MANCHESTER, NH — Senior midfielder Andrew Wood scored three times in the second half, as No. 4 seed Trinity High rallied past No. 13, White Mountains Regional, in the opening round of the Division III State Tournament, Wednesday afternoon at Derryfield Park.
With the win, Trinity (11-2-4) will host No. 5 Belmont in a quarterfinal match, Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Trailing 2-1, following an inconsistent first half, Trinity regrouped and came roaring back. Wood tallied all three goals but the Pioneers’ attack was a 40-minute effort from their entire front seven.
”This team has consistently, when we’ve been backed into a corner, when we fall behind or face adversity they stay with the approach,” said Pioneers’ Head Coach Mark Papp. “They combine, play together, instead of one guy just trying to control everything. And that’s the sign of a good team.”
Trinity tied the match in the 56th minute. White Mountains (5-6-6) was unable to clear the zone following a corner kick. Pioneers’ sophomore Ray Voisine kept the ball in the box and slipped it to Wood, who dribbled past two defenders and beat Spartans’ keeper Landin Foss just inside the post.
Foss played a huge game in net for White Mountains, finishing with 12 saves, including a stop on a penalty kick. But as the second half wore on, Trinity’s attack became relentless.
The Pioneers took the lead, for good, in the 61st minute. Ntefeloudis Panos made a nice run down the right side and curled a crossing pass to the front of the net. White Mountains tried to clear but the ball wound up on the foot of Wood, who knocked it past the dive of Foss, giving Trinity a 3-2 lead.
In the meantime, White Mountains was unable to generate any time of offense, putting just two shots on Trinity keeper Tyler Charette in the second half.
The Pioneers got an insurance goal in the 78th minute. Again it was Wood, this time on a direct kick from 20 yards out that ricocheted off a Spartan defender and past Foss.
Trinity came out flat to start the game and White Mountains made it hurt. The Spartans drew first blood, just a few minutes into the game, on a goal by midfielder Pietro Banti.
“White Mountains is a good team with some good players. That goal was a nice finish from a nice pass,” said Papp.
Trinity got the equalizer in the 30th minute. Sophomore midfielder Evan Voveriis was fouled on a run inside the 18-yard box, resulting in a penalty kick. Wood took the kick and was stoned by a diving stop from Foss. But the keeper couldn’t control the rebound, Voveriis crashed from the left side and knocked it home to tie the match, 1-1.
“That’s something we work on, crashing the rebounds on PKs,” said Papp.
White Mountains was able to retake the lead just minutes later, when senior George Welch chased down a long lead pass, beating Charette (4 saves) to the ball and knocking it over his head and into the net.
