Cosmos end 30-year drought

If you come knocking at Springfield's door, don't expect to be invited in. The Cosmos' defense slammed the door on Woodstock in the VPA Division 2 field hockey championship Saturday, racking up their 11th shutout of the season with a 1-0 victory.

   

2016-11-07 / Sports Cosmos end 30-year drought By TIM TAYLOR sports@eagletimes.com BURLINGTON, Vt. — If you come knocking at Springfield's door, don't expect to be invited in. The Cosmos' defense slammed the door on Woodstock in the VPA Division 2 field hockey championship Saturday, racking up their 11th shutout of the season with a 1-0 victory. Springfield field hockey won the VPA Division 2 championship Saturday. — TIM TAYLOR Springfield field hockey won the VPA Division 2 championship Saturday. — TIM TAYLOR The win ended a 30-year title drought. “I can't describe how this feels,” Springfield goalkeeper Aunna Parker said. “This is just amazing. I've only played for three years. I never imagined this happening. Our team, most of our team, has only played two years, so this is really great.” “Unreal, unbelievable and so deserved,” said Springfield co-head coach Kelley DeAngelis. “These are the best girls that we've coached and we're just so, so happy.” Cosmos co-head coach Lyndsie Perkins echoed those sentiments. “Honestly, it doesn't seem real, but it's just so incredible. These girls wanted it so bad and they deserved it more than anything, they really did. They were so deserving. They have worked their tails off, not only this season, but this is our third season with them and [since] day one they have worked their tails off. They deserve this moment.” The victory also showed what two schools can do when they work together. Springfield invited players from the defunct Windsor program to join them last season. This year, three of them — Bigwood, Ashley Wilcox and Meranda Keough — accepted and played an integral chapter in the Cosmos' success story. In addition to showcasing its usual defensive stinginess, Springfield also put the dual-school effort to work during a penalty corner in the second period in which Bigwood would score the game's only goal. Wilcox inbounded the ball to Springfield's Ericka Schoff, who passed it back to Wilcox just inside the end line. Wilcox crossed it in front of the Wasps' goal and during the ensuing scramble Springfield's Karlee Brown moved the ball toward the goal and Bigwood put it in the back of the cage with 19:12 to play. “I saw that there were a few shots that were going off, and then it just went to Karlee and she hit it in and I got the final tap,” Bigwood said. “It just worked out so well. From there the Cosmos protected their home, staving off a flurry of Woodstock corner attempts in the final eight minutes. The Wasps reeled off corners at 7:33, 7:19, 6:56 and 5:31, each coming up empty. With just over four minutes left, Parker came away with a key kick save. The Wasps moved in close again with about 90 seconds to go, but the defense didn't even give them a shot at the goal. Woodstock would get one final opportunity on a corner in the final minute of play, but Parker kicked away a right-to-left shot with 34 seconds on the clock to secure the victory. Parker wasn't even sure what she was thinking as the final shot was taken. “I don't even know,” she said. “I was just so nervous the whole game. I was just hoping I would stop it.” The Wasps controlled the early tempo, but the momentum shifted more in Springfield's favor in the second half. DeAngelis said the coaches reminded the players at halftime “that it was their game. And we've been saying that to them since the beginning, that this was their season. We have 11 seniors that we knew, and we believed in, could do it, and we just reminded them of that at halftime. Don't lose sight. You have come this far. We've known it's our time. Make it happen. Today's the day.” Statistically, the second-seeded Wasps held the upper hand, outshooting the Cosmos 10-3 while holding an 8-4 advantage in penalty corners. The difference would be Springfield's more aggressive approach in the second half. “They started going to the ball more, which, as the first half started and ended, it felt like their speed was slowing down,” DeAngelis said. “I'm like, 'you have to go for it. You have to get to it. They're cutting off our passes,' so I think that they were faster to the ball.” Perkins said it didn't matter whether the winning goal was scored by a Springfield girl or a Windsor girl. “We've talked about it as a group and we've kind of coined ourselves Springdor. We refer to ourselves as Springdor. We're one family, so it does not matter who scores the goal because someone in a green uniform did today and it's wonderful.” “It was just a team effort. It was the whole team. I just happened to get the goal,” Bigwood added. Rumors about whether or not Windsor will restart its varsity program next year have yet to be confirmed, but for now, all that matters is that 'Springdor' is the champion.