Lady Bears Hang Tough Against Powerhouse Programs

by Ken Brown

DANVILLE – The Danville-Twinfield-Cabot (CCSU) girls’ soccer team battled Division II Missisquoi Valley (MVU) to a hard-fought draw last week, before dropping a narrow decision to a red-hot Paine Mountain squad on the road.

Lilliana Fournier converted a penalty kick with six minutes left in regulation to help MVU salvage a 2-2 draw on the road against the Lady Bears last Tuesday.

CCSU’s Lauren Joncas struck first for the home team, burying a feed from Hazel Abetti for a 1-0 advantage six minutes into the match.

Kerri Campbell assisted Addyson Longway with just over 10 minutes left in the first half to even the match for the Lady Thunderbirds heading into the break.

Abetti scored unassisted to make it 2-1 CCSU midway through the second half and the defense would hold strong the rest of the way before Fournier calmly buried the penalty kick to send the match into overtime.

Shaneal Unwin made 10 stops for MVU, as they improved to 4-3-1 on the season. Leah Klark was a human highlight film for the Lady Bears, making 20 saves on the day. MVU ramped up the pressure in the extra period, creating several scoring opportunities, but Klark and the Lady Bear defense refused to break.

“This was an extremely hard-fought game by both sides, with both teams showing signs of dominance. Leah was fantastic in goal for us tonight. That said, every one of my players up and down the lineup gave me everything they had the entire game. I am very proud of them and hope that they are proud of themselves,” said head coach Spencer Morse.

Destiny Campbell and Emma Korrow tallied a goal and an assist apiece to keep Paine Mountain rolling with a 2-0 home win over the Lady Bears on Friday. After the two teams battled to a scoreless draw in the first half, Campbell finished a feed from Korrow in the 60-second minute for a 1-0 advantage. The dynamic duo switched roles 14 minutes later, adding an insurance goal for their third straight win.

Klark was solid again for the Lady Bears with 11 stops in the loss. Olivia Boyd recorded five saves for Paine Mountain to preserve their eighth shutout of the season. The talented cooperative squad made up of players from Williamstown and Northfield have vaulted up to fifth in the Division III standings with an 8-2 record. They have outscored their opponents 30-8 on the season.

“We just didn’t work our possession game very well against Paine Mountain. To be fair, we are fighting a bit of an injury bug, with several key players battling injuries. That said, we did a great job of hanging in there against one of the better teams in our division,” said Morse.

CCSU currently sits at 2-5-1 on the season and will look to improve their tournament seeding this week. They traveled to Blue Mountain on Monday and will brace for a pair of pivotal Mountain League match-ups at home against BFA-Fairfax on Wednesday and Hazen Union on Friday.