RallyNorth.net

Masco girls upset by Lincoln-Sudbury

Thursday, November, 08 By Jean DePlacido
Correspondent

There will be a new Division 1 North girls soccer champion this year.

Lincoln-Sudbury made sure of that yesterday, scoring early on and making that one goal stand up in a 1-0 upset of defending champion Masconomet.

The third-seeded Lady Chieftains fought hard to get the equalizer, and narrowly missed tying it up on a bid by junior Ashley McKenelley with just under two minutes remaining. McKenelley beat a L-S defender and booted a low shot, aimed at the right corner of the net. Warrior goalkeeper Kathleen Davis dove for the ball and just managed to get her fingertips on it to send it wide of the net.

"Our keeper was fantastic tonight," said LS coach Alicia Carrillo, her team now 12-4-4. "There was Davis flying through the air to deny Masco the tie. That was an unbelievable play, a huge save.

"I thought we dominated the first half, then felt their pressure and had to hang on. Masco liked to punch the long balls through, and we had to be aware of that. We worked our butts off to get this win."

Masconomet (16-2-2) got off to a slow start and trailed six minutes into the game when L-S sophomore midfielder Kate Sisk worked her way through three defenders and beat keeper Annie Burns on a low shot into the right corner.

"This is a tough way to end our season," said Burns, a senior, who only allowed eight goals all season. "I don't think we were ready on that goal. Lincoln-Sudbury was a run-and-gun team, and later, when we tried to get our offense going, we would get up the field but they'd boot the ball back."

The 11th-seeded Warriors, who prepared for the postseason by playing in the tough Dual County League, had several scoring chances in the first 40 minutes including three free kicks, but had to settle for the one-goal lead.

"We were actually fortunate to only be down by one at halftime," said Masconomet head coach Paula Yanakakis. "We didn't play well in that half, but I thought it was 90 percent Masco in the second half and Burns was awesome in goal.

"We were a bit overanxious, though, trying to set up that perfect shot. We were trying to get a foot on the ball or get a good shot off, but sometimes we waited too long and didn't shoot enough. I would have liked to see us take more shots."

The Lady Chieftains picked up the pace and applied a lot of pressure as the second half wore on. Ten minutes into the second half, Masco's Danielle Staub had a good scoring opportunity, but Davis smothered her shot and, seconds later, denied McKenelley.

The bounces didn't go Masco's way all game, as evidenced by Caitlyn Clark hitting the top crossbar with 25 minutes remaining. But the best opportunity came on McKenelley's bid with time running out.

"I was just aiming for the corner. I saw an open lane and went for it. I don't know how the keeper was able to get a piece of that ball," said McKenelley afterwards, shaking her head.

Yanakakis will miss seniors Staub, Kim Talbot, Burns, Madeleine Hardy and Erica Skinner (the last of whom was injured an unable to play).

"I feel bad for the five seniors, because they provided tremendous leadership the whole season," said Yanakakis. "We're going to miss them."