Going through an entire season undefeated is no easy task.
A pair of terrific New Hampshire squads learned that lesson on Wednesday, as the St. Thomas Aquinas boys soccer team and the Spaulding girls volleyball team both tasted defeat for the first time all season.
In Dover, Kyle Estell scored on a free kick in the 52nd minute to give Coe-Brown a 1-0 victory over St. Thomas. The Saints, No. 2 in the CoachesAid.com Class I rankings, suffered their first regular-season loss since 2007. St. Thomas went 15-0-1 in the regular season last year and lost to Hanover in the championship game.
No. 5 Coe-Brown improved to 11-2 and picked up some important Heal points in the process against previously unbeaten STA (10-1-2).
Coe-Brown keeper Skyler Speed was credited with four saves in earning the shutout.
“I don't want to say I'm glad, but if we have to lose it's good to lose now and let them learn what it's like,” Saints coach Scott Suleski told Foster’s Daily Democrat. “Some of these kids have never lost a regular-season home game or away game either."
Meanwhile, in Londonderry, the host Lancers handed Spaulding a 3-2 loss in Division I girls volleyball. The defending champion and top-ranked Red Raiders (13-1) hadn’t come close to losing a match all season, having won their previous 13 matches by a combined margin of 39-3.
No. 3 Londonderry (12-2) won by game scores of 16-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-16 and 16-14.
Nobody’s perfect, not even St. Thomas or Spaulding.
Here is a look at some other high school highlights from Wednesday:
Girls volleyball
• In a battle between top-five teams in the CoachesAid.com Division II rankings, Oyster River rallied for a 3-2 win over Seacoast rival St. Thomas. Game scores were 20-25, 17-25, 25-20, 25-21 and 15-11. The third-ranked Bobcats improved to 11-1 with the victory, while No. 5 St. Thomas lost its second straight and dropped to 8-4.
Brianna Datti (24-for-25 serving, nine aces, five kills and 52 digs), Leah Janelle (24 digs, 13 kills), Hannah Finch (22 assists) and Michelle Hobbs (20 kills) had big matches for the Bobcats. Bridget Finnigan led the Saints with 11 kills and four aces.
• Pinkerton senior Mikayla Floyd reached a milestone in the Astros’ 3-0 sweep of Timberlane. Floyd surpassed 1,000 career assists in leading Pinkerton to game victories of 25-14, 25-16 and 25-18. The assist total is easily a school record, according to Pinkerton.
• Portsmouth won its 30th consecutive home match, beating Somersworth by a score of 3-2. Game scores were 22-25, 25-10, 25-19, 20-25 and 15-12. It was a big win for the defending Division II champion Clippers, who had dropped three straight matches and four of their last five following a 7-0 start. Both teams are 9-4 on the season.
• Inter-Lakes celebrated its rise to No. 1 in the CoachesAid.com Division III rankings with a 3-0 sweep of Sunapee. The Lakers (10-3) won their eighth straight match by game scores of 25-13, 25-19 and 25-16. Sunapee dropped to 9-4. Hayley Fallon (seven kills, 17-for-17 serving), Cassandra Reale (seven kills, two blocks) and Amanda Parks (three kills, 11 digs) led top-ranked Inter-Lakes.
Field hockey
• Hannah Richard recorded her seventh hat trick of the season as Hopkinton beat Somersworth, 3-0, in a matchup of top-10 teams in the CoachesAid.com Class M-S rankings. No. 6 Hopkinton improved to 9-3-1, while No. 7 Somersworth fell to 8-5. This was the sixth straight shutout for the Hawks.
• Meredith Gitschier assisted on Jenny MacArthur’s overtime goal as Oyster River earned a 1-0 Class I victory against Pelham (4-9). The Bobcats improved to 6-7.
Girls soccer
• Few players have had better offensive days than the one Gilford’s Chelsea Crockett had on Wednesday against Inter-Lakes. Crockett scored six goals and had three assists in the Golden Eagles’ 10-0 Class M victory. Gilford improved to 6-7-1, while Inter-Lakes slipped to 0-11-1.
• Elliot Soper recorded a hat trick in leading Portsmouth to a 6-0 Class I win over Kennett in North Conway. Sarah Brown added one goal and three assists for the Clippers (8-4). Kennett fell to 1-11-2.
Boys soccer
• Nick Selling continued his terrific season with three goals and one assist in Newmarket’s 5-4 win over Concord Christian in Class S. The third-ranked Mules improved to 11-1, while No. 10 Concord Christian fell to 7-4-1.
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