Goffstown field hockey rallies late to knock off Sanborn

GOFFSTOWN - The regular season might not be a week old, but Jess Brown has already been stressing to the Goffstown High School field hockey team the importance of being aggressive inside the circle.

It paid off Thursday, as the Grizzlies scored two goals in the final 10 minutes by going after rebounds, and came away with a 3-1 win over Sanborn in Division II action.

Alyssa Gabbidon scored all three goals for Goffstown (1-1) and Makayla Strickulis assisted on two of them, as the Grizzlies overcame a momentum-changing goal by the Indians early in the second half to get their first win of the season.

"I think it’s critical mentally, coming off (a 2-0 loss) at Kennett, which is a hard first game," Brown said of getting the win. "For us to not have scored in the last game and to come and score three (against Sanborn) was critical for us to feel like we have that movement and momentum. That was big for us.

"We keep working on having pressure on pads even after the shot so that second and third opportunity is there. We did a better job of getting that second shot."

Both Gabbidon's goals in the second came after Sanborn goalie Izzi Giles made the initial save but the defense was unable to clear the circle. Giles finished with seven saves for the Indians (0-2).

Krystiana Stefanille had the lone goal for Sanborn, knocking home a pass from Sophia Lang off a corner with 7:11 gone in the second half. That tied the game 1-1, after Gabbidon had given Goffstown the lead with just 2:37 to play before halftime.

"We came off with the goal, so it made us go harder," Goffstown junior Grace Taylor said. "I think we started off the first half kind of slow moving, but after that first goal, we picked it up a little bit and got more intense."

But coming out of halftime, that momentum swung Sanborn's way, as the Indians increased the pressure on Goffstown's defense. Moments before her goal, Stefanille had a similar opportunity off a corner, but couldn't finish.

"With a doubt, we lost that (momentum)," Brown said. "Halftime did put an end to momentum and I think we got caught in that opening stretch. They were able to finish. It’s hard to be back at that leveled game, but then I thought we did a nice job of settling."

Goffstown started to get the ball into the circle consistently, setting up opportunities on corners, but couldn't capitalize. Brown took a timeout with 15:59 left in the game and tried to refocus the Grizzlies.

"It had to be stronger, it had to be smarter and it had to be more intense," the coach said. "We knew what we had to do, but it seemed like we were spending time watching. We had to really make our plays count and be smart with where we placed the ball and where we went after the ball. I think they did a great job of responding to that."

On the Grizzlies' fifth corner of the second half, Gabbidon controlled a rebound just beyond the outstretched leg of Giles, and despite having her shot deflected by Abby Brown, it found the back of the net to make it 2-1 with 8:23 to play.

Sanborn came right back after the goal, and appeared to have an opportunity to tie the game back up, but a call against the Indians ended the threat. Gabbidon's third goal with 3:55 remaining put the game away.

"We communicated more and spread," Taylor said. "We knew where we were supposed to go and knew how they played. We were playing more intense. I think we’ll go harder and be better going into the next game just having the win under our belt."