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Senior midfielder Manveer Sandhu’s goal off a penalty stroke 6 minutes, 7 seconds into overtime gave the championship trophy to Greenwich Academy in a 3-2 win over Phillips.  

WORCESTER — Andover seniors Emma Farnham and Gabby Vaccaro were in the middle of a frantic, emotional mob of hugs at midfield of WPI’s Alumni Field.

They had both just exhausted themselves to help Andover beat Longmeadow, 2-0, in the Division 1 state championship game. And they both stood proudly with the rest of their Golden Warrior teammates as champions, capping off a brilliant 22-0-1 year.

How did this happen? How could this happen?

Did they ever think that this would happen?

A year ago, both Vaccaro (torn ACL) and Farnham (broken finger) missed significant time — in Vaccaro’s case the whole season — for an Andover team which was unexpectedly bounced in the Division 1 North quarterfinals. 

A season with such high hopes (Andover was 17-1-1 at the time) was abruptly dashed with two key cogs forced to watch from the sidelines.

But both returned healthy and hungrier than ever this fall, and Saturday afternoon at WPI they got a chance to hoist the Division 1 championship trophy high with the rest of their teammates.

“This is the best feeling in the world for me,” said Farnham, a UMass Amherst lacrosse recruit who is the daughter of Central Catholic Hall of Famer Glenn Farnham and cousin/niece to a slew of Andover legends. “It was so hard being on the sideline and watching my teammates go through that loss and there was nothing I could do about it.

“But to come back and to just win it with Gabby, who I know had a worse injury than I did, is just awesome. I’m just so happy for this team and so proud to be part of this program.”

Added Vaccaro: “I thought that this was going to be our year from the beginning, and for that to be so real now is amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

“I knew I was going to come back this year and bring everything I’ve got.”

Medwar, Carzo score

Vaccaro and Farnham didn’t factor into the boxscore Saturday afternoon, but both played instrumental parts in the victory — as did everyone else for Andover.

A scoreless game at half, it was the work of Katherine Furry who drew the eventual corner that got Andover on the board.

The goal came from freshman sensation Hanna Medwar, who took a rebound off of a Kate Gregory shot and went top shelf to put the Golden Warriors ahead for good.

“It definitely felt really amazing seeing that goal go in,” said Vaccaro. “I felt like we had a good chance, but we had to keep the focus and intensity going.”

Longmeadow’s first loss

The tally came just five minutes into the second half. Longmeadow (now 19-1-2), which won the West sectional for the seventh straight year, had plenty of time to cage the equalizer.

But Andover kept the offensive pressure going, out-cornering Longmeadow 7-1 all game. The Warriors would get some cushion midway through half when Julia Carzo fired a shot wide, but it was accidentally deflected in by a Longmeadow defender.

From there, Andover’s defense cruised.

After winning its third state title in the last eight years (2010, 2011), Andover will be graduating a talented senior class.

But the Warriors began the year with a laser focus they maintained all year, and now they can say it was unparalleled to anyone else in Division 1.

“We wanted this so bad, and we work so well together. We’re such a family,” said Farnham. “We just wanted it more than ever. All our hard work paid off.”

Andover 2, Longmeadow 0

Division 1 State Final

Goals: Hanna Medwar, Julia Carzo

Assists: Kate Gregory

Saves: A — Julia Gordon 0; L — Gabrielle Acquista 6

Longmeadow (19-0-3): 0 0 — 0

Andover (22-0-1): 0 2 — 2

Defense dominates unbeaten Longmeadow

“I think the kids have been playing well defensively all year,” said Andover coach Maureen Noone. “They’re playing against the best forwards in practice. So I think they’re ready for anything, they just don’t get noticed in the games.”

They were noticed yesterday.

A group effort led by Anna Vrountas, Carissa Agostino, Anna Zdunczyk, Jordan Torres and Kate Gregory kept Longmeadow without a shot on goalie Julia Gordon. The Lancers had a couple of scoring opportunities, but their shots went wide.

It was Andover’s 15th shutout of the season. And against a team which had scored 12 goals in its three tourney wins prior to yesterday.

You want incredible? Andover’s defense allowed a grand total of one — yes, one — total shot on goal combined in the state semifinal and state final.

The lone blemish for Andover (22-0-1) was a 2-2 tie against Central Catholic on Oct. 2.

.....................................................................

MEDWAR A REVELATION FOR ANDOVER WORCESTER — With a laundry list of difference-makers Andover was returning, freshman Hanna Medwar was an afterthought.

No one, maybe not even Medwar herself, could have imagined she would perhaps be the Golden Warriors’ most influential player this season.

Freshman Anna Bargman scored in the first half and fellow Boxford resident Alexa Matses (10 saves) made it stand up as Phillips field hockey shaded St. Paul's, 1-0, in the New England Prep Class A semifinals.

BRAINTREE - Kate Gregory didn't look at the King Philip goalie for a second.

She didn't watch the goalie's eyes, as many do when they're taking a penalty stroke, or survey for any sort of weakness that could help get that ball into the back of the cage.

The Phillips Academy field hockey rolled to a 5-1 victory in the Class A New England Prep quarterfinals behind two goals each from Ashley Tucker and Kelly McCarthy. Katie Wimmer of Windhams made three saves in goal for the Big Blue (16-1) who will host St. Paul's at 2 .m. Saturday.

Julia Worden could not be stopped, scoring three times to lift No. 4 Central Catholic field hockey to a convincing, 6-1, victory over No. 5 Belmont in the Division 1 North quarterfinals. Caroline Pinho, Casey Thompson and Erin O'Neil were the Raiders' other goal-scorers.

Led by three goals and an assist by Katherine Furry, top-seeded Andover rolled over No. 8 Masconomet, 6-1, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals. Fabulous freshman Hanna Medwar had two goals and an assist for the Warriors (18-0-1).

Sophomore Maddie DiPietro continued her breakout campaign for Central Catholic field hockey, scoring twice in a 4-2 win over Concord-Carlisle in the first round of the Division 1 North tournament. Casey Thompson and Kaylee Thomas also scored for the No. 4 Raiders, who will host No. 5 Belmont on Saturday at 6 p.m.

BEDFORD, N.H. — The tying score seemed destined for the goal.

A Hanover player flew in on a breakaway midway through the second half, deked the goalie and had nothing but open turf between her and tying the game.

BEDFORD — Mission accomplished!
That pretty well summed it up for the Timberlane field hockey team Sunday afternoon when it repeated as the Division 1 state champion by defeating Londonderry, 4-2, in impressive fashion.
At the beginning of the season, head coach Mim Ryan established a goal for her team, which she showed off on the shirt underneath a jacket sheltering her from the rain that fell during the contest.
“We wanted to leave a legacy this year,” said Ryan, whose club finished at 15-2. “This is the 50th year of the program and I thought, with 11 seniors back, we could be here and do this if things went well. But you never know and you have to work for it.
“I was really nervous coming into the game. Londonderry had been playing well and they reminded me of the team we were last year when we weren’t a high seed but got hot at the end of the season.”
Ryan and the Owls were probably getting nervous in the first half. Although Timberlane controlled play for much of the first 15 minutes of the game, it couldn’t get any good shots on goal. Then, with 11:09 to play, Londonderry came down and scored on a penalty corner as Maev McPhail rifled in a shot on an assist from Vanessa Magoon.
“I think when they scored, it gave us a little spark and we started playing the game the way we know how to,” said Ryan.
Indeed, the Owls tied it up, 1-1, with 1:52 left in the half when their leading scorer, Kylie Fitzpatrick, got the ball in front of the goal in a wild scramble and put the ball in the net.
The second half was dominated from the start by Timberlane, which took a 2-1 lead five minutes in on a goal off a penalty corner by captain Tori Rothwell. A nice individual move by Taryn MacKinnon resulted in a 3-1 lead at the 12:57 mark and senior reserve Emma Lennon made it 4-1 with four minutes to go.
Londonderry got a late goal, with 42 seconds left, on a penalty shot by McPhail but that was far too little too late.
In that second half, Timberlane had eight penalty corners to just one for Londonderry and, with Rothwell, Samantha Hamilton and MacKinnon controlling the midfield and Jess Mezquita, Fitzpatrick and Sarah Padellaro staying aggressive in the offensive end, Londonderry rarely got it out of its own end.
One had to wonder what Ryan said to the team at halftime to spur on the Owls’ domination.
“She pumped us up and motivated us,” said Rothwell. “And we had a little meditation that helped. Then we just went out and started playing our game.”
For Fitzpatrick, who was clearly the most aggressive offensive player in the game, it was the last field hockey game of a fine career in which she has scored more than 30 goals for the Owls. She is headed to St. Anselm next year on a softball scholarship.
“It’s pretty exciting to have a game like this and a good way to end it,” she said. “We really wanted this.”
For Ryan, it was her third state title overall, having won once as head coach at Sanborn, and gives her an overall record at Timberlane of 173-62-11. Next year, she’ll welcome several players from a strong JV team but realizes that there may be some rebuilding.
“These seniors, players like Kylie, Tori and Taryn, will be awfully hard to replace,” said Ryan. “They’ve done a lot for the program.”
Not only that — they’ve left a legacy.

Grace MacDonald scored four goals in the second half to power Georgetown's field hockey team to an imp[ressive 4-1 win over Hamilton-Wenham.

Andover's field hockey team wrapped up its third undefeated regular season with a 5-0 shutout of Lawrence. Joanna Archambault scored twice and Jordan Torres had two assists for the Warriors (17-0-1), who got plenty of reserves into the game in the second half.

Windham field hockey is headed back to the Division 2 state finals! The Jaguars beat Kennett 3-0 in the state semifinal, getting goals from Kate Blaisdell, Madi Connelly and Madi Ohare to pull out the win. Windham will now face either Souhegan or Hanover in the final at Bedford High School on Sunday at 5 p.m.

Central Catholic's golfers had a superb day at the Black Swann Country Club in Georgetown, finishing second at the Division 2 sectional, to advance to the state tournament next week in Grafton. Mikey Ysantopolus led the Raiders with a 73 and Max Hagan had a 77 and both also advanced to the individual tournament. Ysantopolus finished in third place overall.