Dukes leads Cosmos over Slaters

Alisha Dukes took the ball off the pad of Fair Haven goalie Keliani Pellerin and touched it into the goal to break a 1-1 deadlock and power the Springfield Cosmos to a 2-1 sudden victory over the Slaters in a Marble Valley League field hockey dandy Tuesday.
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Published September 30, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Dukes leads Cosmos over Slaters By CHUCK CLARINO CORRESPONDENT FAIR HAVEN — Alisha Dukes took the ball off the pad of Fair Haven goalie Keliani Pellerin and touched it into the goal to break a 1-1 deadlock and power the Springfield Cosmos to a 2-1 sudden victory over the Slaters in a Marble Valley League field hockey dandy Tuesday. With the goal, that came 1:49 into the 7-on-7 overtime, the Cosmos flooded onto the field celebrating wildly while the Slaters maintained composure despite suffering their eighth-straight loss without a victory to their credit. But Pellerin could hardly be faulted for the loss, she played brilliantly in goal, notching 11 saves on 13 shots. She stood tall and was an unwavering bulwark in the second half with her team down 1-0, stopping seven shots as the Slaters worked back. Pellerin and her defense also successfully defended, led by Kaitlin Pellerin, seven corners in the second half. But in field hockey the ball can take funny bounces and while the Cosmos were applying pressure early in the overtime period, Pellerin had aggressively deflected a cross but it went right to the stick of Dukes, who produced the game winner. “When you play 7-on-7 it changes the whole game,” Fair Haven co-coach Jen Clement said. “I thought it was an awesome game and it’s going to be fun playing them again next week.” The game was played in the pelting rain but on a sand-based field that held up well. Right from the opening, Springfield was the more aggressive team. The Cosmos flowed to the ball well and spent great chunks of time in the Fair Haven end, particularly in the circle. Emilia Battista was a force in moving the ball upfield and was the top player in the midfield. Her strong stick work and ability to carry the ball at full speed and use good passes set up many solid scoring chances as the Cosmos attacked. One of those quality chances turned into a goal. At 11:12 the Cosmos were in the Slater circle and pressing for a goal. The Slater defense was stout but Emily Therrien was able to get the ball over to Nicole Blackwood, who apparently scored the goal to give the Cosmos a 1-0 lead. The goal was unclear as both sets of coaches thought it had come off the foot of a Cosmo player. But the referee closest to the play upheld the goal. Fair Haven had trouble sustaining good attacks but the Slaters sparked up close to the intermission and put some pressure on the Cosmos’ goal manned by Aunna Parker. The Slaters carried over that spark into the second half with Briley Blackbird, Emmanaline Lipka and Megin Eaton flooding the circle. But the shots were limited by a Cosmo defense that featured strong play by Karlee Bozoun, Kelsey Gould and Katie Masure fronting Parker in goal. Springfield, however, continued to attack. During one four-minute stretch early in the second half, the Cosmos pressured with four successive corners. But the Slaters kept at it. Strong play from Reilly Howard and Makayla Ackert in the midfield turned the Springfield attacks around and put the Slaters on the offensive. Finally the Slaters broke through with 6:27 remaining as Lipka was able to get off a shot that was true and got past Parker to equalize the game. The goal fired up the Slaters but the Cosmos were equal to the task and kept the game at 1-1 until the horn sounded ending regulation. Springfield was able to get an early push in the overtime and put immediate pressure on goal, resulting in the game winner by Dukes. “We said at the half that we had to capitalize more on our opportunities,” Springfield co-coach Lyndsie Perkins said. “From other games we’ve played I don’t think we were going to the ball as much as we have, not hustling as much as we could have. “It’s nice to win a 7-v-7 game although it’s very nerve-racking. But in the end it all worked out.” Springfield improved to 4-3-1 and hosts Burr and Burton Friday, while the 0-8 Slaters point to a rematch with the Cosmos on Tuesday in the Machine Town.