Chatham Women's Soccer Defeats Dover

The Chatham High School women's soccer team overcame a sluggish start to romp Dover High School 5-0 Tuesday on the road in the second game of the soccer season, thanks in no small part to the pair of goals scored by Maggie Higgins.

Goalkeeper Casey Madura stopped six shots to record her first varsity shutout and Chatham avenged a season-opening loss to Kinnelon, one of the state's premier teams.

The first part of the opening half was not one for the record books. The two teams battled back and forth with many wasted opportunites. Chatham (1-1) managed just three shots over the first 20 minutes while Dover (1-1) had just two shots in that span.

"I think that we started the game knowing that we were the better team on the field and we played down to their level," Chatham coach Tracey Blanchard said. "We need to learn from this experience and never let it happen again, which is a  very difficult thing to do."

However, at the 18:30 mark, Higgins put the visiting team up 1-0 with a shot from way outside the box. She had help from two sources on the play, one from the assist courtesy of teammate Kate Murphy and the other from the damp conditions from the excess rain from Monday's terrential downpour.

"The first goal I just got a back pass from Kate Murphy and shot it from outside," Higgins said. "I didn't think it was going anywhere but I guess the ball was really slippery and it went through the keeper's hands."

Two shots and about eight-and-a-half minutes later, Lauren Maiorano gave Chatham a two-goal lead with a tally coming off a botched Tigers' clear.

"I think we came out pretty slow with high expectations," Maiorano said. "Twenty minutes went by and we hadn't put one in the net. Our first goal kind of slipped in by luck, so I just tried to put it in."

Kelsey Burke and Morgan Maltby each had a shot go wide over the final 10 minutes of the first half, and Maiorano had two blocked by the Dover goalie, but the second half was all Chatham.

"At halftime we realized that we needed to pick it up and we just picked it up and started playing better," Higgins said.

Higgins' second score of the day, about four minutes into the second half, came from a corner kick and deflated any chances the Tigers had of a comeback.

"The second goal was a corner from Amanda Bernsten and I just knocked it in," Higgins said.

Lina Proska and Kendall Davies each scored a goal about five minutes apart, and the Cougars put it on cruise control over the final 16 minutes.

"We weren't playing that great to begin with but you have to encourage them to do the right thing and have fun with the situation," Blanchard said. "They were told that they were not allowed to score any more goals."

Chatham will next play at Hanover Park on Thursday at 4 p.m.

"We're playing Hanover Park next, which should be good because we played them in states [last year] and beat them in a shootout," Maiorano said. "So it should be a good game."