Somers Falls to Pelham

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On Wednesday May 6, Somers welcomed Pelham and the visitors quickly made their presence felt. The Pelicans scored in the first minute and set the tone with a 7-1 lead. Leading to victory, Pelham still didn’t get away so easily.

Somers pulled to within 14-8, but the Pelicans showed their wingspan in the fourth and went home with a 21-10 victory.

The game began with the first of many face-off wins by Colleen Sheehy. From there, Pelham set up, and Parker Koupal swing across the middle for goal one at 10:53.

Somers did answer, though. After Mia Paulmeno got a stick on Arden Keough’s penalty shot, the Tuskers were off to the races. Sophia Collins passed ahead to Paulmeno, and Shea Mullins did the rest. On receipt, the freshman refused to yield the sideline and went all the way to the goal.

Tied at 9:01, Pelham wasn’t impressed. Sheehy won the draw, and on the set up, she scored on Koupal’s pass from behind the net.

8:42 left, Pelham was ready to run some more. First, the defense forced a turnover deep in their own zone, and that left Brooke Green to go coast to coast at 6:30.

3-1, Sheehy continued her run in the circle. Three straight and Pelham took a 6-1 lead with goals by Green, Koupal and Keogh.

A face-off win to Sofia Conner did at least stop Sheehy. Unfortunately, the Pelham defense had their middle woman’s back. Hannah Kindig picked the ball off, and back the other way, Green snuck in an underhand bouncer to run the streak to six.

At 3:05, Kate Barton responded by winning her second straight draw, and her teammates paid it forward. Sideways actually, Amelia Marcus passed from the right, and Caitlyn Mayfield received in stride for a 7-2 game at 2:12.

Even better, Somers followed with a stop. However, Emma Donaldson opted to go long to escape, and Pelham made the goalie pay. Following the pick, Green got on the goal line, forced her way in and went low again to reset the lead to six.

Onto the second, Barton remained undeterred. She won another draw, and the offense took the cue. On the left, Mayfield spotted a cutting Conner and the 8th grader kept the game in reach.

8-3, Donaldson aired red it out again, and this time the itinerary was true to Bella Mancini. On the run, the attacker forced a foul, and the Tuskers had the chance to cut the lead in half.Not so fast, Scarlett Gristina had other ideas. The goalie went low for the save, and the Pelicans spread their wings. Keogh specifically, she went all the way down field and scored at 8:27 for a 9-3 game.

A momentum shift that was defining. Pelham scored the next three goals and took a 12-3 lead with five minutes left in the half.

Even so, Somers wasn’t giving in, but neither was Gristina. After Paulmeno forced a penalty, the Pelham goalie got the stop at 4:25 and the offense responded. Green again, the attacker stood perched behind the net, and not liking any prospects in front, she wrapped around. Worth the wait, Green made it 13-3 with three minutes to go.

Enough time for Somers to make a statement, Shea Mullins drew the foul. The middie lined up and sent her team into intermission with momentum.

A strip at midfield by Sophia Bernardi reinforced the point, and the passing game doubled down. Conner on the left hit Marcus cutting over the middle, and one overhand later, the score was 13-5.

Where it stayed, Donaldson made three big saves, and more airmail put Somers on their tricycle. Paulmeno received, passed ahead to Mancini and Mullins scored again for a 13-6 game.

In at 6:07, Pelham had Somers double taking yet again. Green wrapped around low, and an eight goal margin followed.

So Barton stepped up. She won the draw and the offense went on attack. Mancini on the left, the senior led Conner and her shot snuck under the crossbar at 4:09.

Of course, Gristina returned the favor, and Green was put on deck. Donaldson had the stop, though. The ensuing scramble eventually kept the ball in the Somers end, so Paulmeno took matters in her own hands.

Her overhand swat jarred the ball loose from Keogh, and seconds later, Conner was lined up for the free shot.

Converting to close quarter scoring at 14-8, the early fourth appeared to have the momentum continuing. Mayfield opened with a draw win and forced a penalty shot at 11:15.

Unfortunately, the post got in the way, and Green made no apologies. She made another bicoastal scoring run and sparked a seven goal run that sealed the victory.

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