MANCHESTER, NH – The records were almost the inverse of one another, with the Manchester Central-West High School girls soccer team entering Tuesday night’s home matchup with a 2-5-1 record, while Nashua South arrived at Manchester’s Gill Stadium with a 5-2 record.
The competition on the field, however, showed very little gap with the two sides.
Though the pitch was certainly tilted in South’s favor the first quarter of the match, with the Panthers hitting two posts and having another goal disallowed due to an offsides call, it wasn’t until the 11:26 mark in the first half that South finally broke through to take a 1-0 lead on a goal from Ella Bois.
That strike proved to be the decider in the contest.
“I think we got lucky in the first half … I think we were a little flat-footed that first 25, but then I think we kind of settled in and play was much more even,” said Central-West head coach Josh Bouthot.”They had a game plan and they used their speed to get some advantage and gain some opportunities and we just got unlucky on a free kick from them.”
The rest of the contest was a back-and-forth affair, with Central-West testing South’s mettle, but neither team was able to find the back of the net.
“We had some good chances, and I’ve got to give credit to the defense for throwing their bodies in front of the shots and getting back,” said Bouthot.
One of Central-West’s goals for the contest, he added, was to concede less corner-kick opportunities.
“I don’t think we gave up any,” he said. “So that’s mission accomplished right there.”
For South, first-year head coach Curt Dutilley said he was impressed with his team’s ability to control possession and create opportunities in the first half, as well as maintaining the clean sheet against a hungry Central-West squad the last 40 minutes.
“They kept their intensity up in the second half, and I think we got pulled a little bit into playing too direct in the second half,” said Dutilley, “but I’m happy with our effort because a game like that, you could easily walk away with a tie, so I feel very fortunate, very lucky to walk away with a win.”
Now, as Central-West’s moves past its notably difficult first-half schedule, which saw the team lose its first four contests against teams currently in the top seven of Division I, the team looks to continue its move up the standings.
“The beginning of our season was brutal, but these girls have been working hard,” said Bouthot. “Our goal is to be in the games we can be in and fight hard in the ones where we’re a little outmatched, but our season goal is to make the playoffs and I still think that’s an achievable goal for this group.”
Since the aforementioned difficult start to the season, Central-West has gone 2-2-1 and, after a tough road test at 6-2 Hanover at 4 p.m. Friday and then a difficult home matchup against 7-1-2 Winnacunnet next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., the schedule lightens up quite a bit.
In fact, the team has winnable matchups against 0-9-1 Alvirne, 4-3-2 Timberlane, 2-6-2 Londonderry and 3-5-2 Windham scheduled for Oct. 10, 15, 17 and 22, respectively, before closing the regular season at Exeter, currently 8-0-1, on the 24th.
South, meanwhile, looks to extend its current four-match winning streak when it hosts 3-5-2 Windham Thursday, then travels to 6-2-1 Goffstown on Oct. 10. The Purple Panthers then host 3-5-1 Dover the 12th and make the short trek to rival Bishop Guertin (9-1) on the 15th.
“We’re starting to gel, we’re starting to feel confident, and we’re playing well,” said Dutilley. “We feel like we can get into the semifinals, but you’ve got to play well to make that happen.
“We have to keep winning because our first goal is to get a home playoff game,” he said, “and then you get to the quarters, it’s anybody’s game at that point because everybody’s tense and tight, and then you’ve got to come out and play one really good game.”
Photos from Central-West’s Sept. 17 draw against Portsmouth. See a photo you like? Browse these and more for viewing and/or purchase from Cindy Lavigne’s Live Shots.
