Clippers roll on
Newburyport girls take Div. 2 North
A strong team effort brought Newburyport girls lacrosse an undefeated season, the Cape Ann League title and a spot in the Division 2 North title game. To clinch the championship, the Clippers needed to follow what worked.
Four-goal games by Maggie Pons and Molly Rose Kearney powered the No. 1-seeded Clippers to a 1511 victory over No. 3 Ipswich yesterday at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School.
But that team-first mentality was missing at the game’s start. The Clippers (20-0) and Tigers (17-3) went back and forth in the first 10 minutes, finding themselves knotted at 4-4.
“We started the game really shaky, trying to do it individually instead of together, which has been our secret all year,” said Newburyport coach Catherine Batchelder.
Pons and Hannah Schilling brought the Clippers out to a 6-4 lead, but Ipswich star Julia Glavin found her way around a tight defense to score twice to tie it again. Emma Moulton then gave the Tigers the lead seconds later.
Newburyport got back on track, thanks to two goals by Pons. Rebecca Turi’s high dish in with 1:03 left gave the Clippers a 9-7 lead at halftime.
Annie Gillis opened up the scoring in the second half with a bounce shot that brought Ipswich within one. That wouldn’t last long, as Kearney scored three of the Clippers next four goals, cutting and dashing around the quick Tigers defense.
“She was feeling out of whack in the first half, and in the second half you saw what she is capable of,” said Batchelder.
Cescily Wheeler scored a low swinging goal in the midst of Kearney’s effort, and Schilling’s second of the night put Newburyport up 14-9 with 9:18 left.
Ipswich rallied with goals by Caitlyn Stevens and Glavin, but with 4:15 left, Pons bounced in one more goal to secure the victory and a date in next week’s state semifinal. . . .
Allison Foley scored four goals in the second half and Emily Curtis added a key tally in the waning moments as No. 1 Walpole (212) held off No. 3 Foxboro, 12-10, to retain the Div. 2 Central East title.
Annie Walsh scored seven times as No. 1 Franklin (22-1) took care of secondseeded Concord-Carlisle, 167, to win the Div. 1 East title.
Boys
With just two minutes remaining, Hanover’s Connor Morris knew he had to be perfect with his next move.
Stumbling, the junior midfielder let it rip as he lunged forward. The shot found nothing but net, clinching the victory and the No. 1 Indians grabbed a dramatic 11-9 win over No. 3 Cohasset to take the Div. 3 south title at Marshfield High.
“That was the dagger,” Hanover coach Paul Zaylor said. “Because we feel like when we get that two-goal lead with just a couple minutes remaining that (Caleb Hammett is) winning faceoffs, we can run off clock pretty comfortably.”
Abdullah Nassif would pace the Hanover offense with four goals. Neil Calkin added three. Hammett also contributed for the Indians (16-4), taking 17-of-23 faceoffs, and sophomore Michael Nassif made 15 saves.
Cohasset (17-7) was led by junior Kyle McFeteridge, who posted four secondhalf goals.
The trip to the state semis is the second straight for Hanover. Last year, the Indians took a 7-6 loss from Grafton.
It may have taken until the second half, but it only took a few moments for Hingham to wake up.
After Bishop Feehan made it a 4-3 game just 48 seconds into the second half, the top-seeded Harbormen tallied eight straight goals, four from Jack Hennessey, to cruise to a 13-6 victory in the Div. 2 South final.
It marks the fourth consecutive sectional title for Hingham. Junior Marshall Terres scored four goals for the Harbormen (21-3), who also got goals from senior captain Devin Irvin, Jake Quilty, Marc O’Rourke and Cole Hartman.
No. 3 Bishop Feehan (155) was led by Shamus Cochrane’s hat trick.
Pat Gillis scored three goals, and Charlie Gillis, Duke Kriksceonaitis and Kilian Morrissey added a pair as No. 2 Ipswich (18-2) beat top-seeded HamiltonWenham for the second time this season to take the Div. 3 North title.