WRENTHAM, Mass. – King Philip has been without senior forward Avery Snead for the past week, as she recovered from an ankle injury. The Warriors welcomed the two-time league MVP back into the lineup against Attleboro on Tuesday evening at Macktaz Field and the Providence College-commit showed how important she can be over an impressive six-minute stretch of the second half.
Snead scored three goals in quick succession, starting just seconds after the break, to turn a one-goal game into a comfortable 4-0 victory for the hosts, who remain unbeaten on the season.
“When we broke for halftime, I said let’s do a quick strike here, break their spirits, but I didn’t expect three in six minutes,” joked KP coach Gary Pichel. “That was a glorious comeback for [Avery]. It’s a major relief to have her back and healthy again. It’s always nice when you have one of the top players in the league, if not Massachusetts, back in your lineup.”
Inside the first minute of the second half, Snead showed quick feet to slip past the center of the Attleboro defense and she breezed down the middle of the box and coolly slipped a shot inside the post to make it 2-0. Three minutes later, Snead took advantage of a ball from Jenny Montville that bounced past the Attleboro back line for another easy finish.
In the 46th minute, Snead rose highest to get on the end of a pinpoint Makayla Griffin free kick and flicked it past the onrushing keeper for her third of the night and the team’s fourth.
“They’re just two great players and you can only try so much to keep them off the board,” said Attleboro coach Steve Santos of Snead and fellow forward Chloe Layne. She had a nice first game back. She was excited. I think after she got one, she got the taste back.”
The first half was dominated by the home team. KP controlled possession and create a host of scoring chances, only to have Attleboro keeper Ashley Macia come through with 11 of her 14 saves before the break.
“It’s the dynamic duo is what it is and they’re back together again this year and it’s been pretty nice,” said Pichel about pairing Snead and Layne up top again. “It puts the other teams back on their heels a little bit.”
Snead and Layne wasted no time in combining for a chance, as Layne, the league’s leading scorer this season, created space on her right foot and forced a diving save after only five minutes. Two minutes later, Layne was set up by Ally Stanton but her left-footed drive was tapped up onto the bar.
KP found its breakthrough in the 12th minute on a set piece. Griffin delivered a perfect free kick from near midfield that landed on the head of Layne, who flicked it past Macia.
A minute later, Griffin picked out Stanton, whose header was saved. Stanton had another good chance in the 22nd minute after Layne drew a crowd and opened shooting space on the edge of the 18 only to have Macia made another strong stop.
“We came in a little bit hesitant,” Santos admitted. “The first 10 minutes after they scored that goal, we settled in a little and created some opportunities but we needed that final ball. We worked the ball out wide and tried to do this switch, but it was a low roller that they took and counterattacked.”
The chances kept coming for the Warriors. Snead opened space for Stanton, but she wasn’t able to make clean contact and the shot was gathered by Macia and then Kiera Lindmark gave Ava Tormey a chance on goal but again the shot was saved.
When asked if he was worried about having only a one-goal cushion heading into the break, Pichel responded, “I wasn’t that nervous because I knew that we carried play pretty well in that first half and it was just a matter of time before we did something here…I just didn’t realize it would be that quick.”
Attleboro struggled to create clearcut chances. After intercepting a throw-in, Gabrielle Lauzier sent an angled cross into the box that was just out of the reach of Ashley Dame and was collected by KP keeper Taylor Butler, who had otherwise been a bystander for most of the half. Attleboro forwards Isabella Salviati and Briley Harnois were largely quiet, forced to drop deep to get onto the ball.
“Their tempo is fast, their decision-making is fast and they’re hungry for the ball and all you can try to do is pack it back and hope the game plan works,” Santos said about defending KP. “I think we came in a little intimidated but it was a good test for us. I told them, if we qualify for tournament this is what you have to be ready for.”
After Snead turned the game on its head in the opening six minutes of the second half, the game settled into mostly a midfield battle with few chances on either side.
Layne played Montville in behind the Attleboro defense in the 55th minute but the shot was saved and Jillian Anderson combined with Makenzie Shandley but Attleboro back-up keeper Alexis Campbell was there to make the stop. Meghan Panzer had a half-volley effort that went close for the best chance for the Bombardiers after the break.
King Philip (8-0, 6-0) will look to continue its unbeaten start at Stoughton on Friday, while Attleboro (3-3-1, 2-3-1) will have a tough trip to face Davenport division-leading Foxboro.