As Coaching Door Spins, Cards Fall to Cosmos

It was the first time a Springfield girls soccer team has played at Claremont's Stevens High School in at least two decades, and possibly longer.
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Published 9/11/2012 As Coaching Door Spins, Cards Fall to Cosmos By Poody Walsh Valley News Correspondent Claremont -- The Stevens High girls soccer program has played for three coaches through four games this season. A fourth is on the way. Don Hart coached game No. 1 and was dismissed before game No. 2 in a dispute with school administration, with assistant high school principal Kim Ezen filling in. The third, fourth and fifth games were guided by Carolyn Tuck, the boys junior varsity coach and a physical education teacher at the high school. Asked if she was going to coach game No. 6, a date with Fall Mountain tomorrow, Tuck said she didn't know because the athletic department is in the process of hiring someone on a permanent basis to finish out the season. What Tuck does know is that there is talent on the team and “continuity in the coaching is what we are working for. We've got some players here.” Game No. 5 came yesterday at the Coach Parker Sports Complex in Monadnock Park, where the Cardinals played well, but not quite good enough, in a 2-1 loss to Springfield. The loss left the Stevens at 1-3-1, while Springfield evened its record at 1-1. It was a game of missed opportunities on both sides of the field with Springfield cashing in just enough to win the game. “We think we have a good offensive team,” said Springfield coach Christian Craig. “Our transition game was good, and our goalkeeper (Lauren Bolduc) has been making great strides. She plays the angles and anticipates well.” While Bolduc had an eight-save game, she was not nearly as busy in the cage as the Stevens tandem of Desneige Roy and Brittany Fitzpatrick, who combined on 15 saves as Springfield came at the Cardinals' goal from all angles. Roy played most of the game in the net and saw most of the pressure as the Springfield attackers kept finding creases in the defense and had numerous open shots at the target. “We put a lot of pressure on their defense, and we think we'll get better at putting it in the net as the season goes along,” said Craig. Springfield took a 1-0 lead into the second half and immediately started making Roy's life miserable. First, the Cosmos' Meghan Courschesne crossed the ball to the middle for Sarah Locke's point-blank shot at Roy, who stopped the ball with both hands, then picked up the short rebound. Then it was Kiana Nelson feeding Locke on the left side; Locke was just able to get the side of her foot on the ball and it whizzed by the goalpost wide. But Springfield made good on its next chance as Abi Cox uncorked a right-footed shot from 20 yards out that snuck inside the left post to make it 2-0. Still, there were 30 minutes to play, and the Cardinals finally came to life. Haley Meunier cut the deficit in half seven minutes later, firing up the middle and drawing the defense closer before crossing the top of the penalty area and unleashing a shot inside the right post to make it 2-1. Stevens' best chance after that came with about four minutes to play when Emily Charest took a pass on the run from Nikki Root and hit it over the cage. “We played pretty well today,” said Stevens assistant coach Tom Belaire. “Really well.” Locke scored Springfield's first goal, assisted by Angelina Mei. *** Notes: It was the first time a Springfield team has played at Stevens in at least two decades, and possibly longer. “We've never even had a game in New Hampshire in the two years I've been coaching,” said Craig. … The only difference Craig noticed was the clock being stopped with two minutes to play at the end of each half; NHIAA referees keep the time on the field at that point. “Hey, the clock is not running,” Craig said as first half was winding down. … Valley News records indicate Springfield and Stevens hadn't played each other in varsity girls soccer since at least 1994 before the Cosmos took a 2-1 win in overtime over the Cardinals last year in Springfield, Vt.