Bellows Falls field hockey seals three-peat, perfect season in rout
The Bellows Falls Terriers scored early, scored late and scored often in sweeping past Spaulding to the Division II high school field hockey state championship, 6-0, Saturday at UVM’s Moulton Winder Field.
The top-seeded Terriers (16-0-0) stepped up a division this year after capturing the Division III title in 2015 and 2016. They thundered through a 14-0-0 regular season, averaging over six goals per game, and swept through the early playoff rounds.
“We wanted to make a presence up here,” said BF coach Bethany Coursen. “The girls wanted to show what they can do and they showed them. They worked hard and never gave up.”
The Crimson Tide tried to strike quickly but the Terriers rapidly asserted their speed and possession dominance.
“The first minute or so, Spaulding did a good job of getting down to our end. Sometimes we tend not to get off the bus, but after that we just turned it on,” Coursen said.
It took just 2:55 for Bellows Falls to exploit its offensive prowess against. Stationed on the open side, Madison Streeter drove in the first of BF’s half-dozen goals.
“Usually when we score one right off the bat, we keep going. That’s what happened today. It couldn’t be any better,” said BF’s Abbie Cravinho. “It was awesome.”
By halftime, the Terriers’ Dani Marchica with 15:11 left and Molly Kelly with 4:01 remaining put No. 3 Spaulding (14-2-0) in a 3-0 hole.
Bellows Falls maintained an aggressive offense in the second half, while spacing goals by Kelly with 22:53 left and two by Cravinho with 11:17 and 0:13 remaining to wrap up their third straight title but first in Division II.
Cravinho said the 3-0 halftime never lulled Bellows Falls into a total defensive posture over the final 30 minutes.
“We’re taught that giving up isn’t an option and that we always fight to the end. If we fight, then we will win, we will come out on top and that hard work will be our talent,” Cravinho said.
“Our defense was solid. They did a really good job of pushing the ball up field, keeping the pressure on and helping the links out,” Coursen said.
Contact Free Press correspondent Ted Ryan at TedRyanVT@aol.com and follow him on Twitter at @TedRyanVT.
