Algonquin eases past Lady Patriots

TOWNSEND — On Tuesday night of last week, the North Middlesex girls soccer team was looking to pull off what would have been a major upset. However, Algonquin had different ideas. The Lady Tomahawks, owners of a 9-1-2 record, showed why they are one of the favorites in the upcoming Division I District tournament by jumping out to a 3-0 halftime lead en route to a 5-0 victory at the John E. Young Memorial Field.

“You know, I actually thought we played pretty well, but sometimes even a good effort isn’t enough,” said Lady Patriots coach Charlie Valacer. “We did some good things, and I thought we were OK defensively. Julia Murray played well in net; there were just some extremely well-placed shots tonight. Give Algonquin credit, they are very talented and well coached.”

Early on, the Lady Tomahawks controlled the flow of play, but Murray kept them in check. The junior goalkeeper came up with a pair of saves in the game’s opening minutes to keep the game scoreless.

Eventually though, Algonquin broke through just over 11 minutes into the game. Off a long throw-in, Lucy LeBlond controlled the ball and flicked a pass towards the middle of the penalty area to a waiting Michaela Horne, who one-timed a chip shot just under the crossbar to make it a 1-0 game.

Just over six minutes later, the Lady Tomahawks doubled their lead. Emily Dahlstrom sent a pass to the right side to LeBlond. A quick touch pass by LeBlond found its way back to Dahlstrom who lined a shot into the top left corner from just outside the box, pushing the advantage to 2-0.

At the 28:20 mark, Dahlstrom struck again for Algonquin. LeBlond made a run down the middle of the field before sliding a pass down the right side to Dahlstrom, who flicked a left-footed shot inside the left post from 15 yards out to make it a 3-0 contest.

Murray came out with six saves in the first half to keep North Middlesex in the game. Along with their solid offense, the Lady Tomahawks did a great job defensively, limiting the Lady Patriots to just two shots on target.

In the 57th minute, Alongquin was back at it again, adding another tally to the sheet. Sara Kate Matthews took over in the midfield for LeBlond and played the role of playmaker quite well, sending Amanda Shea down the left side with a great lead pass. Shea went one-on-one with the goalkeeper before sliding a shot just inside the left post for a goal.

The scoring came to an end just under five minutes later as Matthews picked up another assist. This time Matthews came away with control of the ball after a scramble in front of the net and sent a pass over to Kendal Sweeney, who lined a shot inside the right post from 12 yards out to account for the 5-0 final.

“I thought Julia was solid in net (11 saves) and we got good efforts from Lauren Sheehan, Kim Morgan and Alyssa Robinson,” said Valacer. “We did what we could tonight, but it wasn’t enough.”