Bobcats’ momentum sinks Ashland for title

HAMPDEN – Momentum swings in low-scoring sports like soccer generally are gradual occurrences.

But faced with a challenge late in the first half of Wednesday night’s Class D girls’ soccer state final, the Richmond Bobcats needed just 20 seconds to turn the match back in their favor en route to a 5-2 victory over Ashland at the Weatherbee Complex.

Ashland’s Jackie Raymond had just scored off a pass from Whitney Flint with 6:03 left in the opening half to rally the previously undefeated Hornets (15-1-2) to a 1-1 tie.

But the Ashland celebration had barely ended when Richmond’s Melanie Schanck gained control of the ball shortly after the restart and drilled a 25-yard shot to the left corner of the goal with 5:43 left in the period to restore the Bobcats to the lead for good.

“We knew that if we didn’t get back quickly … we needed to get it done,” said Schanck, a senior forward who finished the season with 32 goals and 19 assists. “So we put a lot of pressure on them and I kicked it as hard as I could and hoped it would go in.”

Richmond (13-3) took that 2-1 lead into intermission, then broke the game open with two more goals in the first 8 minutes, 30 seconds of the second half to avenge a loss to Lee Academy in last year’s final and win their first state championship since 2001.

“That was the difference in the game,” said Ashland coach Peter Belskis of Schanck’s goal. “Your bubble just gets burst. You’re seven minutes going into halftime in a tie game looking ahead to having the wind at your back and with all the momentum, and they turned the game on a dime. We made a mistake and they scored and took the lead back. It’s just a tremendous emotional swing.”

Amy Russell scored on a header off a corner kick by Cheryl Knight just 5:22 into the second half go extend Richmond’s lead to 3-1, and Stephanie O’Brien gave the Bobcats a three-goal cushion 3:08 later with a shot from the 18-yard line.

“I knew the next goal after halftime would be the difference in the game, and if we had got it we would have been back in the game,” said Belskis. “But they have a lot of experienced kids in Richmond, they’ve been here for several years and our kids weren’t really used to that kind of situation.”

Shelby Hurley, who had given Richmond a 1-0 lead 9:54 into the match off a feed from the right corner by Schanck, added her second goal of the match on a breakaway with 18:17 left before Flint scored from close range after some good work near the net by teammate Crystal Cook for Ashland’s final goal with 5:13 remaining.

Nicole Tuttle, one of 12 seniors on the Richmond roster, made five saves in goal for the Bobcats.

“Even though we gave up two goals, I thought we did a good job in the back defensively,” said Kendrick, “because Raymond and Flint were everything they were advertised to be. They were fast, aggressive, well-skilled, so we knew we had our hands full.”

Sophomore goalie Taylor Baker made six saves for Ashland.

Flint, Raymond, Mindy Chasse and Sara Morton were the lone seniors on an Ashland team making its first trip to the state final since 1996.

“Our seniors have been tremendous all year,” said Belskis. “They led us to an undefeated season up until today, and you can’t do much better than that. We just got beat by a little better team tonight than we’ve seen all season. Richmond’s a great team, and I think their experience made a difference tonight.”