Westwood solves NDA
Avenge past losses en route to state semifinals
WESTWOOD — There aren’t many teams mighty Westwood has struggled with in its two decades as the state’s dominant girls lacrosse program, but Notre Dame Academy is certainly one of them.
Matched against a Cougars team that ended their season in each of the last three Division 1 South tournaments, the third-seeded Wolverines exorcised some demons in Sunday’s final with a decisive 13-8 victory for their first sectional crown since 2016.
“It’s the best thing we could ever ask for our senior season after all we have been through with COVID and it’s obviously been a little bit of a different season,” said senior defender Abby Crowley. “There has been a chip on our shoulder for the last two years ever since we lost in this game. It’s the best feeling ever.”
Seven different Westwood players scored, led by five goals and three assists from senior Ashley Mackin, in beating the reigning Div. 1 champs for the second time this season.
“We played them really early and we try not to look at those early games because every team improves from the beginning of the season to the end,” said Westwood coach Margot Spatola. “So we prepared and kept practicing and used all of our other games to help us prepare, and they were ready.”
The 22-0 Wolverines advance to the state semifinals on Tuesday, when they will host Central/West titlist Longmeadow, another team they defeated earlier this year.
The critical stretch came early as NDA jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and had the ball following a Westwood turnover. But Lindsey Diomede snatched it right back, feeding Ava Connaughton behind the net, who found a cutting Emma Ricci in the blink of an eye for the finish.
That play sparked a run of six consecutive Westwood goals that bled into the second quarter, and the Wolverines took an 8-4 edge into the break.
Westwood squelched any thoughts of a comeback in the third quarter by blanking a Cougar squad that was without a key weapon in Hannah Evans, who suffered a knee injury in the first half. Wolverine senior goalie Anya Holland was at her best in the third, making three of her six saves.
Trailing 10-4 after three, NDA never got closer than five the rest of the way despite the efforts of freshman Aubrey McMahon, who scored three of her team-high four goals in the fourth.
It was the eighth meeting between the programs in the last nine postseasons and fifth in the final. Westwood’s victory evens the rivalry at four wins apiece in the tournament.
“It’s always the goal to go all the way with NDA,” said Crowley. “They are a great program, a great team. All the girls are amazing, I have been playing club with them for so long. It’s an honor to play against them every time.”