It’s always sunny at Mascenic homecoming, and the Vikings had plenty to be happy about Saturday afternoon as they beat rival Conant in field hockey and tied the No. 3 Orioles in soccer.
Up at the field hockey game, a second-half goal from Mascenic’s Ava Johnson was the day’s only strike, despite the Vikings’ constant offensive pressure. Mascenic started slow but was able to capitalize on Conant’s turnovers and penalties to earn corner after corner.
“I don’t think we came out right from the whistle,” head coach Selena Shaw said, “but then we turned around and we really played hard for rest the game and started to bring up the intensity.”
Conant keeper Tessa Spingola did everything but stand on her head in net, saving soaring birdballs and blistering wormburners alike.
“There was nothing wrong with how she played today,” head coach Jackie Brown said. “It’s hard when they have multiple corners and girls being left unmarked.”
Spingola made a diving save on Johnson’s first attempt in the scoring volley and rejected several more shots while horizontal in the goal mouth before the ball came back out for Johnson to put it away.
“That was a great play by Ava,” Shaw said. “She just stuck with it, stuck with it and it finally went for her.
Mascenic’s Katalina Davis got her first start in goal and finished with a shutout win, with Bella Knisley and Ella Pearson standing tall on the defensive line in front of her to keep the Orioles at bay.
Mascenic (6-2) has now beaten Conant twice this fall, normally enough for a season sweep. But this year, the Orioles will get one more shot at redemption, as the rivals added a third game in the series on Oct. 11 to make up for their planned contests with Monadnock after the Huskies chose not to field a varsity team.
“I expect a battle,” Shaw said. “They get up especially for us and we get up especially for them and it’s fun to have a rival like that.”
Next up for the Vikings is a home game against St. Thomas Aquinas Wednesday. Mascenic is currently seeded sixth in Division III’s 12-team playoff with five games remaining; undefeated Hopkinton is No. 1.
Conant (2-7-1) is currently the 11th seed and needs to close out the season with some urgency if they’re to stay in the playoff hunt. The Orioles have a must-win road game at Mascoma Valley Friday before finishing out the year at home against Mascenic, Hopkinton and Stevens.
On the soccer pitch, the Orioles jumped out to a 2-0 lead before some attendees had even finished their traditional homecoming barbecue chicken, as Noah Mertzic and Ethan Vitello struck early to put Conant up. But the Vikings, eager to snap their two-game losing streak, returned the favor in the second half, fighting through the migratory wind pattern to put together a pair of header goals to tie the game up at 2-2; that score held up through both overtimes and resulted in a draw.
“We talked this game up a lot,” said Mascenic head coach Andy Helliesen, “saying that this is a must-win – it kind of defines the season. And we were a little disappointed. They were a little disappointed in the tie as opposed to the win, but I’m counting it as a victory, because going down two-nothing and then battling against the wind in the second half and scoring two beautiful goals – it was a great thing.”
Joe Cocozella sparked the Viking second-half attack, making a throw-in assist to Wyatt Duval for the first Mascenic goal and then scoring a header of his own off a Corey Miller cross.
Helliesen said his boys played on their heels in their 6-0 loss at Campbell last week; he ran them through some NFL-style “foot fire” drills in practice to keep them on their toes, and made a few personnel changes as well, moving Miller up from center back to midfield.
“He was the perfect midfielder today,” Helliesen said, “because he knew that he needed to get back on defense – because he knows what it’s like to not have that support.”
Helliesen said the move was made possible by freshman Lucas Leroux, who’s emerged as a solid center back in his first varsity season.
Conant left New Ipswich unsatisfied after letting the road win slip through their fingers.
“This is not really the result we wanted, but it’s what we deserve, really,” Conant head coach Tom Harvey said. “We had them with two goals, but we didn’t defend well in the box. And this team, they don’t stop. They don’t quit. And at their own homecoming, they played us very well.”
Mascenic (2-6-2) is currently on the outside of the 16-team Division III playoffs looking in, but still very much alive with a few wins down the stretch. The Vikings are at Prospect Mountain Tuesday.
Conant (9-1-2) will now play Wilton-Lyndeborough (7-1-1) Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Jaffrey. The Warriors lost their first game of the season to rival Sunapee Friday evening.
Mascenic 3, Trinity 0
The Vikings shut out the visiting Pioneers for homecoming Friday night behind a six-kill night for Lyla Buxton. Annika Martel added five kills and four aces, and Kenzie Cormier made 15 assists.
Before the game, the Vikings dedicated a new scorer’s table to head coach Karen Gibson’s late father Orval Wirkkala, who passed away in April and would have turned 71 Friday night.
“A few of his character traits specifically have influenced my coaching philosophy,” Gibson said. “He modeled hard work his entire life and showed me what it means to really devote yourself to something. When he didn’t understand something, he would commit to learning about it so he could help people. He also wasn’t afraid to try something new if what he was doing wasn’t working well.”
Mascenic (8-1) carried a five-game win streak into Monday’s game vs. Sunapee. The Vikings are second in Division III behind undefeated Newfound.
Milford 3, ConVal 0
The shorthanded Cougars were shut out during their early game at Milford Thursday afternoon. Missing some players caused the Cougars to struggle to dig some tough hits and serves from Milford, coach Amanda Hinton said, and the Spartans captured the 3-0 match win.
Leading the Cougars were: Emma Rodenhiser, with nine successful serve receives, five aces, four blocks, three kills and an assist; Kendall Sullivan, with nine successful serve receives, an ace, an assist, and a kill, and Samantha Henderson, with an ace and 10 successful serve receives.
ConVal (2-8) hosts Fall Mountain Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. for their annual pink night.
ConVal 2, Pelham 1
ConVal grabbed a big win over visiting Pelham Friday afternoon.
The game was ConVal’s Pink Game in support of breast cancer awareness. Donations for breast cancer research were collected during the game, and the team showed their support with pink warm-up t-shirts, pink socks, pink field lines, as well as other decorations.
From the first whistle, ConVal came out strong, maintaining possession of the ball, making great passes, playing consistent defense all over the field, and working together as a unit, head coach Kelly Shirk said. Offensively, the Cougars had their strongest outing yet, posting 22 shots on goal, by multiple players. Juniors Hayden Kaltsas, Lily Heck and Makennah McPherson each had opportunities, taking seven, three and four shots respectively.
Junior Makennah McPherson was able to finish a shot by senior Molly Dishong around Pelham’s goalie to put ConVal up 1-0 halfway through the second quarter.
Pelham was able to even the score in the third quarter off a penalty corner.
Senior goalie Makenzie Anderson made two saves, and the defensive unit only gave up two penalty corners in four quarters of play.
With time ticking away into the fourth quarter, senior Natalie Tremblay was able to put one by the Pelham goalie to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead. ConVal was able to fend off Pelham’s offensive push in the last few minutes of the game to hold on to the lead and come out on top
ConVal (3-7) travels to Goffstown on Tuesday afternoon.