Paine Mountain overpowers GM girls in soccer quarterfinal Green Mountain to lose eight senior players

By Christian Avard
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The fifth-seed Green Mountain girls varsity soccer team twice led in quarterfinal game against fourth-seed Paine Mountain (comprising players from Northfield and Williamstown high schools). But the Marauders-Blue Devils were too much as for the Chieftains and they ending their successful playoff run with a 5-2 win on Saturday at Williamstown High School.

According to Green Mountain Girls Varsity Coach Carolynn Hamilton, the match-up was originally scheduled at 3 p.m., but the Vermont Principals Association moved up the start time to 11 a.m. due to inclement weather. The VPA made the decision on Friday morning but the playoff pairings on the VPA website still had a 3 p.m. kickoff Saturday morning.

There was intermittent rain throughout the match, but the two teams played through it. The Chieftains got on the board first when Kim Cummings found the back of the net 18 minutes into the half. Cummings’ goal was her 33rd goal breaking the girls single season scoring record of 32 goals set by Paige Karl in 2019.

“Kim scored on a free kick and it was a nice shot from 30 yards out in the upper corner,” Hamilton said. “It was a real beauty.”

Paine Mountain responded with gusto. Minutes after Cummings’ goal, Emma Kurrow sniped a shot from the top of the 18-yard box and tied the score. At the 25-minute mark, Green Mountain took the lead.

The ball went off a Paine Mountain player in front of their own net and the ball rolled in. But that would be the Chieftains’ last goal of the game.

The Marauders-Blue Devils went on a tear. Piper Matson scored two goals for Paine Mountain and the Marauders-Blue Devils led Green Mountain 3-2 at halftime.

Matson’s first goal caught the Green Mountain defense off-guard with a blast from the outside corner. Her second goal came off a Paine Mountain corner kick.
Coach Hamilton went back to the drawing board.

In the second half, Hamilton moved one of her players from defense to offense with the hope of creating more scoring opportunities. The strategy backfired.

Paine Mountain exploited the Chieftains’ weak backfield. The Marauders-Blue Devils’ Becca Dupere and Chieftains’ goalie Luna Burkland raced to a loose ball, but Dupere got the ball first and she kicked it in for their fourth goal.

Matson scored her third goal of the game (and the team’s fifth and final goal) with three minutes left on the clock. Paine Mountain put the game away for good and Green Mountain’s playoff run was over.

The Marauders-Blue Devils had 26 shots on net, Green Mountain had six. Burkland also made 15 saves for the Chieftains.

“(Paine Mountain) was a very technical team and strategically, they played well,” Hamilton said. “But we stayed with them until the end and the score doesn’t represent how close it was.”

The Chieftains finish the season with a 10-6 record. They also lose eight seniors: Cummings, Clara Gignoux, Grace Tyrrell, Mackenzie Martin, Maya Farrar, Hannah Robinson, Eva Svec and Elizabeth Cavoto.

“The seniors are a great group of kids,” Hamilton said. “We’ll miss them because we’re going to be a lot different next year. We’re changing the whole team out.”