Coe-Brown survives STA scare
By Mike Whaley, Foster's Daily Democrat, Dover, N.H. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The Bears (14-0) scored three goals in the first 23 minutes Friday -- two of the three put in by
But the Saints did not fold.
In the second half, Coe-Brown unraveled a bit. Nowland was assessed a yellow card 11 minutes in, the Bears wallowed in the midfield, and STA, taking the momentum, eventually cut the lead to one in the 59th minute. On a corner kick, Eames handled a short passed, tight-roped the end line and sent the ball to the middle of the box where freshman
"We lost the middle (of the field)," Nowland said. "We just got lazy on defense, and took the other team for granted. We usually control the middle, but they controlled the middle today."
The Saints had several good chances right after that to tie the game up, but
Eames followed that up with another golden chance, but could not convert.
"We started to control the game near the end of the half," said STA coach
St. Thomas almost did just that. Almost, but not quite.
Coe-Brown's
The Bears also had a great chance minutes into the second half when Noah Wajtkowski had a rush to the left of the box, but his blast was right at Williams, who made the save.
Williams started the day in goal for the JV team. When starting goalie
Williams ended with nine saves, while LeBlanc had three saves for the Bears.
"Our fabric fell apart and the rhythm was missing," said Coe-Brown coach
Nowland completed his hat trick in the 78th minute, taking a pass from Dunkerley and, finding himself sky-blue open, he put a hard shot in to the upper left-hand corner for some much needed insurance.
"Me, too, actually," Nowland said when he was asked if he was surprised to be so open for the shot. "I thought there was going to be at least two on me. That (goal) relieved the stress off the defenders, the other team came down, and I knew the game was over."
Coe-Brown came out like gang busters. Dunkerley scored in the fourth minute, followed by two goals from Nowland in the eighth and 23rd minute.
Nowland's first goal came several minutes before he collided with Crowley inside the 18 as the two challenged for a 50/50 ball. The ball was not controlled and there was contact. Crowley did not get up, experiencing a seizure. The game was delayed 20 minutes while an ambulance was summoned to take Crowley to a hospital in
Coe-Brown also it its own injury issues. Senior forward
In addition to Crowley's injury,
STA hosts Manchester West Tuesday, while Coe-Brown visits Trinity the same day, and then hosts Oyster River next Friday.
The Saints need to win their two final games and then need some help to make the playoffs.
Coe-Brown, even with losses in their final two games, can finish no worse than second. That means they will get a bye for the first round of the 14-team D-II playoffs.
"Maybe when we went up 3-0 we got a little to complacent," Gompert said. "And credit to their JV goalie, he played a good game. He was quick. ... We were worried about the refs, we were worried about the other team talking. We've got to be more resilient than that. We know stating next week with Trinity and Oyster River, who are third and fourth, that we're looking at this as the start of the playoffs."
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(c)2014 the Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, N.H.)
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