DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Five goals from five different goalscorers epitomized what has been an entirely selfless season for the Bellmont Braves as they cut through the Heritage Patriots for a 5-0 win on Senior Night Thursday.
The victory gave Bellmont a 12th successive victory to round out the regular season and the Braves will be heavy favorites to defeat the rest of the field next week at the Norwell sectional for their ninth consecutive sectional crown.
Coach Steve Lee will have been impressed by the compactness of the Heritage defense in the opening half. The Patriots held Bellmont scoreless for 20 minutes, but it came at the expense of any real opportunity to counter attack.
So compact was the Heritage defense that neither Emily Barton, nor her eventual, late-game goalkeeping replacement, Mary Bleke, ever actually touched the ball when it was in play.
The Braves broke down that Heritage back line with outstanding play by Adi Knipstein down the right side, feeding a ball to Maggie Wilson for the opening goal in the 21st minute.
Lanie French fired a cross into the box a few minutes later and set up Lilly Alberding for the second goal of the contest and that’s how the two teams went into their halftime talks.
Knipstein provided the service for the third goal and it went to the first of three senior goalscorers in the second half, Carissa Selking, who had a nice, crisp finish in the middle of the box to make it 3-0.
Oni Krueckeberg set up the final two goals, feeding Hannah Hawkins and Gwen Laurent for the final 5-0 scoreline.
Heritage will play Canterbury in next week’s Norwell sectional, while Bellmont will take on New Haven. WZBD’s coverage of the sectional will begin with the semifinals Thursday.
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