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Girls 8th week action

Date last updated 7:14 am Apr 8th, 2009

Girls youth teams beat the heat … and Braintree and Norwell

   The heat was brutal, but the Cohasset youth girls lacrosse teams worked through it on June 8, fighting for wins in Braintree and Norwell.

   At the 15-and-Under level (grades 7 and 8), Cohasset White had its unbeaten season on the line against Braintree on the steamy turf of Thayer Academy. Whitney Jaffe scored the game’s first two goals on penalty shots, only to see Braintree come right back to tie the score. Jenna Reece, who arrived late to give Cohasset its one and only substitute, came off the bench to spark the team, scoring two goals to break the deadlock and give the White team a lead it would never relinquish. Nicole Farren finished the first-half scoring, controlling the draw after Reece’s second score and driving all the way to the net for the score.

   Cohasset extended a 5-2 halftime lead to 8-2 thanks to Jaffe and Sarah Evans. First, Evans assisted Jaffe, then Evans knocked down the goalie’s pass after Braintree had stopped her shot, scooped up the loose ball and fired it home, and then Jaffe netted her fourth goal of the game. A three-goal Braintree run made it look like this game might get close, but Evans fed Reece to stop the momentum, Jaffe converted a slick pass from Nicole Farren and then scored an unassisted goal to put the game out of reach. Two late Braintree goals made the final 11-7, but Cohasset escaped the heat with its undefeated record intact.

   Anna Seraikas, Eloise Lucas and Julia Canney played every minute of this scorcher on defense, and did a great job sparking the transition game. Kylie Coffman, Amanda Farren and Abby Carrier ran the midfield and came up with solid plays at both ends of the field to allow Cohasset to play the controlled, slow style necessary to win a game when badly outnumbered in such heat.

   In Norwell, the Cohasset Blue team showed up light for the game, which was bad news on a day of such unrelenting heat. It didn’t seem to matter much early in the first half; after trading the first four goals of the game, Cohasset scored three in a row to take control of the contest, and should have extended its lead, but for some savvy goalkeeping by Norwell. The home team, however, scored three of the half’s final four goals to make it 6-5 at the break.

   Whitney Jaffe scored five of the Blue team’s first-half goals, with Danielle Frederick netting her very first career goal. Isabella Flibotte picked up an assist on a long feed to Jaffe.

   In the second half, the teams took the goalies out of the net to beat the heat, and switched to shooting nets – with cutout targets – which seemed to favor the home team, as it recognized the benefits of shooting low and aiming under the target rather than trying to squeeze theball through the holes. Despite dominating play, Cohasset had a tough time scoring. Jaffe added two more goals, but Norwell went on a run to take a 9-8 lead before Kristen Alexander – frustrated all day by the heat, the goaltending and the target net – broke free and tied the game with under a minute remaining. The goal allowed the game to end in a tie, which was important to the Cohasset coaches; in their last year at the helm of the youth teams, Chuck Jaffe and Jennifer Palmer had never lost to a team from Norwell, and were happy to escape with a lifetime record of 19-0-1 against Norwell teams.

   At the 13-U level (grades 5 and 6), the White team enjoyed its sweltering day on the Braintree turf, against a home team that never gave up despite field conditions that reportedly recorded the field temperature at 120 degrees. The girls broke out quickly from the first draw, with Mackenzie Axelson assisting Maddie Curley’s first of four goals on the day playing at both attack and middie. Soon others got into the act with Isabelle Dunne having her biggest outing of the season with four goals and several key clears from the defensive end. 

    The Braintree girls never backed down and stayed within two goals throughout the first half. With slightly less than a full compliment of players, the attack and defensive sides essentially played the entire game with substitutions limited to the midfield positions. On defense, Maggie Littlejohn made several important clears and Cassandra Lieberman and Caroline Prescott worked coverage and ground balls very tenaciously. Goalie Taylor Frederick earned her stripes just for putting on the pads and risking heat stroke, and made six saves and several excellent clearing passes while playing the entire game in net. At attack, Alison Bodner had several nice passes and Allie O’Callaghan had her first shot of the season, nearly sneaking it past the Braintree goalie.   There was spirited play from Charlotte Allard, who shelled the goal with four shots and one goal in addition to keeping the pace of play very high the entire game. Erin Driscoll scored one goal on her two shots.  In addition to bearing the brunt of the draw duties, Mackenzie Axelson was a reliable defensive player and with her stick skills even served us in attack for a period of time.   Also in the midfield Katie McCabe, Lilly McCarthy, Isabelle McCarthy, Caroline and Valerie Farren, Hanna Cooper and Meredith Corry all ran their hearts out, scooped and fought for ground balls and helped make the last regular season game the best one of the season.

   The 13-U Blue team played late in the day in Norwell, which was not much relief from the heat, but neither the weather nor Norwell could stop the Cohasset girls from picking up their seventh consecutive win. Cohasset jumped out to an early lead, as Molly Fitzgerald ripped two quick ones into the cage and Lexa Grasz scored her first of the day to make it 3-1. Several of the Blue players had already played multiple games at a tournament earlier in the day, and the fatigue started to show, as Norwell tied the game at three just before halftime. 

    The game went back and forth for the first fifteen minutes of the second half until Cohasset took control and scored the last four goals of the game to make the final 9-6.  During that scoring burst, Grasz scored three more times, with great passes from Emily Robbins and Eliza Murphy making two of those goals possible. Kathryn Dunn picked up two scores in the second half, one coming on a great feed from Grasz.  Annie McElgunn rounded out the scoring with a single marker and Shannon McGowan was her usual dominating force on defense.

    The Blue team finished the regular season with a 7-1 record and takes its winning streak into the first ever Girls South Shore Lax Jam on Saturday, June 14^th.

   In 11-and-Under action (grades 3 and 4), the White team got to enjoy the blistering heat on the turf at Braintree, where they faced a team with a formidable goalie, good speed and solid ground-ball skills. The home team led Cohasset by one throughout the half and moved ahead with a 5 – 2 lead by the end of the third quarter; the teams played quarters, instead of the regular  halves, to get some respite from the weather. However, in the fourth quarter, the White girls, more comfortable with the heat and playing surface, were determined to turn things around, and scored three times in the last two minutes of play to escape with a 5-5 tie.

    Midfielder Alexandra Leahy, had her best game of the season. Leahy won five face-offs in the first half (8 total in the game); turning one of them into a quick goal after a rapid passing series with fellow middie, Corey Golden, who scored. The duo had several other nice series and two shots on goal which were thwarted by Braintree’s goalie. Cohasset’s second goal was scored after Kara Nelson had a nice ground ball pick, passed smoothly to Emma Humphrey, who passed to Olivia Gomez behind the net who, although frustrated three times by a wall of Braintree players, forcing whistles, finally connected with the back of the net on a swift, low shot. As the girls got used to the turf, ground balls began to go more in their favor as they were scooped up by Nonie Thomas, Kaitlan McGovern, Humphrey and Leahy. Gomez had a nice interception shortly after her goal and Madeline Littlejohn and Julia Richardson led the charge on defense. Goalie Katie McKeon made several key saves to keep the score close at the half.

    Leahy started the late rally for Cohasset with a rush to the net after passes from Madelyn Schwandt, another interception by an alert Gomez and an extended scuffle in which Vivien Littlejohn came up with a key ground ball which she swiftly sent to Leahy who beat the goalie with a bouncing shot to make the score 5-3. Quickly thereafter, Humphrey scored on a high shot just inside the post and cut the deficit to 5-4 with under a minute to play in the contest.  Ginny Alex and Leahy recorded assists on the play. With time against them, White won the draw again and promptly set up in the Braintree zone for one last chance. Leahy found McGovern who raced to the net, shooting a laser right past the goalie to tie the game as time expired.  Thomas deserves kudos for volunteer goaltending in the second half. She had to withstand the heat even if there wasn’t much action on her end of the field.