Ricker erupts, leads Nashoba to win
By Charles A. Villee |
PUBLISHED: November 7, 2006 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: July 12, 2019 at 12:00 a.m.
BOLTON — Nashoba Regional forward Kylie Ricker wanted to do something special for her final home game Monday night, and what she accomplished registered on the "Ricker scale."
Ricker scored four goals in second-seeded Nashoba's 6-1 thrashing of seventh-seeded St. Peter-Marian in the Central Mass. Division 1 girls' soccer quarterfinals, giving her 30 goals for the season and 93 goals for her illustrious Nashoba career.
"It was so important and it was our last home game," she said. "It's good to end on a good note."
Nashoba (15-1-3) advances to face sixth-seeded Marlborough in a seminfinal matchup on Wednesday.
St. Peter-Marian (12-6-2) held Nashoba scoreless through the first 23 minutes of play, thanks in large part to freshman goaltender Samantha Wittier, who made a tremendous save on a point-blank shot from Ricker in the opening minutes.
"She made a lot of really good saves out there today," Ricker said of Wittier. "She played a great game and she's a great goalie."
But Ricker broke the scoreless tie with 16:23 left in the first half, assisted by senior forward Kim Rich, as she beat Wittier to the far side. Ricker tallied a second goal with 12:54 left in the first half, assisted by junior defenseman Katherine Polido.
Nashoba tri-captain and senior midfielder Lindsay Trefry completed the first-half scoring when she potted a goal with 5:14 left in the opening frame, assisted by Rich. Nashoba had nine shots in the first half to only two for St. Peter-Marian.
Ricker kept up the pressure early in the second half, scoring just over a minute in, assisted by junior defenseman Angela Campobasso. Ricker's fourth goal was scored with 32:50 left in the game, assisted by the omnipresent Rich, who now has a Nashoba record 15 assists to go with her 13 goals for the season.
With the sizable lead, Chieftains coach Pam Vaughan took most of her starters out, but brought the seniors back in for the closing minutes so that they could bask in the glory of their final home victory.
"That was really nice, having all the seniors out there for the final few minutes," Ricker said. "It was nice of the coach to do that."
Nashoba's final goal, with 23:40 left, was scored by sophomore forward Jen Harding, assisted by junior midfielder Emily Huxtable.
Junior goalkeeper Madison Hawkins, whose goals-against average was hovering around 0.70, was at times spectacular. Hawkins carried a shutout until only 11:30 remained in the contest, when Guardian freshman forward Jess Berthiaume finally put one past her, assisted by sophomore midfielder Ashley Stevens.
Charles A. Villee