Andrews scores twice to lead Milford past Souhegan in D2 girls soccer final

MANCHESTER – The doormat sat on the bench of the Milford High School girls soccer team, but for once, the Spartans weren’t the ones being stepped on.

It’s been 20 years since the split that created Souhegan High School, and during that time, the Sabers have won 11 girls soccer titles, including last year.

Meanwhile, Milford had made it to just one championship game – a 2005 loss to Hanover – before Saturday’s Division II final against the Sabers, and hadn’t won a title since the Class L championship in 1988, before any of its current players were born.

Despite that, the Spartans know the history of the rivalry. All they had to do was look back to Sept. 7 of this season, a game in which Milford lost to Souhegan, 6-2.

After that game, the Spartans made changes to tighten their defense and just once allowed more than one goal over their final 15 games. The earlier-than-expected return of senior captain Morgan Andrews from the U17 World Cup gave Milford the extra spark it needed to get over the top.

Andrews scored twice on Saturday and No. 4 Milford’s defense held up to defeat No. 2 Souhegan 2-1 in the Division II championship game at Southern New Hampshire University.

“(Milford) coach (John) Vlachos made a reference to us being (Souhegan’s) doormat for a couple of years,” Milford senior Dina Pitsas said. “We were tired of getting destroyed.”

Milford (16-3-1) wasted little time showing that it was ready to play. Andrews broke free Souhegan’s Taylor Behn, who usually draws the assignment of marking her, and sprinted to the ball before drilling it past goalie Mikaela Sullivan with less than two minutes gone off the clock.

“It’s a team game with 11 players on each side, but it goes to prove when you have a Morgan Andrews, it makes a difference,” Souhegan coach Dwayne Andreasen said. “Milford didn’t beat us, Morgan Andrews beat us. That’s why she’s a world-class player. Our girls did all they could do and played as hard as they could. It was Souhegan vs. Morgan and Morgan won.”

That goal stood for the rest of the first half, despite a few Souhegan (16-3-1) opportunities. But every time the Sabers had a chance, and bad bounce or a good defense of play by Milford ended the threat.

“It put them on their heels a little bit,” Vlachos said of the early goal. “Then the game turned and they were back in it. (But) the second half has been our half all year.”

Andrews made it 2-0 with a little help from Bonczar, who gathered the ball on a breakaway before dropping a pass back. Andrews stepped up and fired another shot past Sullivan – only the second of two Milford shots on goal all day.

“I saw Kendra running and I saw her go in on net,” Andrews said. “I had confidence that she was going to finish, but I called for it anyway. I know she had confidence in me and we trust each other enough to score.”

Souhegan cut the lead back to one five minutes later, as Peyton Kent got away from Pitsas and fired a shot across the front of the goal. Phelps dove and got a piece of the ball, but it went right to Caroline Schagrin and she buried it in the back of the net.

“It gave us some life,” Andreasen said. “Last year, we thought we were out of it in the semifinal and we stayed alive. We’re never going to say die until the final whistle blows. I think the girls fought to the very, very end. We just didn’t get the breaks and we couldn’t contain Morgan.”

The Sabers’ best chance the rest of the way came on a corner kick, but the Spartans were able to clear it. Andrews almost added another goal with 2:30 left, but her shot hit the crossbar.

Milford didn’t need the insurance goal, and minutes later, the Spartans were celebrating.

“It came down to who was going to want it more,” Vlachos said. “We’ve been saying we’re done being the doormat. They’ve been beating us since I’ve been coaching. I thought we showed that we were the best team. We were done being the doormat.”