BEDFORD, N.H. — This season’s NHIAA Division III girls soccer state championship might have featured the same programs and been played at the same venue as last year, but the result this time around was markedly different as Stevens High fell short in its bid for a repeat, 3-0, against Raymond High at Bedford High School on Saturday.
Behind a two-goal performance from sophomore Kylie Carr, the No. 4-ranked Rams avenged last year’s finals loss to the No. 2-ranked Cardinals, who made their third straight appearance in the D-III championship.
“I think you can put a lot of spins on it, and you can say a lot of fancy words. Tonight we were just beaten by a team that was better than us,” said Stevens head coach Tim St. Pierre.
“They were better than us tonight. I don’t think they’re better than us all the time. You know, we were better than them a couple of times in the past, and we won, and we should have. And tonight, they were a little bit better than us. It really was less about us and more about them,” he added.
For St. Pierre, the difference on Saturday was clear — Raymond’s athleticism. An advantage that was made more evident on a large field and in wet weather.
“We had to play a little bit better than they had to because they could survive on athleticism,” he said, acknowledging that the Rams win was deserved.
Later adding, “But at the end of the day, you know, they’re just faster in transition. They’re faster going forward. It’s really hard for us to make up for that line of speed.”
The Cardinals’ head coach also noted that nerves may have played a role. “Which you would think, you know, you play here enough that you don’t have nerves, and that’s just insane — You’re playing for something meaningful. You’re going to have nerves,” he said.
From the opening whistle, there was some nice action between the squads, but the Rams proved to be the team that executed on offense.
Raymond struck first with 18:34 remaining in the half after Carr maneuvered around a Cardinals defender, who was also trying to track down a ball the Rams sent up from before midfield. The sophomore got off a clean shot and finished it right under junior keeper Raegyn Brothers’ left hand to give Raymond a 1-0 lead.
The Rams built on their lead about 10 minutes later as the Cardinals’ offense struggled, especially after senior standout Faith Norton was sent to the sideline after a yellow card with about 11 1/2 minutes remaining in the first half.
With around 8 1/2 minutes remaining in the half, Carr came up huge for her team again, but not as a goal scorer.
Rams’ junior Isabella Gott found Carr open around midfield, and the sophomore ran down the middle of the pitch before breaking to the right side of the 18-yard box, evading three Cardinals.
Carr dribbled all the way down to the goal line and crossed the ball, which ricocheted off a Cardinals defender to Gott’s feet inside the six-yard box.
The junior’s initial shot deflected off the same Stevens defender back over to Carr, who had just come back inbounds and fired it off Brothers for a rebound that Gott cleaned up to put the Rams ahead 2-0.
About five minutes later, Raymond’s lead increased to three off a perfectly executed corner kick.
Senior Eleanor Brewitt sent the ball short off the corner to senior Gabrielle Ledoux, just to the right of the 18-yard box, who then sent it to Carr, who headed it in.
Raymond’s 3-0 lead lasted into halftime and held for the rest of the contest, as the final 40 minutes were scoreless. With the Rams protecting their lead, Stevens could not muster enough offense to mount a comeback.
Despite the loss, St. Pierre was proud of his squad and credited them not only for what they accomplished but how they did it.
“The kids have had a lot of success, but they had a lot of success doing it the right way: bootstrap, blue-collar, hard work,” he said.
