Critical weather conditions forced game officials to play four, 20-minute quarters instead of the traditional 40-minute halves, allowing players plenty of time to hydrate at breaks as temperatures touched the 90s at game time.

Eryn Doiron helped Mt. Blue (1-1) overcome the conditions, powering the offense by scoring a pair of goals, one in each half as the Cougars dominated ball and field possession, against Cony (0-2).

Mt. Blue applied plenty of pressure during the first half, outshooting Cony, 16-1, while a young Rams defense held off the onslaught for nearly the entire 40 minutes of play.

“We’ve had a couple of injuries that have forced us to work on organization in the back,” Cony coach Jeff Hersey said. “We are starting two freshmen, Maggie Vigue and Anna Stolt in back and they have down a real good job, helping keep us in games.”

Cony defended well until late in the first half when Doiron collected a loose ball, just inside the box, striking a left footed, curving volley into the lower right corner of the Cony goal with 2:53 remaining for a 1-0 lead.

“I felt really comfortable out there today,” Doiron said. “We have a lot of good players and they managed to get me the ball in a good position.”

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Mt. Blue funneled a large portion of their attack through the veteran player, who controlled the ball up front, threading seamless passes through the Rams defense for her teammates.

Doiron doubled the score with 15:23 remaining, taking a low pass from teammate Sierra Kiem, on the left, deftly evading a pair of Ram defenders before softly touching the ball into the left corner of the goal with the outside of her left foot.

As tough as the Rams were on defense, the Cougars were equally strong while setting a goal of keeping the ball away from goalkeeper Addie Schanz, who did not register a save in the game. Back-up keeper, Sarah McGhee took honors with one save late in the game.

“That’s our goal on defense,” Mt. Blue’s Sierra Hoes said. “We want to prevent our goalie from touching the ball.”

Mt. Blue’s defense of Hoes and Kayla LeGrand at wing back, Britlin Karkos at sweeper and Kayla Kenney at stopper played exceptional in the midfield, helping the Cougars take a 27-5 advantage in shots.

Mt. Blue’s Haley Caswell hit the cross bar twice in the first half, once on a header from Caitlin Kane and the second on a solo run down the right side.

Cony goalkeeper Autumn Sudsbury managed 11 saves for the Rams.


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