Bow Athletics
Bow School District
Boys Varsity Soccer
Game Summaries & Headlines.
8.0 years ago @ 9:26AM
- Game Date
- Aug 30, 2016
- Score
- FALCONS: 2
GOFFSTOWN HIGH SCHOOL: 5
Mike Fortin’s left foot is as true as an arrow and accounted for two assists and two goals in Goffstown’s 5-2 in over Bow Tuesday.
The wiry junior midfielder, who may own the most lethal and accurate foot in Division II, found Ethan Skinner’s head at the far post for two corner kick goals and lined two penalty shot kicks inside the near post to lead Goffstown to its second straight win to open the season.
“We work on that play a lot in practice,” said Skinner, who has scored four goals in two games this season. “Mike has a good delivery on set pieces, especially corners. He bends the ball in to me where I can leap up and head it home. It’s our bond.”
The Grizzlies outmuscled Bow, now 0-2 in its first season in Division II, and controlled play for most of the game.
The Falcons led early, thanks a corner kick score when Sully Blair took Jon Paul Merchan’s serve from his chest to his right foot in the ninth minute.
From then on, Goffstown controlled the tempo, with Fortin serving as maestro, pinpointing passes from his center mid post. Noah Charron, Sam Heidenreich, Nick Mason and Jakob Britton-Doucette each had at least one legitimate scoring bid.
“We’ve got a guy with a great foot and we have to take advantage,” said Goffstown coach Randy Lovering with a nod toward a smiling Fortin. “He’s got a great through-ball and makes great decisions.”
He’s also honed an accurate leg with hours of target practice. Fortin can routinely clink a shot off the crossbar from the midfield line and hit either post at will from within 20 yards of the goal.
“After practice, I’ll come out and work on my accuracy,” said Fortin. “I’ll pick out a spot to aim for and work on dropping the ball there. When you have a set piece opportunity I want to be able to deliver. On the corner kick, I’m aiming for Ethan’s head. He’s the tallest guy.”
Following Bow’s initial goal, Goffstown scored four times off of Fortin’s foot to build a three-goal lead in the 55th minute.
“It was their game,” said Bow coach George Pinkham. “We didn’t defend well at all. We were late to everything and made too many mistakes.”
The Falcons graduated their backfield following their final season in Division III.
“We’re trying different guys and a different system,” said Pinkham. “We’ve got to clean up our defense if we’re going to do anything this season.”
Bow pulled within two goals following a score from Max Elsasser in the 60th minute. The Falcons followed that with several corner kick bids, but couldn’t finish.
A Heidenreich pass provided Mason with a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper in the 78th minute to seal Goffstown’s victory.