RallyNorth.net

After dropping its season opener Friday in the New Hampshire Tech Tournament, the Northern Essex men's basketball team rebounded with a 111-41 victory over Northern Maine yesterday. All-tournament selection Matt Sifferlen of North Andover had 27 points, Pentucket grad Will Angelini chipped in with 13 and Haverhill's Kyle Davis added 11. In Friday's game, Damian Lugay scored 16 points and lawrence's Franklin Martinez added 11.

North Andover battled its way to a 2-1 victory over Central Catholic and a berth in the state field hockey tourney. Danielle McAdam and Kali Otis (assist) transitioned the ball well in the victory while Danielle Jillson turned in a solid defensive effort for the Knights.

Julia Gagne send a pass in front of the net to Krista Maloney, who one-timed it into the goal with three minutes left to give Central Catholic field hockey a 1-0 win over Methuen.

Andover's field hockey team put on all sorts of pressure on Central Catholic in a 5-0 victory. Meagan Keefe had two goals and an assist for the Warriors (12-2-1) and Brianna Smith had a goal and an assist. Goalie Nicole DiFilippo had 10 saves for Central (7-6-1) and defenders Molly Bryant and Caitlin Derrickson combined for five saves. Melissa Newton and Mikayla Panneton played strong all-around games for Andover.

Central Catholic's field hockey team scored six goals in the first half to overwhelm Dracut in a 7-1 victory. Julia Gagne and Emma Morse scored twice and Karoline Leavitt had a goal and three assists.

In a battle for a top spot in the MVC, Kali Otis scored the game-winner in the second half as North Andover nipped Central Catholic 2-1. Otis also assisted on a Sara McCarthy goal for the Knights (5-2-4) while Kendra Poulin scored for the Raiders (6-3-1).

Central Catholic came out strong, surging to a quick lead, then held off a hard-charging Bishop Fenwick squad for a 2-0 field hockey victory, With center midfielder Kendra Poulin driving the transition game, the Raiders got a pair of first-half goals from Karoline Leavitt. Then when momentum shifted Fenwick's way in the second half, Caitlin Derrickson dug in with extra defensive effort near the net and Hope Alaimo fought to clear the ball out of the circle quickly to preserve goalie Nicole DiFilippo's shutout.