MANCHESTER, NH – As Josh Bouthot works to rebuild the Central (and West) High School girls soccer program, his young athletes have gone through both figurative and literal growing pains.
Many of the players on this year’s squad have, in fact, fought injuries, while those who have remained on the pitch continue to battle quality Division-I foes.
“I mean, you saw the bench. I’ve got two kids on crutches, I’ve got another kid in a boot. I’ve got two out with concussions, so we’re just getting beat up,” said Bouthot following a 5-2 home setback against Nashua North on Sept. 18.
Senior goalkeeper Izzy Bachhuber, for instance, is currently out injured. In her stead, junior defender Taylor Morin has stepped up valiantly, said her coach.
Injuries aside, Bouthot said a consistent trait of his squad this season has been playing tight, especially early in contests against quality foes.
“Against Nashua (North), we got some good chances because we just decided to play up and be more aggressive in the second half. You know, high-pressure versus sitting back because you got nothing to lose down,” he said. “At halftime, and same thing happened against BG (a 4-0 setback on Sept. 9) we kind of got down and then, I don’t know if the switch flipped or what, because it was like, ‘okay, now we’ve got nothing to lose,’ and we played great in the second half. The ball was in the middle-third of the field a lot more and that created some opportunities for us.”
A prime example, he said, was freshman Jordyn Morin beating a defender late in the second half of the North contest. She was able to get outside, got a look at the net and sent a shot just wide that would have drawn Central/West within one goal with five minutes remaining.
“At least it gives us some life,” said Bouthot, “although a couple possessions later, we give up a counter (that led to North’s fifth goal) which happens, but overall, I was much happier with the second half. We’ve definitely had some bright spots.”
The schedule hasn’t been kind to Central/West either.
The six teams to defeat the Kings so far – all of whom sit in the top half of the D-I standings – – have one loss between them. Collectively, those teams hold a 34-1-3 at the time of publication.
Central/West’s lone victory thus far came on the road, a 4-1 triumph at Spaulding (0-7) in Rochester on Sept. 11.
That performance highlights hope for the Kings as their schedule eases considerably heading into the final nine matches of the season, though some challenges remain.
Next up is a winnable road clash at cross-city rival Manchester Memorial (0-6) this Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. With a victory, Central/West heads into the second half a 2-6 record with games against Nashua South (1-3-3),Londonderry (2-5), Hanover (3-3-1), Alvirne (0-5-1), Timberlane (2-6) and Windham (1-4-1) on the schedule.
“Obviously, you want to improve, but you know, what does that look like? We’re going to have more competitive games against teams we should be able to compete with as long as we don’t have a slow, uninterested start, like we kind of did (against North), where we go out there and worry about about making mistakes,” said Bouthot. “If we can go out and just play and be aggressive, we have some talented players up top. we can make stuff happen.”
Indeed, junior forward Nevaeh Powell – often double- and triple-teamed by savvy opponents – has all six goals for Central/West this season, and a solid supporting cast around her as well, especially when healthy, said Bouthot.
“I think, realistically, we just have to go out there and play hard and see where we end up,” he said. “We’ve got some games out there that I think we can win. And then others are going to be really challenging. So. I’m just looking for these girls to give us 80 minutes of consistent hard work.”
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