Claremont
After the goal, the play went up and down the field with Stevens senior keeper Tess Whitney and Mascoma counterpart junior Abby Duhaime turning every opportunity away.
The lone goal was a dandy, as four Royals were involved in the score. The play started with Alyssa Hammond taking the ball near midfield. Her pass went to Tori Sweet, who found some room to advance the ball into the circle.
Sweet pushed the ball into the middle of the field to Julia Fox, who one-timed a pass to Pushee, camped about five yards from Whitney, and she banged it home.
“I just let it go, and I was so happy that it went in,” Pushee said.
Stevens (9-6-0) entered the game as the seventh seed, while Mascoma (9-6-0) held the 10th seed. The teams met once at the tail end of the regular season, with the Royals winning, 2-0.
While Mascoma coach Jenn Hammond was delighted with the win, she said she felt sorry for the Stevens seniors.
“We know how they feel,” Hammond said. “We lost in the first round last year in the final 30 seconds.”
Hammond also was aware that while the only goal of the game was essential, her goalie was the backbone of the team on this night.
“She was awesome,” Hammond said of Duhaime.
Stevens had a particularly solid second half and challenged Duhaime repeatedly. The Cards had a 5-0 advantage in corners while keeping the ball in the attacking zone. Duhaime twice kicked out hard shots by the Cardinals’ Elyse Scott with her pads, saves that made whacking sounds like a baseball off a wooden bat. Then Stevens freshman Zoey Foote cleared on the right side of Duhaime and tapped a pass to junior Ashlee Brown, who tried for the far post corner. Duhaime again flashed a pad to kick the ball away.
“Gosh, I’m so happy for this team,” Duhaime said. “It’s been a long time since we have won a playoff game. This is a big night for us.”
Both teams entered the game playing well. While Stevens had lost its regular-season finale to Mascoma, the Cardinals had won their previous six games. The Royals had won their last four games, three by shutouts.
Like Hammond, Stevens coach Patty Deschaine felt sorry for Scott, Whitney and Emily Mudge, her three senior captains.
“This is tough on them,” she said.
As for the game itself, Deschaine felt that her team was as ready as it could be.
“We prepared for them the last three days, and it just didn’t happen,” she said. “I know one thing: We were beaten by a really good team.”
After the goal, the rest of the first half was like watching a tennis match as the teams went up and down, but the defense and the goalies held the fort.
“There was a lot of back-and-forth play,” Hammond. said
Both sides of the large crowd were loud and supportive, and the Mascoma following counted down the final 10 seconds to victory.
The Royals will be taking a giant step in their quarterfinal game as they have to travel to Pelham for a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday with the Pythons (13-0-1) who tied Winnisquam, 1-1, in their last regular-season game.
Pelham has posted 60 goals and gave up just 16. As good as Pelham is, Newfound is once again atop the heap, boasting a 14-0 mark and a 67-4 goal differential.