Milford's Hannah Ladeau celebrates her game-winning goal in the Spartans' 3-2 win over Goffstown Tuesday.
MILFORD – The Milford High School girls field hockey team was having trouble finding confidence in its season-opener against Goffstown on Tuesday.
The result was falling into a 2-0 hole to the Grizzlies before Spartans coach Tracie Ibarra found a way to create some confidence for them.
After a few personnel moves, Milford scored two goals in the second half to tie Goffstown and then picked up the game-winner less than three minutes into overtime to give the Spartans a 3-2 win over the Grizzlies in the Division II opener for both teams.
“First half, I don’t think we were really ready,” Ibarra said. “We weren’t ready to play the type of ball game that we’re used to playing. It took me using both my timeouts in the first half, and it took me moving people into positions that they don’t normally play so we could have strengths in other areas of the field. With that, it gave us some confidence and that created offensive opportunities for us.”
Gillian Corcoran scored both Milford goals in regulation, while Hannah Ladeau picked up the winner and also assisted on the game-tying goal.
“Hannah Ladeau plays midfield and today I put her on defense,” Ibarra said of one of the changes. “What’s great about these girls is that they’ll play positions that aren’t their positions because they know it’s something that needs to be done.
“Gillian is a captain through and through. She will never give up on the ball. That’s why she hardly comes off the field. She stepped up and did what she had to do.”
[Go here to see more photos from this game.]
Milford controlled play to start out the game, but Goffstown recorded the first goal on its first opportunity at 19:09 of the first half. Momentum swung in the Grizzlies favor, and Goffstown made it 2-0 with 5:48 to go until halftime, prompting Ibarra to take her second timeout of the half and rearrange the lineup.
The Spartans opened the second half by pushing play into the Grizzlies’ end, and after a few scoring opportunities, Corcoran finally got Milford on the board with 12:02 left to play.
“At the beginning we had some butterflies,” Corcoran said. “After we got the first goal, it boosted our confidence. We know we can do it. It’s just getting to that point, to get our intensity up to that level to be able to get that goal. It becomes real after that.”
Overtime became a real possibility when Corcoran scored her second goal with 7:25 to go in regulation, deflecting a shot by Ladeau into the goal.
“We knew they were going to come out with fire and we just weren’t able to counteract,” Goffstown coach Jess Brown said. “I think we got caught off-guard and were more on our heels.”
Milford had a few chances to take the lead before the end of regulation, and the Spartans dominated play in the overtime before Ladeau scored at the 12:13 mark.
“I wasn’t too concerned when we went into overtime because these girls have some pretty good speed and they’ve been playing together for years,” Ibarra said. “They’re confident and they know how to push the ball up the field. You could see when I moved the midfielders back, we were able to push the ball and start scoring. I hope I don’t have to do that for the whole season, but it worked if I have to.”
Milford is back in action on Friday at Pelham.