Derryfield girls blank Raymond, 2-0, for third straight win

MANCHESTER, NH — Senior Sam Chappell had a goal and an assist – and very nearly had a hat trick – to lead Derryfield to a 2-0 win over Raymond High, Wednesday afternoon.

The win was the third straight for the Cougars (3-2-0) and avenged a 2-0 loss to the Rams (2-3-0) three weeks ago in Raymond. Head Coach Joel Hatin said his club has made great strides through the first month of the season but that there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“We’ve worked real hard in training and in the last couple of games, kind of re-constituting our back line, focusing on containing the ball, containing the pressure, working the ball up the middle of the field and then up to our wings so we can get some offensive opportunities,” said Hatin. “Possession for us has been a huge part of the game. We’ve been really working on adding to our elemental play and finding ways that we can wear teams down.”

Derryfield struck quickly, with sophomore Abby Steward putting the Cougars on top, off a feed from Chappell. It would stay 1-0 until Chappell got a foot on a loose ball in front of the Raymond net and scored an insurance goal with under two minutes remaining.

In between those goals, Derryfield held a substantial edge in play, keeping Raymond pinned on its own half of the field for lengthy periods of time. Chappell and Cougar mids Almedina Ahmetovic, Steward and Maddy Paolino dominated the center of the field, winning most of the “50/50 balls” and embracing the physical style of play Raymond brought to the pitch.

Chappell, awarded the game ball by Derryfield student assistant coach Lilly Losey, alternated between providing the front line of the Cougar defense and sliding upfield to assume the role of playmaker at the top of the offense.

“Sam is always our best player. She’s very good at distributing the ball throughout the field, either to the outside or up to the striker,” said Losey. “And you can always relay on her shot from outside the 18 (yard line). I definitely think she was the player that held our team together the most today.”

Derryfield enjoyed a 7-3 edge in shots on goal and 7-2 advantage on corners. But even as the Cougars dominated territorially, they had a hard time getting clean looks at the Raymond net.

“That’s something we’ll be working on in practice,” said Hatin. “I need to get a few of (the players) to be a little more selfish and take their shots. A lot of times they are too focused on making a pass when they have a shot.”

One player not afraid to shoot was Chappel. In addition to the goal and assist, she fired three shots that clanged off the crossbar of the Raymond net. Two of those came on free kicks from around 35 yards.

Derryfield keeper Bre McCabe had just three saves in recording the shutout. But with the game on the line in the second half, she came up huge. In the 56th minute, with Derryfield clinging to a 1-0 lead, Raymond’s Delaney Parker took advantage of a rare defensive lapse by the Cougars and got a clean look from around 20 yards. She hooked a blast that was earmarked for the top corner of net when McCabe made a leaping punch save to preserve the lead.

Derryfield will be back in action Friday, on the road at Monadnock (3-2-0), looking to extend its win streak to four games.