Kearsarge High boys’ soccer likes to play fast. Really fast.
And that quickness played a huge role in the Cougars’ 4-0 road victory over Hopkinton (4-8-2) on Wednesday afternoon.
Senior Auggie Zock got Kearsarge (9-3-1) on the board in the 12th minute, off an assist from fellow senior Kaleb Mattice. Then, in the 35th minute, Mattice hooked a wicked shot out of the reach of Hawks goalkeeper Colby Boissy before assisting on a goal from senior Cam Dezotell less than two minutes later. Finally, in the 65th minute, Mattice capped off his comprehensive performance with another goal.
From the start, Kearsarge took advantage of its speed, often sending deep balls down the field for forwards Mattice and Zock to track down. This allowed sustained offensive pressure early.
“When I have players who can not only move physically quickly but also pass the ball really quickly, speed is so important to us,” Kearsarge head coach Couper Gunn said. “You saw the success that we had when we were able to drive at people with speed, because it puts people on the back foot and they get nervous. And then, when people are nervous, they can make mistakes, and we can be pretty ruthless and take advantage of that.”
In spite of the somewhat-lopsided score, Hopkinton had its chances. The Hawks just couldn’t finish at the net.
“I was happy offensively with what developed,” Hopkinton head coach Scott Zipke said. “That’s what I’m looking for – to develop good offense. I’m not so concerned necessarily about who can kick the ball in the back of the net from six yards out. That’ll come.”
After winning 15 games last season and reaching the Division III quarterfinals, the Hawks have had to break in a younger roster this year. Out of 21 players, only five are seniors.
With the regular season entering the homestretch, Zipke’s focus for his team is quite simple: “We gotta give up less goals, and we gotta score more goals,” he said.
On the other side, not only did Kearsarge showcase team speed on offense, it generated pressure defensively, frequently converging on the Hawks’ backs deep in their own territory.
“I played center back in my career, and I knew I was going to approach coaching with a defensive philosophy,” Gunn, a first-year head coach, said. “Having that aggressiveness first defensively actually helps us translate that into aggressiveness offensively.”
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Cougars find themselves right in the middle of the D-III standings.
Entering play on Wednesday, there were six teams with either eight or nine wins, so Kearsarge knows each victory down the stretch is paramount to optimizing its seeding for the playoffs.
The Hawks conclude their regular season against Derryfield, Campbell and Fall Mountain; Derryfield entered Wednesday at 7-5-0, Campbell sat in second at 11-2-0 and Fall Mountain was 5-5-2. So the schedule won’t get any easier for Kearsarge as the pressure ramps up.
“Every game is a final for us the rest of the way through,” Gunn said. “We’ve overcome a lot of adversity just this season, and that bodes really well for when we face adversity in these games. So far, we’ve responded really positively.”