Girls Soccer: Merrimack blanks Manchester Memorial 9-0

BEDFORD, NH – “We’re a young team and we’re still learning,” Memorial High School Girls’ Soccer Coach Nick Gardner said before Tuesday’s game vs. Merrimack at Bedford’s Back River Sports Complex. “We’re learning ball control. We can’t keep kicking the ball downfield and then running after it.”

Keeping that in mind, the Girl Crusaders did show improved ball control but they ran into another buzzsaw in the Merrimack Girl Tomahawks. Their nine goals were distributed among seven different players with midfielder Bella Saxon turning a hat trick.

Saxon got the scoring started at the four-minute mark after peeling the ball off a defender and burying her left-footed kick high in the net. She concluded her hat trick at the 18-minute mark of the second half off a strong crossing setup just in front of the goal.

A textbook goal for the Tomahawks came at the 24-minute mark of the first half as Ava Kozinski set up midfielder Brooke Basoli to make the score four-zip.

Memorial finished the game strong, something to be noted as their lack of subs found midfielder Torle Adume continued to play despite a mildly-sprained ankle. They had several scoring opportunities in the last fifteen minutes, perhaps their best of the year coming from a strong shot on net after a hand violation by Saxon.

Midfielders Jenna LaBerge and Payton Moran were more aggressive on defense and Memorial failed to clear all but one corner kick. That came at the six-minute mark of the first half as Tomahawk forward Cara Sullivan scored off a rebound.

“We distributed the ball well,” Merrimack Coach Amber Murphy said after the game. “We’re working on cohesiveness.”

Murphy stated the team’s goal as making the State’s Division 1 Final Four.

Memorial plays at home Thursday night vs. Hanover. Merrimack has a full week off.