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Hornets dominate Marblehead, earn trip to North finals

Friday, November, 09 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

The Manchester Essex field hockey team has finally made it over the hump.

After five straight years of falling in the Division 2 North semifinal, the Hornets have reached the final. Their ticket was punched after a 2-0 win over Marblehead yesterday at North Andover High School's Joe Walsh Field.

With the win, the top-seeded Hornets (19-1-1) will face sixth-seeded Winchester tomorrow at North Andover High School (11 a.m.) with the Division 2 North title on the line.

"This is an amazing feeling," Hornets forward Simone Bodmer-Turner. "Our goal for so long has been to make it past the semifinals and we did it, we are very excited." Hornets head coach Pam Grant was very excited to get to the finals, but it didn't come as a surprise to her.

"It's really nice to get past the semis," Grant said. "I was confident that if any team could make it this far, it was this one, they are an amazing team."

After a scoreless first half, Bodmer-Turner notched the game-winning goal for Manchester Essex three minutes into the second half. Molly Foye would add an insurance goal six minutes later to give the Hornets all the cushion they needed.

Despite the close score, the Hornets dominated play controlling the pace and outshooting Marblehead 25-2. Meredith Crofton and senior captain Sarah Merullo powered the Hornets defense, quickly brushing aside any offense that Marblehead tried to mount. Grant was very pleased with what she saw from her team.

"We set a very nice pace in the first half and kept it going throughout," Grant said. "We got a lot of great shots early and we kept the pressure on all game."

Both Grant and Magicians head coach Linda Rice-Collins lauded Marblehead goalie Libby Levine for her play. The senior made 23 saves and turned away numerous Hornets scoring chances in both the first and second half to keep the game close. Although Levine gave a great effort. the Hornets game plan of constant pressure ended up being too much for Marblehead.

"We wanted to stay on offense for as long as we could," Grant said. "We kept our defensemen very close in the offensive end to keep the pressure on them and it worked. But their defense played very well in the box to keep it a close game."

Rice-Collins was not only disappointed in the loss, she was also unhappy with what she thought was very physical play by the Hornets.

"This was a very physical game," Rice-Collins said. "Two of our key offensive players were seriously injured. That's not the way we like to play."

All in all, the Hornets want to celebrate their victory, but they also know that they have more work to do.

"We know whoever we play next will be a very good team and we will have to play well to win," Bodmer-Turner said. "But right now we are really happy to be going to the finals. We have been playing together for so long and right now it is paying off."