The soccer team opened the season at home against Belmont on Friday 8/24 with a 0-8 loss against Belmont.  Having Belmont as our opening game made for a difficult start to the season both physically and emotionally - they beat our 2017 team in the first round of the play-offs 5-0; we graduated 10 seniors from that 2017 season and Belmont graduated only 2 seniors.  The coach for Belmont told our coaching staff that they have 13 seniors on the team this year and that they have waited for this very competitive and skilled group of players since they were in middle school.  Belmont expects a deep run in the state tournament this season.

A 0-8 loss sounds bad, but the game was actually well played, we just couldn't break through Belmont's defense to get a ball in the net.  Our young and inexperienced varsity team learned a lot as the game progressed and after a first half score of 0-6, the adjustments made on the field held Belmont to only 2 goals in the second half.  We are experimenting with different formation systems in the hopes of finding one that capitalizes on our strengths and minimizes our weaknesses.  The Mascoma team played hard and never gave up, despite the size and skill differences between the two teams.  Lizzie Pelton had 12 solid saves in net, and Ben Schwarz did a fantastic job in the middle of the field with both outstanding defense and offense.  

Our next game is home on Tuesday against Fall Mountain at 4:00 p.m.  Hope to see some Royal fans on the sidelines for this first day of school match-up.