The Cavs varsity soccer team defeated the Souhegan Sabers, Tuesday night, by the narrow score of 1-0. With the win, the Cavs improved their record on the season to 11-2. The game was a very intense one throughout, with a cloud of fog covering most of the Souhegan field for the entire game game as well as aggressive play from both sides.

In the first forty minutes, Torrey Cook ‘17 worked relentlessly on the attack to break down the Souhegan defense, making aggressive runs on balls every chance she got. Although her efforts didn’t result in a goal in this game , Cook’s hard play on offense has been crucial to the Cavs success all year.

Late in the first half, the Cavs came very close to the first score of the game. On a free kick from Michaela Day ‘17, sophomore Maddie McCann just missed a goal on a header that narrowly flew by the right post of the Souhegan goal.

When Ellie Caswell ‘16 entered the game around the 30th minute, the Cavs offense gained another boost of energy. Caswell’s fresh legs on the field, mixed with the impressive work from HB’s forwards, resulted in several good scoring chances for the offense that had been working hard all game yet with no reward.

Olivia Cleghorn ‘17 has been very impressive in net this season for the Cavs. For most of the first half, her work in goal was minimal due to the strong defensive effort displayed by players like Courtney Ulrich ‘16 and Megan Olson ‘16. But as the end of the half neared, Souhegan moved down the field and was able to put two shots on net. Cleghorn stoned both of the shots and her efforts kept the game deadlocked at 0-0 going into the intermission.

After some rest, the Cavs picked up in the second half just as they had in the first, working hard on offense to get by the Souhegan D.

In the 61st minute, Magnolia Moskun ‘17 took control of the ball on HB’s side of midfield. As she was able to move into space, Moskun sent the ball over the heads of the Souhegan defense, directly to the foot of the streaking Sydney Brackett ‘16. As Brackett used her speed to get away from the chasing defensive players, she was able to get off the shot which found its home in the back of the net, making the score 1-0.

After Brackett’s go-ahead goal, the Cavs played shutdown defense for 20 minutes, disallowing Souhegan from tying the game. Holly Eisenberg ‘16 was one of the most notable of the Cavs players who played tenaciously on defense in the final minutes, fighting to keep Souhegan scoreless.

The Cavs were successful and the game concluded after extra time, 1-0.

With just three games left in the regular season, the Cavs look to continue their winning ways. The team takes on Manchester West on Thursday (10/15) at home, kickoff at 4:00.