Spartans go out on a high note
Yoder dishes out 3 assists in victory
ASHBURNHAM » A season of great promise, derailed by injuries, ended on a positive note for the Oakmont Regional girls soccer team, with a 3-0 win over North/ Tech, Thursday afternoon at Arthur Hurd Field.
Spartans head coach Randy Jepson told his team he wanted this final game of the season to be something special for the five seniors on the roster and two of those seniors played pivotal roles in the win. Striker Emma Yoder sparked the offense, assisting on all three of the Oakmont goals and sweeper McKenzie Whitney had one of those goals and anchored a defense that limited North/Tech to just three shots on net.
“Our defense played a really strong game,” said Jepson. “McKenzie does a great job back there. She doesn’t make mistakes.”
Freshman Molly Horgan and junior Ana Tourigny had the other goals for the Spartans (6-8-2).
Oakmont got off to a strong start this season, winning four of its first six games before earning a 1-1 tie against Mid-Wach C power Bromfield. But just as the team began optimistically looking ahead toward the post-season, the wheels came off. A seven-game winless streak effectively ended the team’s tournament hopes.
“We got bit by the injury bug, that hurt us,” said Jepson. “I feel bad for those players we lost, but it opened up opportunities for younger players to get a lot of playing time. And they improved quite a bit over the season.”
Rather than fold its tents, Oakmont dug deep and closed its season with wins in two of its final three games, including Thursday’s shutout of North/ Tech (4-10-1).
The Spartans got all the offense they needed just 12 seconds into the game. On the team’s opening attack, Yoder set up Horgan, who beat keeper Fianna McGinn (10 saves) for a 1- 0 lead while fans were still trickling in.
Oakmont nearly doubled its lead in the 31st minute off a corner kick from Yoder. Several players on both teams leapt high for the ball and a header knocked the ball past McGinn and toward the far corner of the
goal. At the last moment, North/ Tech defender Hailey Forrest stepped in to clear the ball away.
Meanwhile, the Oakmont defense was shutting down every at
tack North/Tech tried to mount. Stopper Ashlyn Breton dominated the middle of the field and triggered the Spartans’ counter attacks. Sarah Sicard and Sadie Silvia stifled the wings and Whitney mopped up anything that happened to trickle through, all of which made for a fairly easy shutout for Oakmont sophomore keeper Danika Burke.
The Spartans were finally able to post some insurance in the second half. In the 46th minute, Whitney took a pass from a Yoder corner and ripped a blast from 30 yards out that found the back of the net to make it 2-0.
Oakmont thoroughly dominated the second half, wearing down North/Tech and keeping play on the
offensive side of the field.
The Spartans tacked on a third goal in the 64th minute. This time it was Tourigney who was the beneficiary of a beautiful crossing pass from the left side by Yoder. By the time the ball reached Tourigney on the right post, the junior midfielder just tapped it into the wide open net.