www.eagletimes.com www.rutlandherald.com
2016-10-18 / Sports Cosmos fall to West Rutland «» View full-size Springfield's Dakota Bushey (right) heads a ball away from West Rutland's Eric Maxham. — TIM TAYLOR http://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/SprBS1.jpghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/SprBS3.jpg By TIM TAYLOR sports@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — Springfield battled tough against VPA Division 4 power West Rutland Monday. However, it was just a few minutes at the beginning of the game and end of each half that proved to be the Cosmos' undoing in a 4-0 loss. “They played with intensity,” said Springfield coach Kate Moriglioni. “Team vs. team they did alright. They just had a couple of breakaways and they got some great shots. We gave up a couple of them.” The Golden Horde tallied their initial goal just four minutes after play started, scored another goal with 2:57 left in the game, and tallied twice in the final seconds of each half. West Rutland's roster is heavy with seniors, but most of the damage on the offensive end was done by sophomore Eric Maxham, the Golden Horde's leading scorer (29 of the team's 69 goals). The initial score came when Tyler Groh headed Bryan Maxham's throw-in to the foot of Eric Maxham. Eric Maxham would use his skill and speed to register a hat trick, tallying again with five seconds left in the half and adding his final tally late in the second half. “He's very fast, he's very quick,” Moriglioni said. “He finishes when he gets the opportunity,” West Rutland coach Scott Maxham said. “When we move the ball well everybody gets opportunities, but he doesn't miss too many of those.” “They found our holes in defense and they utilized it,” Moriglioni added. “They had a fast guy who had a great shot and can't take that from them. They played well.” His second goal came as he found a hole in the defense on a pass from Jacob Dow and got the shot off under pressure from a Cosmos defender and goalkeeper Andrew Towne. His final goal, also assisted on by Dow, came on a hard shot after two nice saves by Towne. After an initial block by Towne, Austin May collected the rebound, but Towne lunged to knock that one away as well. “He made some great saves,” Moriglioni said of the Cosmos' All-Marble Valley League keeper. Towne made several athletic saves throughout the game as the Horde controlled possession for the majority of the contest. He finished with 10 on the day. Ten minutes into the game Towne made a diving block of a Tyler Groh shot and was able to recover quick enough to gather in the ball. He would make two more quality saves near the 23 ½- and 22-minute marks ,and would block another shot near the 16 ½ minute mark. Early in the second half, Towne plucked a corner kick out of the air as West Rutland's Tyler Carrington went up for a header and the Horde's Jordan Johnson was waiting on the other side. He denied Eric Maxham two other times in the second half, and also got some help from Eli Lafleur when Groh and Eric Maxham tried to set up a two-on-one. West Rutland's final goal came from 25 yards out on a hard line drive from Bryan Maxham with just 18 seconds left to play. The Cosmos best scoring opportunity came when Kody Politza received a ball and began moving in, only to have Johnson come out of nowhere and disrupt the play. Johnson seemed to have a built-in tracking device for finding the ball and was a thorn in the side of the Cosmos' offense throughout the game. “He was hungry and he was out to do his job, and he did it well,” Moriglioni said. “He's a wall,” coach Maxim said. “The only goals we've given up in our last four games was when he was on the sideline with a bloody nose. He's tenacious. He will put a body in front of everything. We've only given up 10 goals on the season, and seven of them came before I moved him back to sweeper and two came when he was on the bench [bloody nose].” Less than four minutes earlier, Politza had attempted a header on goal, but was off the mark. Springfield's Garrett Benson also put the pressure on midway through the second half, but was unable to score. In the first half, the Cosmos' Dakota Bushey attempted a long shot near the 26 1/2-minute mark but missed left and Benson took a stab at it near the midway point, but was stopped by the Horde's keeper. The win moves West Rutland to 9-2-2 on the season while the Cosmos slip to 2-10. Springfield hosts Randolph (0-10) on Wednesday.
No comments :
Post a Comment
Please keep your comments polite and on-topic. No profanity