Smith Voc Tops McCann Tech Girls in State Voc Final

NORTHFIELD, Mass. -- Erin Miller scored three goals, and the McCann Tech girls soccer team lost five players due to injury as Smith Vocational earned a 7-0 win over the Hornets in the title game of the State Vocational Tournament on Friday.

 

The top-seeded Vikings scored three goals in the span of 2 minutes, 30 seconds midway through the first half to take control of the game and tacked on four more goals after half-time.

 

McCann Tech (8-5-5) finished with more players out of commission than available with reserves as it took its worst loss of the season on the scoreboard.

 

One of the biggest losses came early on when Bella Lefevre, the only keeper available for the Hornets, left the game after taking a blow to the head in the eighth minute of play.

 

Lefevre made five saves in a scoreless game before she was forced to exit for good.

 

Elizabeth Therrien donned a pinnie and goalies' gloves and stepped in to take her team the rest of the way, making 17 saves in 72 minutes of work.

 

"I'm proud of Lizzie for stepping up to the plate," McCann Tech coach Lindsay Lincoln said. "She's a senior. She's a leader. She took one for the team today.

 

"She's never played goalie. She hasn't played since she was little. So she really stepped up. We really had no one to go int the goal as a backup. So I'm proud of her efforts."

 

Therrien stopped the first few shots she saw from the Vikings, but in the 16th minute, Smith Voc's Isabella Latourneau put back the rebound of her own shot off Therrien's hands to score the eventual game-winner.

 

Just a minute later, Kate Wolcott scored, and Monique Fredette cashed in on a turnover in the back to make it 3-0 with 22 minutes, 18 seconds left in the half.

 

The Hornets managed a couple of forays into Smith Voc's defensive end in the first half and generated their only corner kick of the game 10 minutes into the contest.

 

In the second half, between the Vikings' stifling defense, a growing injured list for the Hornets and a stiffening wind in its face, McCann Tech managed just about a minute of possession time on the plus side of midfield.

 

While Lincoln quipped that her bench looked like a "triage unit" midway through the second half, injuries have not been uncommon this fall for the Hornets.

 

"Kind of all year, and especially the last four games, we've been playing through some injuries," she said. "So I had confidence that the girls that needed to step up would step up. And they did. The score doesn't really reflect it."

 

McCann Tech will have another chance for a better showing on the scoreboard next week in the Division 5 State Tournament.

 

"We obviously really left it all out on the field -- blood, sweat, tears and all," Lincoln said. "So we just move on from this game. I'm proud of them for making it this far. It's an accomplishment to get to a state championship game.

 

"We have a couple of days to rest. The [state tournament] seedings come out tomorrow. We're not going to hang our heads. We're gonna move on."