The Rocketeers started brightly. North absorbed Mansfield attacks and broke quickly using the pace of forwards Nicole Chretien down the right and Hanna Caster down the left. One North attack on the right was blocked on the slide by Anna Chiarolonza, giving up a corner. Senior captain Laura Patruno swung in the kick, which was headed home by fellow senior Ali Blanchette.
Mansfield’s best chances in the first half came on free kicks from junior defender Molly Shield, but each was comfortable enough for North keeper Brittany Oullet. North almost doubled its lead in the 27th minute when Courtney Hewitt picked out Chretien on the edge of the box, who drove it off the bottom of the crossbar but somehow not across the line.
Mansfield head coach Kevin Smith noted after the game that he knew the North counterattack would be its biggest threat.
“They’re not a kick-and-run team, so if they get those couple of passes and they can split you on defense, the speed is tough to deal with. We had to respect that,” he explained.
The missed chance by North turned out to be crucial just three minutes into the second half when sophomore Jennifer Kemp was played into space on the lefthand side of the box. Kemp took a touch and fired in the equalizer.
The second half was much better for the Hornets, who had several chances that went narrowly over. Sophomore Rebecca Bornstein had the first chance but could not get over the shot and it kept rising to the relief of Oullet. Late in the second half, senior captain Sophia Busharis had the best chance at a winner, but looped her shot just too high and the game finished level.
Smith remarked, “It was too good teams playing pretty evenly. I thought we had most of the control in the second half but they still had counterattacks with their speed. [Caster] and [Chetien] are fantastic.”
He continued, “First half, I think that they had a little bit of an advantage. Second half, I thought we had the advantage. Overall, yeah, it was a pretty even game.”
The draw ended Mansfield’s three-game win streak and the Hornets will try to continue the good run of form on Tuesday against league-leading Franklin. North Attleboro travels to rival Attleboro to compete for the Red-Blue Cup (or Blue-Red depending on which school you ask).
When asked about how he felt about how the team is doing at the midway point of the season, Smith replied, “We’re two thirds of the way to qualifying for the state tournament (12 points), so I’m very happy. If someone had asked, ‘At the midway point would you take 5-2-2,’ yeah I would have.”
There was a big stoppage at the end of the first half after a play in the North Attleboro penalty area. Sophomore forward Jackie Carchedi went down hard after a clean challenge and, according to Smith, aggravated a previous injury to her ribs. She was taken off in an ambulance, but Smith thought it was more of a precaution and the hope is that she will be back soon.
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.