Historic win for Holliston
The Division 3 South final offered more than a chance at history for Holliston.
The Panthers could also avenge their only loss of the season, which came against Tri-Valley League rival Norton.
No. 3 Holliston accomplished both yesterday, winning the program’s first sectional title as Patrick Mejia’s goal in the 71st minute lifted the Panthers over the fifthseeded Lancers, 1-0, at Milford High.
“After losing to them in the regular season, we knew that we had to win this,” Mejia said. “It was just revenge, it’s to win the South championship and everything just worked out perfectly for us.”
Holliston (16-1-3) couldn’t capitalize on several scoring chances against North (16-3-3) until crunch time.
Carter Mikkelsen passed a ball back to Mejia, who from outside the box on the left wing sent an arching shot over the head of Derek Alexander (six saves) and into the far corner for the lead.
Despite a halftime deficit to top-seeded Mystic Valley (17-2-2), the No. 2 St. Mary’s Spartans (19-2-2) battled through adversity to win the Div. 4 North final with a 2-1 victory at Manning Field.
Senior midfielder Joseph Thongsythavong played the hero with two second-half goals.
“We started off a little slow. We definitely outshot them and had the pressure going down there,” said Spartans coach Mike D’Agostino. “We had to fine-tune some things at halftime. We made some changes, moved Joey up front and as you saw he got two beautiful goals.”
Girls soccer
It was a long road back to the Div. 3 North finals for
Swampscott after falling short to Newburyport in last year’s title bout.
This year, the seventhseeded Big Blue (16-5-1) wouldn’t let the opportunity slip away, getting a goal and an assist from senior Grace Digrande in a 2-0 victory over No. 4 Bishop Fenwick (17-4-1) at the Manning Bowl to claim the Div. 3 North throne (for the first time in program history).
“The six seniors have been stepping up the whole season, and they left it all out on the field today,” said first year Big Blue head coach Norman James. “I’m so proud of these girls, they gave everything they had from the beginning to the end.”
In the 29th minute, Digrande blasted a free kick from 30-yards out that bent just under the crossbar and inside the right-side post to put Swampscott up 1-0.
“That was an incredible goal,” said James. “That’s just a beautiful free kick. It gave us a ton of energy.”
That energy translated to another tally less than three minutes later in the 32nd minute. Digrande put a corner kick inside the box for senior Haley Bernhardt who volleyed it home with the right foot, giving the Big Blue a 2-0 lead.
“This is great for the seniors, they’re leaving a legacy behind,” James said. “They’re gonna be legends in Swampscott.”
In Division 3 South, Kristi Vierra scored twice to force overtime before Emily Fiorella blasted a shot into the net in the 90th minute to complete Norwell’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Hanover at Milford.
“The defenders were spreading out, so I just took the opportunity to take the shot,” said Fiorella as Norwell (20-2-1) advances to the state semifinals against Swampscott. “It took me a second to process it, but then once everyone was cheering. It was a good feeling.”
Hanover (13-6-4) led 2-0 thanks to two goals from Dorothy Tilden.
In the Division 4 North final, senior captain Chelsea Lynch scored her second tally with 2:21 left in the second overtime to lift No. 6 Amesbury over No. 4 Manchester Essex, 2-1, at Manning Field.
“It’s an unreal feeling,” Lynch said about helping the Indians (15-3-4) win their third straight sectional title. “Full team-wide effort. I could not have gotten that goal without the unbelievable passes from the midfield and the tough hustle from the wings.”
Senior capatain Jillian Bowen scored the goal for Manchester Essex (15-4-2).