NORTHAMPTON — Before Smith Academy’s soccer match against Smith Vocational, three of Hannah Rickert’s teammates spelled out “100” in purple numbers across their bodies. Rickert needed just two minutes to prove they hadn’t wasted the paint.
In the second minute of the Falcons’ 3-1 win Friday, Rickert drove down the middle of the field with the ball on her foot. The powerful midfielder forced a defender to commit, then slid the ball into the path of Olivia Niedbala. Niedbala took a touch and blasted the ball into the far corner.
It was 1-0 Smith Academy and 100 points for Rickert.
As the senior turned to celebrate, her teammates lined up to reveal the painted purple hundred.
“I honestly had no clue they were going to paint their stomachs,” Rickert said. “I caught a glimpse of one of the zeroes in the locker room and I was like ‘What is that?’ but she said it was just a bruise and I didn’t put the two pieces together. It was a nice surprise, I really appreciated it.”
Her coach Matt Brown switched out the game ball so she could keep the one that marked the milestone.
“I’ve coached for a long, long time and this girl is so easy to coach,” Brown said. “She’s not a glory hound for the points and I’m just so happy for her.”
Smith Voke (8-6) responded well after the goal and controlled possession for much of the next 15 minutes. The Vikings were inches from capitalizing on the pressure with an equalizer. Megan Cone played a beautiful through ball from midfield that sent Marissa Mayhew into motion. Mayhew took the pass in stride and cut across her defender before firing a shot with her left foot. Smith Academy keeper Gabby Tisdale dove and managed to pin the pall against the ground on the goal line to protect the Falcons’ lead.
In the 20th minute, Niedbala struck again to double that lead. It was almost a mirror image of the first goal. Rickert won the ball in midfield, dribbled at the heart of the Vikings defense and found Niedbala on the move. The eighth-grader is quick in space and able to absorb a tackle in traffic.
“She’s a great player so it’s really nice to have her on the outside,” Rickert said. “She’s really fast and makes a lot of good runs.”
Niedbala calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner again and Smith Academy led 2-0.
With nine minutes remaining in the first half, Smith Voke pulled one back. Ella Sherman launched a shot from the edge of the box. Tisdale got a glove to it but wasn’t able to hold on, and Mayhew was waiting for the rebound. The Vikings winger knocked the ball past Tisdale as the teams went into halftime with Smith Academy leading 2-1.
The second half was played largely around midfield as both defenses contained any attacks. There were 16 minutes on the clock when Morgan Neal lofted a long ball from midfield that glanced off the top of a Smith Voke head. The ball spun into the space behind the defense and the race was on. Niedbala won, and she beat the keeper with a low drive to complete her hat trick.
The Vikings called timeout soon after and came out of the break pressing hard. With five minutes left, Sherman left a trail of defenders behind as she charged down the left wing and fired the ball across her body. Her shot beat the keeper, but Haley Springman was there to clear the ball off the line and close out Smith Academy’s 3-1 win.
The Falcons moved to 7-7-1 with the victory, and need three points from their three remaining games to qualify for the tournament.