NORTHWOOD — Bow was in uncharted territory before its match against Coe-Brown on Monday. The Falcons, for the first time this season, entered a game coming off a loss, and they were faced with overcoming the disappointment that lingered from last Friday at Pembroke.
It didn’t take much time as Bow shook off the Friday feelings and found itself back in the win column as it defeated the Bears, 6-0.
The Falcons got off to a quick start when, in just the seventh minute of the game, junior Bella LaPerle scored after her shot ricocheted off the left post and Coe-Brown goalkeeper Lilly Veneroni was just a second late to catch the deflection.
LaPerle’s goal was just the beginning of an offensive masterpiece in the first half. Bow (13-1) looked like itself against the Bears by controlling possession of the ball and dictating the pace of play. Its strategy of having defenders send the ball to the wings and having the centering pass close to the goal proved effective several times on chances that easily could have been goals.
One of those chances did pay off, though. LaPerle was able to send in the centering pass and Elena Jay scored on a one-timer to put Bow up 2-0.
Veneroni was admirably aggressive in net, frequently calling her own name to play out in space. That came at a cost, however, as Lyndsey LaPerle was able to poke the ball through one of the senior’s attempted stoppages and gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
Both the Falcons’ second and third goals were scored around the halfway mark of the opening period and a minute apart from each other. It would take another 10 minutes or so before Juliette Tarsa scored the emphatic fourth goal that put the game out of hand.
“We talked about focusing on movement and getting back to how we’d like to play,” Bow coach Jay Vogt said. “We had more room to make our runs and a little more space to control the ball.”
With the lead in hand, the Falcons still opted to play their starters for a good portion of the closing 40 minutes in the game. Much like the first 40, it featured goal-scoring early and often. Highlighted by the LaPerle sisters’ combining for a goal just 19 seconds into the second half, Sara Gagne wrapped up the offensive stampede with a goal of her own in the 52nd minute.
For the Bears it’s been an up-and-down year, but coach Josh Wils has been proud of the effort.
Coe-Brown (5-6-2) missed two weeks of the season because of COVID-related issues, but has since taken the field with mixed results. It spent last week playing four games in six days and will do the same this week. “I thought energy-wise, last week caught up to us,” Wils said.
The Bears follow up their game against Bow with a homestand against Milford. They close out the home portion of their schedule on Thursday against ConVal and the season finale is Saturday at Oyster River.
Bow completes a two-part road trip Tuesday when it plays at Stevens. It closes out the season with a home game on Friday against Lebanon.