'He's the best player in the league': Cohasset soccer star scores hat trick in 13 minutes

ROCKLAND -- The pregame vibe was ... mellow? Subdued? Lethargic? Pick a word. It just wasn't to Nathan Askjaer's liking, so the senior tri-captain admonished his teammates to pick up the intensity -- and the noise -- during on-field drills.

They complied. Then once the game started, Askjaer provided all the energy the Skippers would need.

The reigning South Shore League MVP struck for a stunning hat trick just 13 minutes into the game, and Cohasset rode that adrenaline triple shot to a 3-1 win Wednesday over fellow league powerhouse Rockland. The Skippers (now 9-3-1) entered the game No. 8 in the latest MIAA power rankings for Division 4. Rockland (6-2-3) was No. 12. On paper, the rivals were close, but Askjaer made all the difference.

"He's legit," Rockland coach Dan Kimball said. "He's the best player in the league. State champion track athlete. You can try your best to prepare for him, but he's a heck of a player."

For Askjaer, who's up to 16 goals on the season, it was his first hat trick of the campaign. Ever score a faster one?

"No, probably not," he said with a laugh. "That was pretty quick. I just took my shots and they fell."

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Asked about his pregame pep talk, Askjaer said the energy "was a little low from the beginning, so I just tried to set the tone and get everyone going. It was quiet; they weren't playing any music. Usually we have our warm-up playlist."

Askjaer hit all the right notes right off the bat, sneaking a shot inside the left post at the 7-minute mark and blasting one under the crossbar from the top of the box 12 minutes in. He finished off the barrage just over a minute later on a counterattack after Cohasset had successfully defended a corner kick. Senior Cian Casey gave him a great long ball out of midfield, and Askjaer split two defenders and calmly slotted the ball inside the near post.

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"That was a hell of an opening," Skippers coach Jim Willis said. "He's had those moments all year, once or twice a game, but he hadn't put three of them together in 10 minutes before. That changed the whole game real quick."

Askjaer scored 14 goals as a sophomore and hit for 34 last season when he repeated as an All-State selection. He might not reach those goal numbers this fall, but Willis says graduation losses are playing a factor.

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"One of the reasons he was able to score 34 goals (last year) was that we had some very dangerous offensive seniors," Willis noted. "Zach Smith (an All-Scholastic forward who netted 12 goals with 9 assists) was one of the best offensive players on the South Shore last year. And Ian Linhart (an All-Scholastic midfielder who had 6 goals and 7 assists) was our engine; he made everything run.

"You couldn't focus all your attention on Nathan because if you did, those two were going to light you up. This year he's taken a lot more of the (defensive) heat. But Cian (Casey) has done a nice job of sliding in and becoming our quarterback, and the other kids are starting to grow into their roles. Michael Sheehan's come on lately with 5 goals. All we need the other guys to do is peak in about two weeks."

That's when the playoffs hit, and Cohasset is looking to break through after losing in the Div. 4 quarterfinals each of the last three seasons. All of those eliminations came by a single goal, including last year when No. 9 Monomoy upset the top-seeded Skippers, 3-2. Monomoy went on to lose, 1-0, to Lynnfield in the state final.

"We're trying to get past that (round)," Askjaer said. "We're trying to win it all, obviously. That's the goal every year. That's why we all play."

The Skippers have been solid all season, losing only to reigning Div. 3 state champ Norwell, 2-1, and Div. 1 heavyweight Weymouth, 1-0, in back-to-back games. Cohasset had a goal disallowed against Weymouth, which had pounded the Skippers 7-0 last season.

After Askjaer's opening flurry, the Skippers didn't score again, but they were sound defensively, surrendering only Josh DelPrete's goal with 5:41 remaining in regulation. Cohasset goalkeeper Wylie Gardiner made a couple of fine diving saves to preserve the lead and insure that the Skippers take a four-game winning streak into Saturday morning's showdown at Patriot League power Pembroke (7-1-2).

"We're just trying to get better as a team going into the playoffs," Askjaer said. "These regular-season games are (about) trying to get us in good form, and at the end of the year it's those five (playoff) games that matter. Last year we were the 1 seed and we looked really good during the regular season, but we couldn't make it happen in the playoffs. It's all about (building) the momentum once the postseason hits."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: 'He's the best player in the league': Cohasset soccer star scores hat trick in 13 minutes