http://rutlandherald.com/article/20131024/SPORTS02/710249866
Published October 24, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Cosmos set up 3rdgame vs. Mill River By POODY WALSH Correspondent SPRINGFIELD — During the last five games of the regular season Springfield lost four times and scored only two goals in those four losses, which kind of put a damper on what had been a promising season. However, that is all behind them now as the Cosmos opened the Division II postseason with a commanding 3-0 win over Vergennes in a Division II preliminary round game Wednesday at Gurney field. “Finally,” is the first word Springfield coach Christian Craig said after the game. And it was the kind of win that Craig was looking for as the offense was threatening all day, the defense tossed a shutout, and the Cosmos are on their way to a quarterfinal match up with top-seeded Mill River on Friday afternoon. What might have also helped was that the Cosmos had the home field edge and there was some question that the eighth and final home game slot might go to Vergennes. Springfield finished 6-7-1 and Vergennes 6-7 and Vergennes co-head coach Dwight Irish explained that for a while it appeared the Commodores would get the eighth slot, but Irish said the nod went to the Cosmos for picking up extra points for an in-season tourney road win. So it was Vergennes that had to take the two and one-half hour ride. “We got here an hour early so I think we’re ready,” said Irish. As it turned out the Commodores looked a little heavy-legged early as Springfield’s speedy attacker Sarah Locke got by the defense down her wing and had three crosses into the offensive zone in the first few minutes that could not be converted. But the Cosmos kept it in the attacking zone and it eventually paid off as the Commodores were tagged with a hand ball violation inside the 18, with Chelsea McAllister converting the resulting penalty kick. That was the only scoring of the first half, but it was a half that produced Vergennes’ best scoring opportunity when the Commodores were thrashing around inside the 18 and Springfield keeper Brook Willey slipped off her feet. She had to scramble a bit to get back up, but her teammates covered for her and cleared the ball. “I think that was their best chance,” said Craig. Vergennes, understandably getting weary after the trip, simply couldn’t get the offense to fire up at all in the second half as the Commodores had just one shot in the final 40 minutes. “We certainly didn’t have enough offense here today,” said Vergennes co-coach Peter Maneen. “We just couldn’t string the passes together. We needed to be more consistent.” The second Springfield goal resulted from a Meghan Courshesne feed into the goal mouth were Kiana Nelson, up from her midfield slot, redirected it into the cage. “That doesn’t surprise that she made that play,” said Craig of Nelson. “She’s tenacious.” A takedown in the penalty area resulted in another penalty shot which McAllister also converted to make the final 3-0. It was the first shutout of the season for Springfield. Mill River will come into Friday’s game with a 13-1-0 mark including two wins over Springfield. The score of the first game was 4-2, but the Cosmos gave them a tussle in the second game, losing just 1-0. “We played them real well the last time,” said Craig. “I think we’ll give them a battle.”
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