As they’ve done so many times before, Sierra Casagrand and Sara Marcotte combined for the opening goal against Marshfield Thursday night. This time, it only took them 41 seconds. Marcotte took a pass from Casagrand on the Lady Tigers’ first push downfield, and put the ball in the back of the net to set the tone for the rest of the game.
That quick opening goal was a sign of things to come for the Lady Tigers, who cruised to an 8-0 win on Senior Night. Republic honored eight seniors–including Casagrand, Marcotte, and Ashley Bandfield, who’ve all been with the program since its beginning four years ago. The other seniors, Melissa Maynard, CeCe Dickey, Sarah Ricketts, Brianna Gugliotta, and Danielle Brinegar also got significant playing time during the last regular season home game of their careers.
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“(They) put the program on the map,” coach Mike Hines says of the senior class. “Especially Sara and Sierra, losing those two goal-scorers is something that you hate to see, but I think they’re ready to move on to the next level, and I’m just happy we’ve had them for as long as we’ve had them.”
Marcotte scored her second goal just 37 seconds after the first, giving Republic a 2-0 lead with more than 38 minutes remaining in the 1st half. Marcotte ended the day with three goals.
Casagrand, who assisted on Marcotte’s opening score, had two goals of her own. So did Emily Jordan. And Lesleigh Fenton added a goal and an assist for the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Tigers have won two in a row after dropping five straight in the middle of the season.
“I’m very happy with the way we played,” says Hines. “After the Bolivar game, when we were able to out-possess Bolivar but still lost, I think the frustration brought the girls together. That was also the fifth game of a five-game losing streak. We had a collective agreement that that was enough. We discussed in practice the importance of keeping things simple.”
Hines says he made some on-field adjustments to improve the team’s passing efficiency in an effort to open up the offensive opportunities.
“I moved some players to bring Sara (Marcotte), Sierra (Casagrand), Emily Jordan, Lesleigh Fenton, and Jocelyn Carpenter closer together on the field,” he says. “If we increase our passing efficiency to 75-80%, and we can start linking together…up to 20 passes at a time, eventually teams get tired of chasing, and that’s going to create some gaps.”
Republic is back on the field Friday evening against one of the strongest programs in the area, at Springfield Glendale.