TOWNSHEND — The Leland & Gray boys' soccer team had an easy time of it in a 7-0 rout over Windsor in Townshend last Monday.
Senior captain Michael Bergeron scored three goals for the Rebels, sophomore Jake Sherman added two more, and sophomore Tanner Winot and junior Kevin Young each added a goal. Goalkeeper Tanner Karg needed to make only two saves for the shutout.
“[Windsor] lost a lot of kids, but it was nice to see [my team] play well,” said Rebels coach Chris Barton. “Our defense played good as well; we didn't give them any chances. If we're going to get anywhere, we need to work as a team, and we demonstrated that today.”
The first half started with a bang. Two beautiful shots were driven in by Sherman, followed by two consecutive goals by senior captain Michael Bergeron to give the Rebels a 4-0 lead in just the first five minutes.
After the early fireworks, the Rebels continued to dominate on offense, putting up shots every chance they could take. But none of those chances turned into goals, and the Rebels kept a 4-0 lead at the break.
The second half continued the same way, as the Rebels could not seem to get to another goal. But as Windsor grew weary in the waning minutes, the Rebels broke through to score three more consecutive goals.
The first was by Winot, who scored the first goal of his varsity career. Young followed with a headfirst dive into the goal to force the ball in for his first varsity goal.
The last shot of the game was made by Bergeron, who got his third goal for his first hat trick in his soccer career.
“I've been playing defense since elementary school and slowly making my way towards the front line, so to finally start producing as an offensive player feels pretty good,” said Bergeron. “All credit goes to [senior captain] Billy Nupp on that last one though. It was real nice of him, seeing that we all wanted to score.”
With almost half the season over, the Rebels are now 6-2-0 as they continue to climb up the Division III rankings.