Stoughton High Girls’ Soccer Ties Attleboro

The following was submitted to Stoughton Patch:

On a typical fall New England day, two Hockomock rivals, Stoughton and Attleboro hooked up Wednesday at with both teams looking to improve on previous .

The two teams ended up tying, 2-2. Stoughton now stands at 3-7-1, with the tie snapping a two game skid for the Black Knights.

On Wednesday, Attleboro got on the board first at the 28-minute mark on a great individual effort by forward, Erin Woodhead.

Six minutes later, going against a tough wind, Stoughton’s Megan Crimmins, a junior, tied the game.

Her first goal of the year came on a terrific left to right crossing ball by Senior tri-captain Alicia Macomber that landed in the box to the left of the goalie, which Crimmins calmly received and powered past the goaltender from about 10 yards out.

Attleboro then retook the lead five minutes later when Woodhead scored on another long shot from 20 yards out that the wind carried, to go up 2-1 at the half.

With the wind now in their favor, Stoughton came out in the second half determined to get the equalizer with more aggressiveness and pressure creating more scoring chances.

Pressure on the ball for most of the second half kept Stoughton in Attleboro’s end of the field, yet the Black Knights were frustrated by the Attleboro defense and were turned away time and time again.

But, with 15 minutes left in the game, Stoughton finally got the equalizer they had been looking for.  After a loose  ball scramble, sophomore Sarah Purcell carried the ball into the left side of the box and took a shot that Attleboro’s goalkeeper made the initial save on but Purcell followed her own shot and took the rebound and put it past the keeper to tie the game 2-2. 

Pressure by Stoughton in the final minutes almost netted the Black Knights the game winner as Freshman Shelby Sprague’s shot in the final minute glanced off the top of the cross bar and a final free kick was deflected to preserve the 2-2 final score.

Senior tri-captain Mikayla Williams once again provided solid support on the backline and Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Berkowsky continued her steady performance in net, shutting out Attleboro in the second half and keeping the Black Knights in the game throughout, particularly in the first half with multiple saves with the wind working against her and in the second half with her long kicking game.

Stoughton faces Sharon in another Hockomock League match at Stoughton High School on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 3:45 p.m.