Trio of Northfield seniors close in on a Spaulding attacker in last Friday's game at Garvey Field. Erin Connor #2 (Center) closes in first while Hanna Gleason #4 (left) and Kelsey Langley #9 (right) come in to help out. The Lady Marauders defeated the Div. I Crimson Tide 1-0 and improved their final regular season record to 6-5-3. Going into the last three games of the regular season the Northfield Girl's soccer team had a big goal. Win all three of the games left on their schedule. They didn't do too badly. They wound up 2-1 for the final three encounters and managed to pull out a victory against a Div. I opponent in the bargain.

Just over a week ago the Girl's started on their end of season objective by defeating Lyndon 2-0, at Lyndon, and setting up matches with much bigger schools for their final two games.

The first step was a trip to Harwood to take on the skillful and well coached Highlanders. "We knew what we would face over there, " said Northfield coach John Diebold following the Marauders 1-0 loss. " In the first half we were overwhelmed by their speed and quickness but we rebounded and only gave up one goal," the coach said.

Kristi Luce was brilliant in the Northfield goal and her coach was appreciative. " Kristi is one of the better skill players out there.

Fortunately she likes to play goal," said coach Diebold. Kristi would wind up with 16 saves on 28 Harwood shots while the Lady Marauders only managed 3 shots in the whole contest. "We felt like we got it together in the second half," said Coach Diebold.

They only got one goal and the game ended with us trying to set up a corner kick," the coach said.

The Harwood game went a long way in setting up the Lady Marauders 1-0 victory over Div. I Spaulding last Friday.

"After Harwood we knew we could play with anybody. We knew we had to play solid soccer, but we could play with anybody," said coach Diebold. "We came into the Spaulding game knowing we could compete with anyone if we only played our game," the coach added.

It was up and down soccer with Northfield carrying the play n the first half, and Spaulding seemed to think: just what is this division III team doing to us? The Crimson tide attacked harder in the second half but the Northfield defense bent but didn't break. And when the Crimson Tide did get a shot on goal, Kristi Luce was up to the occasion. She recorded 11 saves in her stellar performance.

The Lady Marauders were able to get on the scoreboard with35:23 left in the game. Melissa Kelsey nailed a penalty kick and the Lady Marauders would have all they would need. It was Northfield 1, Spaulding 0, with most of the second half to play. The Marauders picked up the pace and had several opportunities late in the second half, but weren't able to find the back of the Spaulding net.

That didn't matter because several Northfield players stepped up. " We played our game. Kelsey Langley and Keli McLellan controlled mid-field.

They really stepped up their game," coach Diebold said. With the win over Div. I Spaulding the Northfield girls final season record winds up at 6-5- 3.

"We've proved we can play with anybody and we are excited about the playoffs coming up this week.," said coach Diebold. "We continue to improve and we have found out that hard work in practice pays off. We're really starting to come together. This is a really great group of young ladies."