The Warriors put on an offensive barrage in the second half to earn their first victory of the season.

By Marlon Pitter

At halftime, Hall head coach Scott Ferguson challenged his team to “go out and win the game.”

Amid a scoreless stalemate with E.O. Smith, Ferguson wanted to see a drastic improvement from his team in the final 40 minutes.

“In the first half, I thought we were just so confused – discombobulated – and making poor decisions,” said Ferguson. “We’re going to watch (the film) tomorrow, and I told the girls that it probably won’t be pretty viewing.”

The Warriors responded by dominating the second half, scoring twice in the first three minutes, en route to a 4-1 victory over the Panthers Tuesday afternoon at Chalmers Stadium in West Hartford.

Freshman forward Lydia Poulin (2 goals) scored the eventual game-winner on a breakaway after intercepting a pass between two Panther defenders at the 37:08 mark to put Hall (1-1) ahead 2-0. Poulin added another goal on an assist from Jessica Mason with 16:17 to play.

Poulin sustained offensive pressure between her goals – and nearly notched a hat trick – by putting consecutive shots on net near the 24:30 mark.

“This summer, I worked really hard on finishing and my breakaways because last year I wasn’t able to because I would freak out with the ball,” Poulin said. “This summer, I just dedicated a lot of my time to working on it and calming myself down, so now I’m really proud of my progress.”

Senior defender Emily Cubbage broke the tie for Hall with 38:51 remaining, scoring from a cross into the box. Sophomore midfielder Nicky Deslauriers joined the scoring party on a breakaway goal with just over 12 minutes remaining, giving the Warriors a 4-0 lead.

Allison Escott scored for E.O. Smith (1-1) with 3:30 to play, spoiling the shutout bid for freshman goalkeeper Hana Roggendorf (5 saves).

“It was just the idea of being more creative rather than just kicking or running away, so I was really happy with the adjustment they made in the second half because they really tried to shorten the passes, play them on an angle, and get people in,” Ferguson said. “It was a totally different game in the second half, so I was proud of that.”

Hall will host Southington on Friday at 3:45 p.m.

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