Lapierre and Maskwa lead Coe-Brown to victories in soccer matchups

Coe-Brown girls’ soccer senior forward Bella Lapierre and boys’ junior forward Tommy Maskwa each earned their team’s wins with two and three goals, respectively.

The two clinical strikers put away challenging match-ups against the Merrimack Valley Pride on Friday night.

The girls faced off at 4 p.m., in a back-and-forth match that saw the Bears (7-4-2) stay ahead, 3-2, with a late goal by Lapierre over MV (5-4-3) to leapfrog them in the standings.

The boys’ game kicked off at 6 p.m. and broke wide open in the second half, resulting in a 4-1 win by the Bears (7-4-2) over the Pride (3-6-3).

Girls: Coe-Brown 3, Merrimack Valley 2

Merrimack Valley managed to tie the game up twice, first with a goal by senior defender Jada Lucas from a rebound on a corner, and then thanks to a cross-body shot to the top right corner by junior midfielder Lila Gray, assisted by freshman Maddie White.

Despite falling short, the Pride’s coach, Danielle Wiley, was content with her team’s perseverance and how her team had improved mentally throughout the season. Despite going down twice, they came back to tie it up.

Lapierre opened the scoring five minutes into the first half, assisted by Emma-Lee Place. Place went on to steal the ball from the Valley’s keeper on a rebound and score to go ahead.

Finally, Lapierre sealed the game by rushing toward a long ball and finishing one-on-one to seal the game.

“I feel like we needed it after that tough loss at Hollis. I feel like it was good to get us back on our feet,” Lapierre said.

Coe-Brown coach Rachel McGill said she loved how her team played in the second half. Her team played tough, but tidy, and came away with a big win at home to continue on its mission to make the playoffs.

Boys: Coe-Brown 4, Merrimack Valley 1

Maskwa opened the scoring in the first half and sealed the game with two well-placed shots to complete his hat-trick on the night.

“I think we’re definitely finding more space as a team. You have great players like Kasey (Siering), Brady (Colgan) opening space up, that’s really, it’s really easy for me to find anything that way,” he said.

He said he hopes to continue being aggressive up front as the team moves forward toward the playoffs.

Between his first and second goals, senior midfielder Brady Colgan’s scissor kick goal broke the game completely wide open for the Bears.

Coach Christian Gompert knew his attack would provide plenty of goals, but his young defense proved they had what it took to win games. With six sophomores on the team, the experience his back lines have built throughout the season will be invaluable moving forward.

The second-half collapse for the Pride may have cost them a shot at the playoffs. Coach Ken Fuller was all business post-game and said he hopes the boys can pull together a strong finish to the season, especially for the seniors who have only a handful of games left.