The Derryfield School’s departure from NHIAA Division IV left behind a power vacuum that only Sunapee High’s girls soccer team could fill. The rest of the division was powerless to stop the inevitable.
The Derryfield School’s departure from NHIAA Division IV left behind a power vacuum that only Sunapee High’s girls soccer team could fill. The rest of the division was powerless to stop the inevitable.
The top-ranked Lakers defeated No. 6 Colebrook, 6-0, in the D-IV state championship game on Nov. 6 at Laconia High’s Jim Fitzgerald Field, completing an undefeated season with an 18-0-1 record behind a powerful offense, a smothering defense and a talented senior class. Sunapee outscored opponents, 100-6, for its third D-IV state title in six years, solidifying its place as the team to beat in D-IV.
“We’ve been waiting for this one for a long time,” said Sunapee senior striker Sydney Clark after the championship win earlier this month. “You could tell. We put our hearts out there. We wanted this one bad.”
Sunapee played Gorham to a scoreless tie on Sept. 9 and edged D-IV challenger Newmarket, 1-0, in overtime on Oct. 7 and 3-2 on Oct. 14. Its other games weren’t close.
The Lakers won 15 of its 19 games this season by three goals or more, and nine of those games by six goals or more, including two 6-0 victories in the D-IV tournament, in which Sunapee outscored its opponents, 16-1.
Clark was second on the team this season with 22 goals and eight assists behind junior midfielder Maddie Austin, who developed into Sunapee’s No. 1 scoring option with 37 goals and five assists. Mary Grzanna (nine goals, five assists), Maryann Cousens (six goals, nine assists), and Katie Frederick (eight goals, five assists) also provided secondary scoring. In all, 15 different athletes contributed offensively.
“That’s the way we’ve been all year,” Sunapee head coach Myles Cooney said after the title-game win. “We have nine kids maybe with five or more goals deep. There’s a lot of kids that score, a lot of kids that work hard.”
Austin was ranked second behind Sharon Academy’s Mallory Lloyd in offensive statistics among Upper Valley athletes. Clark was ranked fifth and Hannah Cooney (nine goals, nine assists) was 10th.
Senior Faith Larpenter led a talented defensive unit that, along with sophomore goalkeeper Suzanne Rickard, allowed goals against in only five matches.
Cooney, the longtime Sunapee coach, has plenty of momentum heading into his 12th season with the program and the hardware to back it up, but he said it’ll be hard to replace this season’s senior class.
“Everyone takes it one game at a time, right? That’s the whole thing everybody hears, but it’s true the way you have to take it,” Cooney said. “It’s a team game. You have to have 18 kids on the same page all the time. That’s a real task. … We have some youth coming up. … We have the same summer program. Hopefully, we’ll get the same results. I don’t want it to (end).”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.
Schedule/Results (Final: 18-0-1)
Aug. 27 at Colebrook W, 7-1
Aug. 30 at Newport W, 2-1
Sept. 7 at Concord Christian W, 4-0
Sept. 9 vs. Gorham T, 1-1
Sept. 13 at Moultonborough W, 6-0
Sept. 17 at Pittsfield W 4-0
Sept. 21 vs. Concord Christian W 10-0
Sept. 26 vs. Moultonborough W, 3-0
Sept. 29 vs. Wilton-Lyndeborough W, 7-0
Oct. 1 vs. Pittsfield W, 8-0
Oct. 4 vs. Newport W, 12-0
Oct. 7 vs. Newmarket W, 1-0 (OT)
Oct. 11 vs. Epping W, 4-0
Oct. 14 at Newmarket W, 3-2
Oct. 19 vs. Epping W, 4-0
Oct. 22 at Wilton-Lyndeborough W, 9-1
Quarterfinals: Oct. 30 vs. Woodsville W, 6-0
Semifinals (at Laconia High): Nov. 3 vs. Profile W, 4-1
Finals (at Laconia High): Nov. 6 vs. Colebrook W, 6-0
Roster
#2 Kayleigh Bean Jr. D
#4 Danielle Usko Sr. D
#5 Sydney Clark Sr. F
#7 Kalleigh Durkee Jr. D
#8 Ziqian Hans Sr. D
#9 Maryann Cousens Sr. M
#11 Faith Larpenter Sr. D
#12 Ellie Frederick Fr. M
#13 Maddie Austin Jr. M
#14 Elizabeth Bennett So. D
#15 Jackie Balch Jr. M
#16 Mary Moynihan So. M
#17 Mary Grzanna Sr. M
#18 Katie Frederick Sr. M
#19 Lizzy Nichols Fr. F
#21 Lynnsey Trabka Sr. F
#22 Silvia Dalton Fr. D
#23 Hannah Cooney So. F
#24 Jessica Parsons Sr. D
#98 Suzanne Rickard So. G
Statistics (goals-assists-points)
Maddie Austin: 37-5-42
Sydney Clark: 22-8-30
Hannah Cooney: 9-9-18
Maryann Cousens: 6-9-15
Mary Gzanna: 9-5-14
Katie Frederick: 8-5-13
Jackie Balch: 3-1-4
Ellie Frederick: 1-3-4
Lynnsey Trabka: 1-3-4
Jessica Parsons: 1-3-4
Kalleigh Durkee: 1-1-2
Danielle Usko: 1-1-2
Faith Larpenter: 0-2-2
Elizabeth Nichols 1-1-2
Suzanne Rickard: 0-1-1