Font ResizeBRATTLEBORO -- Halie Lange said she played the biggest soccer game of her life, so far, Tuesday night. While that might be her opinion alone, teammates who battled alongside her as Brattleboro shut out Stevens High, 4-0, in the Colonels’ season-opener, would probably share her same sentiment.
"We got off on the right foot," said Lange, after the win at Tenney Field. "Hopefully, we can keep the momentum. We definitely have a strong team this year."
With a big right boot, midfielder Lange put away the Colonels’ first goal of their regular season at the 26:17 mark. She then stretched to connect with a cross pass with help from the right wing with just under two minutes remaining in the first.
A well placed penalty shot in the second half gave Lange, a senior captain, her first varsity hat trick ever.
After dribbling past a few defenders, and making a run up the middle-right, Maddie Rollins would score Brattleboro’s final goal with 7:27 left on the clock.
"Lange and I have been playing together for a while," said Rollins, also team captain. "It was a great start to our season."
Rollins isn’t kidding either. More like sisters than friends, she and Lange have known each other since before the third grade, and have played on the same teams in various outings on and off throughout the time they’ve spent at school.
"They’ve known each
The Colonels maintained possession for a majority of the game, preventing a half-dozen Stevens scoring attempts as Brattleboro’s defense kept the visitors in black very busy.
De Bruijn also felt pretty good about his team’s first victory of the 2012 season.
"Our lineup is such that we are on the attack," he said. "We like to pass the ball around and get the wings (like Hannah Lynde) involved. We keep our offense spread out to open up holes in the opponent’s defense. Three in the back and four in the middle (positioning) worked well today. The trick is to let your opponent work for you. Tire them out, then just be patient."
Kara Piergentili, Linnea Jahn, and Biak Chia Tial all had assists from the mid- and back-field, and Marissa Smith had five saves as the Colonels keeper.
Brattleboro next plays Hoosick Falls on Thursday in the first round of the John James Tournament, held in Bennington.
David Aquino can be reached at daquino@reformer.com, or by calling 802-254-2311, ext. 164.
