Sabers shut out Bobcats to advance in D2 field hockey playoffs

AMHERST – The Plymouth Regional High School field hockey team had been putting pressure on the Souhegan defense for most of the first half Friday, swing all the momentum its way.

So what did the Sabers do to turn things in their favor? They got a fast-break goal.

From there, it was Souhegan’s game to win, and the No. 8 Sabers did, beating the No. 9 Bobcats 3-0 in the Division II preliminary round.

Lizzie Callahan had two goals and Marina Lipson also had a goal for Souhegan (10-5), which will now face No. 1 Lebanon (15-0) in the quarterfinals Sunday.

“This was probably one of the best, cleanest games they’ve played all season,” Souhegan coach Sarah Hooper said. “Field hockey is all about momentum. We talk a lot about it at practice. What to do if you score first, and if they score force, how to break their momentum. It’s really important and once we were able to get that goal and kind of settle down and relax a little and play really clean field hockey.”

Morgan Chamberlain played well in goal for Souhegan and got plenty of help from the defense of Sarah Hurd and Mattie King.

Most of the game had been played in the Sabers’ end when the ball quickly changed directions. Eventually, it came to Callahan who easily beat Plymouth’s Taylor Lyford to put Souhegan up 1-0 with 19:42 left in the first half.

“We came out here and with that first goal, I don’t think we let down, but we had hoped to start out with a goal in our favor,” Plymouth coach Ashley Fleming said. “Having to battle back is always difficult. We were in control offensively and our passing was strong, we were getting the shots on goal, they weren’t going in. We needed one of them to go in and I think that would have turned things around in our favor.”

With the lead, the Sabers began to drop back on defense, but with about 10 minutes left in the half, they had a few corner opportunities in a row. Finally, after the fourth one, Souhegan got a goal when Lipson sent a ball into the circle, toward a crowd in front of the net, and it went into the goal.

“When it comes out like that, it has to go off two people’s sticks,” Hooper said. “The question was whether it was the other team’s stick or our stick. They said it went off the defensive stick.”

The lead could have been three at halftime, but Lyford made a great save with about two minutes left in the first, batting a shot out of the air with her stick.

Souhegan cranked up the defense in the second half, limiting Plymouth’s chances while continuing to push the ball into the Bobcats’ half of the field.

Plymouth didn’t help itself out much either.

“We tried to rush it too much,” Fleming said. “There is a difference between rushing and being quick, and we tried to hit it back up there when we needed to try to take control of it.”

Callahan finished off the scoring, getting her second goal with 7:24 left.

Now Souhegan will face the top-seeded Raiders, who defeated No. 16 Bedford 4-0, in the prelims. Lebanon allowed just two goals all season, outscoring its opponents 59-2. The two teams did not play in the regular season.

“Sometimes when you only know a little bit, you have a couple things to work on, but you’re not so focused on eliminating certain players or things,” Hooper said. “You’re able to just kind of play the way you do.”

Fleming liked Souhegan’s chances of pulling off an upset.

“It’s a good Souhegan team and they should be able to do well against Lebanon,” she said. “They’ll take it to them. Somebody needs to.”