Lynnfield 11-15

12
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 NOVEMBER 15, 2018
Field hockey falls to Watertown in OT
By Anne Marie Tobin
READING — The 2018 Lynnfield field hockey team
is going to remember this game for a very long time, the
game being last Thursday night’s Division 2 North semifinal
showdown between the Pioneers and the nine-time defending
state champion and top-seeded Watertown Raiders,
won in double overtime by Watertown, 2-1.
“We gave as good as we got. I couldn’t ask for a better
game,” said Lynnfield coach Mamie Reardon. “We
matched them girl for girl. It’s just Watertown for the past
19-20 years just knows how to win.”
Watertown coach Eileen Donahue echoed Reardon’s
sentiments.
“It was an incredible back-and-forth game and both
teams played well. We were fortunate because Lynnfield
was strong and played us tough,” Donahue said.
When it comes to dynasties, Watertown field hockey is
right up there. The records to see how dominant the Raiders
have been for the last decade. They had not lost a game
since November, 2008, until September, 2017 when the
streak was snapped by Winchester.
Along the way, they compiled an unparalleled 184-game
undefeated streak, a national record.
The streak included a national record 124 consecutive
victories.
Thursday night, however, Lynnfield was locked in, intent
upon becoming just the second team in 10 years to beat
the Raiders. The Pioneers were also looking to punch their
ticket to the North finals for the first time since 2000, when
the Pioneers lost to Watertown.
Fast forward 18 years, and the Pioneers gave as good, if
not better, than it got.
With under six minutes to go in the first half, Watertown
amped up its offensive attack. Despite having to play about
a minute and a half down two players, and another one and
a half down by one player (due to overlapping cards), the
Pioneers kept Watertown at bay to send the teams into the
halftime break locked in a scoreless tie.
PHOTO | MARIA TERRIS
Brianna Barrett does some stickwork during the
Pioneers’ game against Watertown.
Midway through the second half, Brianna Barrett stripped
a Watertown player in the backfield and made a 40-yard
run down the left sideline and was fouled. Carolyn Garofoli
drilled a free hit from about 20 yards out, earning a penalty
corner, played by Ashley Barrett to Abby Buckley, who
settled the ball with a stick stop to set up Brianna Barrett’s
second effort paid off, slipping the ball to Lily Rothwell,
camped on the crease. Rothwell drilled it home at the 19:30
mark.
With 10:37 to go, one unlucky bounce of the ball wiped
out Lynnfield’s lead. A Raider shot into the circle, deflected
off a teammate and hit a Pioneer player, giving Watertown
a penalty stroke. Watertown made good to knot the game
at 1-1.
Both teams had scoring chances over the final 10 minutes,
but Lynnfield goalie Emily Dickey and counterpart Lainey
Andrade were up to the task. Dickey made two incredible
saves down the home stretch, one on a penalty stroke and
the other about a minute later when she batted a ball out of
midair with her stick to keep it a 1-1 game.
“Everybody’s still talking about the save, it was just incredible,”
said Reardon. “That ball definitely was going in
the goal had Emily not gotten her stick on it.”
The teams battled through a scoreless sudden-death,
10-minute 7v7 overtime period. Brianna Barrett stepped big
defensively over the final two minutes to keep Watertown
from cashing in after a Lynnfield player was carded, giving
the Raiders a power play.
But Watertown finally broke through with the gamewinner
with 8:55 go in the second OT. The Raiders drew
a corner in the first 30 seconds of the period. The game appeared
to be over when a goal off the corner was disallowed
because the insert failed to clear the circle.
Lynnfield’s second life lasted only 15 seconds after
Watertown was inexplicably awarded another corner.
“I thought it should have been a hit from the 15, but I
could not ask any more from these kids,” said Reardon. “It
was one heckuva game. We really wanted this game.”
The Raiders went on to defeat Manchester-Essex, 1-0, to
claim their 10 straight North sectional title.
Reardon said Ashley and Brianna (Barrett), Lily Rothwell
and Maddie Murphy played great.
“When Ashley got us that first goal, it just felt like
Christmas morning, it was such a great feeling,” said
Reardon. “It was an incredible game and the girls showed
they belonged. They were not at all intimidated, they never
backed down, we just came up one goal short. We had the
chance to be the team to beat them, and we came as close
as you can to doing that, so I am just so proud of the way
the girls played.”
Boys, girls cross country have strong races
By Anne Marie Tobin
WRENTHAM -- The Lynnfield
boys and girls cross country
teams had a strong showing at
Saturday’s Eastern Massachusetts
Cross Country Championships at
Wrentham Developmental Center.
Battling cold, wind and rain,
both teams finished fifth with the
boys scoring 185 points in the 21-
team field, while the girls tallied
201 points in the 17-team field.
The boys race featured 167 runners,
while the girls race had 131.
Lynnfield’s top finisher was
sophomore John Astrofsky who
placed 12th in 17:41.73, and qualified
for Sunday’s All-State meet
at Westfield, while the top female
Pioneer was junior Elizabeth
St. Andre, who placed 26th in
22:22.30.
“John ran a terrific race even
though slowed down a bit with a
sore knee, but he fought through
to finish 12th,” said DiBiase. “He
has had a terrific, breakout season
and is only a sophomore, but due to
the knee, he will probably not run
at All-States. Our senior captains
(Joe, David and Steve) ran very
well in their last high school race.
And our three underclassman runners
(Sam, Mike and Jake) earned
some valuable experience running
in a high -stakes race at the end of
the season.
For the boys, senior David
Blake (32nd, 18:33.82), senior
Joe Fabrizio (55th, 19:14.64),
sophomore Mike Madden (56th,
19:14.93) and senior Steven
Dwyer (59th, 19:21.11) rounded
out the top-five Pioneers who factored
in the team scoring. Junior
Sam Pifko (74th, 19:55.49) and
sophomore Jake Soriano (125th,
21:31.56) also competed.
“Our senior captains (Fabrizio,
Dwyer, Blake) ran very well in
their last high school race,” said
DiBiase. “And our three underclassman
runners (Pifko, Madden,
Soriano) earned some valuable
experience running in a high
-stakes race.”
For the girls, senior Annie
Olsen (44th, 23:15.29), senior Brie
Passatempo (53rd, 23:44.40), junior
Cass Shone (59th, 24:02.42)
and junior Sarah Deschenes (66th,
24:28.28) rounded out the topfive,
while senior Keira Rothwell
(75th, 24:54.68) and sophomore
Jennifer Miller (83rd, 25:15.84)
also ran strong races.
“Elisabeth ran a great race,
she’s worked hard all season and
managed to stay healthy which
has helped her improve week to
week,” said DiBiase. “Senior captains
Annie and Brie have battled
through some injuries to finish the
season strong with a great race.
And the rest of our top-seven varsity
runners ran their best races of
the season, especially under the
conditions of the day.”
The meet wrapped out a
breakout season for the boys team,
which captured its first Cape Ann
League title since 1981 and 1982,
when the Pioneers won back-toback
titles.
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