BY SAPNA PATHAK
Peter Lally did what he was supposed to. Huddling with his players, the 35-year veteran of high school soccer said the words he knew would comfort his team. He’s just not sure when his players will hear his message.
Ranked No. 1 with a 15-0-1 record entering the tournament, Manchester Central’s girls soccer team saw its season come to an abrupt end in a 2-1 quarterfinal-round loss to No. 8 Pinkerton Academy on Friday, Oct. 26. The Little Green fell in double overtime.
“It’s disappointing and upsetting,” said Lally. “I told them life’s not fair and that sometimes things don’t always play out the way we think they will. There are going to be times where you don’t get something you want. There were a lot of tears. Emotions were high after the game, and you just hope what you say will have an impact, if not now, then 10 or 15 years from now.”
Central beat Pinkerton on Sept. 18 during the regular season, 3-0. The Little Green opened the postseason with a 1-0 win over No. 16 Nashua South on Oct. 23.
The Central and Pinkerton defenses combined for a shutout well into the second half, before Hooksett’s Liz Belanger broke through for a 1-0 Central lead.
But two minutes later, Central keeper Alicia Doucet saw a ball sail past her left shoulder into the upper corner of the net, tying the match, 1-1. After a scoreless 20-minute overtime period, the Astros sealed the upset within the first five minutes of the second extra session.
“We look at it from the perspective that the best team is not playing for the state title this year,” said Lally. “We were certainly the best team in the state, particularly because of what we did in the regular season. It’s not easy going undefeated. It’s a long season, and Class L has very strong competition each year.”
Lally loses three starters in Doucet, Justine Beaudoin and Hookett native Lindsey Jarnutowski.
He returns 11 players from this year’s roster, including Hooksett players Sarah Barnes, Lindsay Johnson, Abby Wurtel, Jillian St. Pierre and Amanda Davis, leaving junior varsity players to compete for nine open spots.
Central’s junior varsity girls mirrored their varsity counterparts by going undefeated in the regular season, then capped the year by winning the state tournament.
“With nine openings and the JV team as successful as it was, it should be interesting to see how things play out next year,” said Lally. “I am very optimistic about the team next year. If they put up the effort and hard work this year’s girls did, they will see success again.”