Lebanon
Peress, a junior, normally plays central defense for the Raiders, and her chances to score are usually limited to scrambles in front of the net on corner kick opportunities. The ball, she said, just never seems to find her.
That changed against the Pioneers. Peress located the ball and finished off a corner from Lebanon junior midfielder Zoe Soule with 16 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the second half, giving the Raiders all the offense they needed to improve to 2-2-0.
“I’m a fairly large person, so I get to go up on every corner kick,” Peress said. “Every corner kick, I’m like, ‘Come to me, come to me.’ And it never does. Today, it was there.
“Everyone gave me a hug because everyone kind of knows (it was my first),” she added. “Now, it’s time for more.”
Second-year Lebanon head coach Breck Taber said he sees progress from a group more comfortable with — and perhaps more aware of — expectations. The result is an ability to turn a sloppy first half into a much stronger second half, to turn a slow start into a victory.
“I think that comes from the girls believing more in their ability,” Taber said. “And it’s demanding more out of each other and themselves. They know they’re a good team. They know they can play better than they sometimes do. It’s just a matter of getting it out of each other and getting each other to step up.”
Such was the case against a Trinity team that left the field 0-4-0 and still looking to score its first goal this season.
Throughout the first half, the Pioneers applied pressure on Lebanon’s defense and found space through the midfield, forcing Raider freshman goalkeeper Sally Rainey to make critical saves early. Rainey finished the half with five stops, while the Raiders entered the break with only four shots on goal.
The second half was a different story, with the Raiders pressuring before Peress netted her debut goal. Lebanon had seven shots, five on target, in the second half. Rainey needed to make only one save in the final 40 minutes.
For Taber, the tale of two halves has become a multi-game dilemma. It didn’t help that thunder and lightning twice forced both teams to vacate the field for 30 minutes. But he’ll take it if the Raiders find a way to win against teams that, on paper, they should beat. That’s a sign of progress for a squad trying to build on a 4-12-0 record from a year ago.
“That’s hard to do,” Taber said. “Warm up, stop and then ask them to turn it back on. … They played well. We’ve just got to get them to play in the first half like they do in the second half. It’s been like that every game.
“We were starting to win balls on punts and kicks, which we weren’t even challenging in the first half,” he added. “Our defense was winning balls in the midfield instead of letting them get the ball and turn. Just an all-around better effort.”
Lebanon started the season with losses to Bow (1-0 on Aug. 26) and John Stark (3-0 on Aug. 29). Tuesday’s victory followed a 3-0 shutout of Kearsarge from last Thursday. The Raiders will have their biggest test to date on Friday night against Hanover High (6:30 p.m.).
“Our whole team, defense and offense, has improved,” Peress said. “I think technically, our footwork and stuff, has gotten significantly better. Pretty much every day in practice, Breck is like, ‘Touches. We need to get our touches in. Everything’s about touches.’ It’s helped us a lot.”
Taber is encouraged by his team’s future. This year’s squad has only three seniors — midfielder Cecilia Webber, forward Shelby Hanks and defenseman Xandra Wisnefsky — with a large junior class, a talented sophomore group and a versatile freshman goalkeeper in Rainey, who looked beyond her years against the Pioneers.
Taber hopes the formula is enough to put Lebanon back in the D-II playoff picture.
It helps when the Raiders get goals from unexpected sources.
“I think last year was definitely a transition year from one coach to another,” Peress said. “Two completely different coaching styles. So last year was very much trying to get the old out and in with the new. This year, we’ve had it for a year. It’s there.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.