Bella LaPerle was a few feet away from the boundary on the far right end of the field. The junior midfielder had ample scoring opportunities throughout the game and missed a couple.
But not this time.
With her right foot, LaPerle crossed the ball toward the goal and saw it fall to the ground just behind Hollis-Brookline’s goalkeeper, Maggie Crooks.
LaPerle’s goal was the start of an offensive resurgence, and at the right time, as Bow defeated Hollis-Brookline 3-2 on Tuesday afternoon.
Truthfully, there’s never a bad time for an offensive surge to occur, but for the Falcons, they needed it sooner rather than later in the match. They trailed 1-0 at halftime – the first time they’ve trailed all season – and before coach Jay Vogt even had a chance to start working some adjustments and delivering halftime remarks, his team was already coaching up each other.
“When I was walking over (to them) they knew they weren’t doing the things they should be doing,” Vogt said. “It was good to hear.”
Those “things” are simple aspects of the game, but can determine the outcome like 50-50 balls, connecting on passes and talking to one another. With the adjustments in mind, all that needed to take place was the execution of those adjustments and that’s exactly what happened.
LaPerle scored her first goal just five minutes into the second half after the Falcons dominated time of possession from the half’s opening whistle. Mainly through communication, slowly but surely they were winning those 50-50 balls once they landed from the air. The passes were more crisp and it was hard to hear with the amount of yelling voices from blue and yellow directing one another where to go with the ball.
Bella wasn’t the only LaPerle to get in on the action, however. Her twin sister Lyndsey scored the second goal when she kicked in a shot from roughly 20 yards out and just went underneath the crossbar at the top of the goal
Passing especially was critical for Bow’s second half success. Lyndsey found herself on the wide side of the field toward the right where she crossed the ball over back to middle, only this time not for a shot on goal, but to Bella who sent in ball for Falcons’ game-winner.
“I think the team feeds off (their) energy,” Vogt said. “It’s great to have.”
Where offense ruled in the second half, goaltending was another strength for the Falcons and goalkeeper Cailyn Benson was put in some tricky spots early in the game.
Her stops included several odd-player rushes where there were more Cavaliers’ players in front of her than her own teammates. Minus the one she let in, the senior was in control in net and played a vital role defensively for the Falcons.
Bow’s undefeated season continues on after Tuesday’s win, its seventh of the year. When asked about it, all Vogt could do was smile and quickly catch himself getting to up on the team.
“We’re still not there, we’ve got to be mentally ready to play.”