TURNER — Underclassmen made their presence known for the Poland boys soccer team Thursday against Leavitt.
Sophomore striker Cohen Demuth had a hat trick and freshman William Wallingford tallied a goal in the Knights’ 6-3 victory over the Hornets.
“Will is a freshman and he’s going to be a player here for Poland,” Knights coach Josh Kennison said. “I have had 19 freshmen come out. So, the freshmen are definitely pushing the team. Cohen is a sophomore, and we are very young, and we are ready to compete.”
Off the opening kickoff, Talen Langevin blasted a shot into the net for a 1-0 lead and an uncharacteristically quick goal for the Knights.
“Poland is not used to that,” Kennison said. “To come out and score like that in the first half, and in the second half, was pretty awesome.”
Leavitt’s Logan Berube evened the game five minutes into the first half, putting home a pass from Brayden Greenlaw.
Greenlaw gave the Hornets a 2-1 advantage 12 minutes later when he slid the ball past Poland starting goalie Dylan Cobb (three saves).
Later in the half, Leavitt goalie Vanya Bezhenar made a diving stop on a penalty kicky by Demuth.
“I was trying to go to the right side; the nerves really got to me,” Demuth said. “I have never really been good at penalties in practice. I overthought it, but it gave me the motivation to get the three goals.”
Four minutes later, Demuth notched his first goal when his shot in the box deflected off Bezhenar (six saves) into the net to tie the game at 2-2.
Breck Langevin intercepted a goal kick and booted the ball into the open net in the 33rd minute, giving the Knights a 3-2 lead.
Poland kept attacking. Nick Jamo chipped the ball to Demuth, who got control of the ball and shot it into the net for his second goal and a 4-2 lead in the 36th minute.
“He had a beautiful assist,” Demuth said of Jamo. “I am trying to get it on my feet to get a volley or bring it down with my chest to my feet.”
Wallingford scored early in the second half after collecting a service ball from Oliver Olson, giving Poland a 5-2 lead.
Berube notched his second tally when he fired a shot past Eliot Rioux (four saves), who took over for Cobb at the start of the second half, to cut the Hornets’ deficit to 5-3.
Demuth’s third goal restored Poland’s three-goal lead shortly after Berube’s second goal. Demuth said his speed was key on the play.
“I saw they were really slow to it,” Demuth said. “It’s my speed that really carries me. So my speed really helped me play.”
Berube’s and Demuth’s goals came in the seventh minute of the second half.
Leavitt had two shots hit outside the cage in the second half, and Rioux stopped a Greenlaw penalty midway through.
Alex Corey relieved Bezhenar in the second half and stopped all four shots he faced.
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