key players: Kearsarge – Nathan St. Pierre (G), Peter Russell (A), Jared Fortier (defense)
Highlights: Kearsarge took the lead two minutes into the second half thanks to St. Pierre’s goal, but first-place ConVal forced overtime with a goal off a 45-yard set piece 10 minutes later and scored with one minute remaining in extra time to secure the win.
Coach’s quote: “The boys played well on rough field conditions. It’s tough to lose a third game in overtime, but I believe the team will recover and thrive for the remainder of the season.” – Kearsarge’s Matt Burch
Records: ConVal 8-1; Kearsarge 4-6
Newmarket 3, Pittsfield 0
Key players: Pittsfield – Colby Wolfe, Jesse MacGlashing, Decota Maura-Giddis (6 saves)
Highlights: The undefeated and first-place Mules recorded all three goals in the first half in the18th, 33rd and 39th minutes. The Panthers played Newmarket even in the second half and created a number of scoring opportunities, but couldn’t get on the scoreboard.
Coach’s quote: “We played an uninspired first half and Newmarket took advantage. Our defensive organization was better in the second half and we were able to maintain more possession in the midfield. We have to get off to better starts and avoid playing from behind.” – Pittsfield’s Derek Hamilton
Records: Newmarket 9-0; Pittsfield 4-6
Hopkinton 0, Gilford 0
Key players: Hopkinton – Sam Crawford (2 saves), Derek West, Pete Sintros, Steven Newton-Delgado
Highlights: The Hawks, led by West and Sintros and center back and Newton-Delgado at outside back, were able to shutdown Gilford’s counterattack, but Hopkinton couldn’t find the back of the net.
Coach’s quote: “In spite of carrying possession and having many opportunities, we were not able to get the game winner and were forced to settle for the tie.” – Hopkinton’s Scott Zipke
Records: Hopkinton 5-3-2; Gilford 6-2-2
Portsmouth 5, Pembroke 0
Key players: Pembroke – Ali Corriveau, Alysse Cleasby
Highlights: The Spartans were shut out by the Clippers in a game on Wednesday.
Coach’s quote: “Portsmouth came out strong right from the beginning. Although my girls never stopped playing hard, they took themselves out of the game mentally. We will look to make better adjustments during the next game on Friday.” – Pembroke’s Aimee Monterio
Records: Portsmouth 2-7-1; Pembroke 3-6-0
Bishop Brady 4, ConVal 1
Key players: Bishop Brady – Halle Laramie (2G), Becca Murphy (G), Libbey Hicks (G), Ashlyn Toupin (3A), Emma Windsor (6 saves)
Highlights: Murphy and Laramie each scored a goal in the first half and the Giants netted a pair in the second half to remain undefeated.
Records: Bishop Brady 7-0-0; ConVal 2-5-1
Bow 72, Lebanon 54, Monadnock 32
Key players: Bow – Jake Mielcarz, Jason Howe
Highlights: The Falcons picked up a pair of victories to stay in second place in D-III, right behind 18-1 Sanborn.
Coach’s quote: “We played pretty well for not having seen the course before. There are quite a few spots that you have to hit good shots and we were able to do that for the most part.” – Bow’s Matt Davis
Records: Bow 17-1; Lebanon 9-6; Monadnock 4-13-1
Mascenic 93, Hopkinton 62, Farmington 38
Key players: Hopkinton – Dan Miner (21), Larsen Burack (19), Brandon Boris (12), Ivan Zhalkovsky (10), Alex Miller (8), Ryan Hughes (7)
Highlights: The Hawks celebrated its final home match of the season by splitting a contest with the first-place Vikings and the Tigers at Country Club of New Hampshire. Seniors Burack, Boris, Zhalkovsky, Miller and Hughes all contribute to the victory.
Records: Mascenic 16-0; Hopkinton 14-4; Farmington 2-18
Kearsarge first
Key players: Kearsarge – Cassie Gilbert (4th), Gracie Boisvert (12th), Marliese Baer (13th), Ada Gardner (14th), Mya Dube (15th); H-D – Elizabeth LaBier (31st), Alannah Johnson (44th), Emma Curley (45th)
Highlights: Gilbert ran a 22:09 5K for the Cougars and the next four Kearsarge runners finished within two seconds of each other towards the front of the pack, leading the Cougars to a decisive win at the Newfound Invitational. Kearsarge’s 19 points easily bested Derryfield (46) and Berlin (71), the only two other teams with enough runners to score. Gilford’s Catherine Stow won in 19:27.
Kearsarge seventh,
Hillsboro-Deering ninth
Key players: Kearsarge – Evan Pauling (32nd), Edward Stowell (33rd), Ben Boulton (34th), Tom Lick (35th), Trevor Pauling (36th), Aidan Kellogg (37th), Gavin Garzia (38th); H-D – Zach Camp (11th), Skyler Smith (50th), Izaac Healey (58th)
Highlights: The Cougars ran as a pack, claiming the 32nd through 38th spots and were separated by just three seconds, as Kearsarge finished seventh at the Newfound Invitational. Berlin’s Samuel Stiles won in 18:33 to lead the Mountaineers (38 points) to the victory over Gilford (90), Newfound (110), Derryfield (112), Moultonborough (124), Inter-Lakes (146) and Kearsarge (155). H-D’s Camp was the top local finisher, clocking a 20:42 5K, leading the Hillcats (217) to ninth.
Oyster River 3, John Stark 0
Key players: John Stark – Riley Lord (6 kills, 5 digs, 4 aces), Lillian Stogner (9 kills, 5 digs, block), Olyvia Bergeron (5 blocks) and Brooke Patnode (19 assists, 2 aces)
Highlights: The Generals came back from deficits in the first and second sets, but fell just short, 25-23 and 25-22. John Stark held a five-point lead early in the third set, but the Bobcats came back to win, 25-19, in a tightly-contested match.
Coach’s quote: “We had our opportunities to get the win tonight, but a few mistakes kept us from achieving our goal. I’m really pleased with the team’s poise when a few calls didn’t go our way. We’re growing little by little everyday.” – John Stark’s Jeff McClellan
Records: Oyster River 9-2; John Stark 5-6