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Lady Skippers take first two; set to play Duxbury Thursday

Date last updated 9:45 am Apr 14th, 2008

Cohasset - Last season was a disappointment for the Cohasset High girls lacrosse team and head coach Chuck Jaffe admitted as much. The Lady Skippers finished 7-9 overall after qualifying as the top seed in Div. 2 south the year before. They had talent (see 2007 graduate Lindsay Durkin) and veteran leadership but still fell just short of making the south sectionals.

“Some of it was coaching,” the third-year coach said Monday afternoon. “ People were stunned we didn’t make the tournament.”

Expectations didn’t reach reality in 2007, but Jaffe and the 2008 Lady Skippers hope to dispel any bad taste left from last season.

“We are young, but we want to win now,” Jaffe said. Cohasset is young with only three seniors; Sarah Brown, Jen Silvia and Amanda Hurd. All three are captains and only Brown has ever been a full-time starter.

As a program, adolescence is turning to young adult. “When the boys got good it was in the fifth or sixth season of the youth program,” Jaffe said. “When those first kids that went through the youth program got to junior and senior year they [saw success].  “We are just reaching that stage now.”

Although Jaffe is quick to point out he isn’t forecasting the type of success the boys have had, he does hope his young squad can surprise some people this year.

Two South Shore League all-star midfielders will return to the lineup, Caitlin Mahoney (Jr.) and Amy Meikleham (So.) “My first two years we relied heavily on the attack, this year we will rely on the midfield,” Jaffe said.

Cohasset girls lacrosse notebook (Submitted by head coach Chuck Jaffe)

Cohasset 14, Bishop Feehan 5

The Skippers opened up a 5-0 lead in the game's first few minutes, Monday, and spent the rest of the day working on movement and motion and adjusting to game situations. The team expanded its lead to 9-2 at the half and assistant coach Jennifer Palmer -- running the sidelines for Chuck Jaffe (who was out on a one game suspension from last season) -- played mostly reserves in the second half.

Freshman Kaci Kucinski paced the team with three goals, while juniors Caitlin Mahoney and Kayla Farren scored twice each. Sophomore Kaleigh Teague picked up a goal and two assists and freshman attacker Kelsey Erler scored her first high school goal and added a helper. Amy Meikleham, Grace Clougherty, Katie Gaumer, Lindsay Hill and Isabelle Franklin all had solo goals as part of a balanced Skipper scoring attack, and sophomore Hannah Burgess notched her first varsity point with an assist.

Junior Amanda Masotta, stepping into the goaltending position vacated by South Shore League all-star Aisling Guinee, made five saves to win her debut effort.

Cohasset 17, Abington 1

Cohasset jumped out to a 6-0 lead just 3:33 into the game, and then spent the remainder of the early-season game looking at a lot of players and getting an inkling of how those girls can perform at the varsity level. The Lady Skippers cruised to a 10-0 halftime lead and dominated the game even while playing its reserves en route to a 17-1 win.

Lindsay Hill, Amy Meikleham, Kaleigh Teague and Katie Gaumer scored two goals each. Kelsey Erler, Hannah Burgess and Eliza Kinnealey each picked up a goal and an assist, and Caitlin Mahoney, Isabelle Franklin, Kaci Kucinski, Kenzie Hart, Olivia Murphy, and Amanda Masotta had solo markers. For Kinnealey, Hart, Murphy and Masotta -- the latter having started the game as the team's goaltender -- the goals represented their first varsity points.