Raiders advance with 12-4 win
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STEFAN HARD/TIMES ARGUS |
Toolbox
By KRIS MARTIN CORRESPONDENT - Published: June 4, 2009
EAST MONTPELIER – The U-32 Raiders downed the Lamoille Lancers 12-4 in the first round of the Division II girls high school lacrosse playoffs Wednesday afternoon.
Gabrielle Sikora, Alice Curchin and Lindsay Quenneville each scored two goals for the Raiders with Jennifer Swasey, Renee Garrand, Abbey Allen, Elea Becker Lowe, Katie Kreis and Amanda Cullum each tallying one. Rebecca Cochran helped out with three assists, with Brynn Cayia, Caroline Freeman and Beth Sturgis each adding one. Brittany Clark stopped 15 shots in net.
Across the field the Lancers' Hannah Gill had a hat trick with three goals and Georgia Roy scored one goal. Rachel Nieckarz handed out an assist while KC Billings stopped 16 shots.
The Raiders have plenty of players with the ability to put points on the board, but perhaps more importantly, they have the players who make the pass to get the offense in position to score. It's teamwork and a willingness to play a role that defines whether team can make a deep run late in the season, and for Raider coach Mike Gaydos, now is a good time to find out what his team can make happen.
Early in the game Lamoille's Gill put a pair of quick scores on the board making a timeout necessary.
"Lamoille did very well, their intensity and drive is excellent," Gaydos said. "They played a very intense game. They were doing a much better job getting groundballs early in the game, and their attack transition was great. It was catching us flat-footed. I think we were standing around wondering what was going on. I discussed during a timeout that we needed to get the ball. We needed to attack instead of waiting for something to happen, we needed to create the 'happening.'"
Connecting through the mid-field, the Raiders responded.
"Passing was good, but our ball control was a bit off," Cochran said. "They were able to stick to us and intercept our passes pretty easily. We need to refocus, and get back to what we needed to do."
Cochran also talked about how scoring wasn't her biggest priority. Instead she preferred to be playmaker, setting up teammates."We knew we need to get back in the game," Cochran said. "I like to be able to help, working as a team, and moving as one. Once we get into a game we connect real well as a team, and when we pass we build momentum as a team. It makes it easier to play because you don't get tired running all over the place and you're more effective."
Late in the first half, Cullum picked up a loose ball and rolled to the cage, firing a strike to give the Raiders a 9-4 edge going in to the half.
"Once we started being more aggressive things really started to turn around," Gaydos said. "The turnaround started mostly as individual efforts, but in the end it became a team effort. You look at a player like Rebecca, and not only was she involved directly in three goals, but she was there on many plays, breaking them up defensively, or making them on offense."
Rolling in the second half, U-32's Sikora rocked her pair of goals while the defense continued to hold fast around Clark in net for the 12-4 final.
The sixth-seeded Raiders (9-8) will travel to play the third-seeded Burr and Burton Bulldogs in the quarterfinals Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Lamoille ends its season at 3-14.
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