Tag: Bishop Feehan
Hornets Avenge Loss to Feehan with Playoff Sweep
MANSFIELD, Mass. – The Hornets had plenty of motivation heading into Saturday afternoon’s matinee with Bishop Feehan in the Albertini Gym. Mansfield lost in three sets to the Shamrocks in he regular season and also were trying to erase the disappointment of last year’s first round home loss to league rival Taunton in the opening round of the playoffs.
With all of that “fuel for the fire,” as Mansfield coach Melissa Heeden called it, there was no surprise that the Hornets came out firing in front of their home crowd. Mansfield kept the pressure up from the opening point and rolled to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-21) victory, which advances the Hornets to the Div. 1 South semifinal.
“We tried to make some adjustments on some of the little things,” said Heeden on the difference between the first meeting with Feehan and Saturday’s performance.
“Obviously them not having (KP transfer and former HockomockSports.com Underclassman of the Year) Mary Campbell…she’s a huge part of their team, so I know that them not having her makes a big difference. I think the motivation of the fact that we did lose the first time and having a home game was a big difference for us.”
Mansfield trailed 5-4 in the opening set when senior setter Chloe Peters stepped to the service line and she sparked an 8-0 run to take control. Peters, who finished with 32 assists and 11 service points, had an ace and three kills in the first and along with libero Jess Haradonand senior Jacey Anderson controlled the match with pinpoint serves.
“Chloe Peters, Jess Haradon have had great serves all season,” said Heeden. “They struggled a little bit in the middle of the season and we worked on the mental toughness of it and they’ve done an awesome job of kind of bringing that back out today. This was the perfect timing for it today.”
Once in the lead, the Hornets stepped on the gas to put the first set away. Junior outside hitter Julia Harrison (eight kills and seven service points) had a pair of kills, as did senior hitter Emily Kleber who closed out the set with kills on two of the final three points.
In the second, Mansfield again found itself trailing 5-4 but again it was the service game that turned the momentum. A 14-5 run put the Hornets in front with a sizable cushion. Middle hitters Olivia Broyles and Meg Hill both stepped up to control the net against Feehan’s Kathryn Sachs. Each had three kills in the second.
Heeden was asked about the confidence the Hornets showed in the opening two sets to dominate the match and she credited the difficult league campaign with building the belief that the Hornets can beat anyone.
She explained, “The great part is that the Hock is so strong and playing KP, playing Franklin, playing North Attleboro, those are big games and I think that makes these games much easier.”
Heeden added, “We started out really strong at the beginning of the season and had a few losses that were close, so I know the girls were excited and wanted to push and win at home.”
Heading into the third, the Shamrocks were determined not to go quietly and started to push back despite falling behind early. A kill by Broyles and a block by Emily Ascoli pushed the Hornets lead to 16-11 but Feehan scored the next four points before Heeden called a timeout to emphasize how important it would be to close out the match in the third.
“That was a crucial time,” she said, “and I wanted to make sure we kind of swung it back in our direction. The girls were so excited in the beginning and I knew that energy would be tough to continue to have the whole time.”
Feehan stayed within a point until a serve into the net gave Mansfield a 21-19 edge. Haradon (19 digs and seven service points) followed that with an ace and, after an error, Hill (team-high nine kills) stepped up with back-to-back kills that made it 24-20. The Shamrocks got a point off a service error and then Hill wrapped up the win with another angled blast to the sideline.
“So much of our team was here last year and was so upset that we beat Taunton the week before and lost to them in three,” Heeden reflected. “I think that was big fuel for the fire. They didn’t want that to happen again.”
Now Mansfield (15-5) awaits the winner of top seed Barnstable and Oliver Ames, which play on Tuesday. A Tigers upset would give the Hornets another home game, but Heeden thinks the Hornets would be ready for the hike to face the Raiders.
“We know they’re obviously a good team,” said Heeden of perennial power Barnstable, “but the fact that they played so well together today makes me feel more confident going into things.”
Warriors Earn Draw Against Highly-Ranked Shamrocks
WRENTHAM, Mass. – Makayla Griffin tried to play a ball forward in the attacking third with only seconds to play in Saturday afternoon’s match-up with Bishop Feehan at Macktaz Field. The ball took an unfortunate bounce off the heel of Rachel Hogan as she made a run into space and caromed to a Feehan player.
The King Philip defense tried to race back into position, but the Shamrocks countered with pace and created a chance for leading scorer Enisa Amedio. The forward sped into the box and fired a low shot only to be denied by KP goalie Emma Durant, who slid out to block the shot with her legs.
That save preserved a 2-2 draw for the Warriors in game that they controlled for large portions against a Feehan team that is considered among the top 10 in the state. KP avenged a 1-0 loss to Feehan in the first meeting and moved one point closer to qualifying for the state tournament.
“I thought we carried the play for most of the game,” said KP coach Gary Pichel. “When you play a quality team like that and you give it your best and they give it their best and you come out with a tie…I’m happy with that.”
The Shamrocks got off to the perfect start, scoring inside the first two minutes of the game. Bailey Conti kneed in a corner from Olivia Bishop to give Feehan the very early lead.
KP answered right back with a set piece of its own. Junior defender Emma Corcoran played an angled free kick from 35 yards on the left side that eluded everyone in the box except for freshman Avery Snead, who prodded the ball into the net at the back post to tie the game.
In the 18th minute, Corcoran passed on a chance to put a free kick into the box and squared the ball to Sarah Fleck on her right. Fleck took a dipping shot from almost 40 yards that the Feehan keeper stood no chance of reaching but that smacked off the crossbar. Just seconds later, the visitors earned a corner and Katie McCarthy nodded Feehan in front.
Other than the two corners, KP was pressing the play and putting the Shamrocks on their heels. The combination of Fleck and Griffin was opening up the Feehan midfield and Snead and classmate Chloe Layne had the Shamrocks defense twisting and turning.
Layne nearly tied the game just three minutes after Feehan took the lead with a series of feints and step-overs that split the right back and central defender. The chance was smothered by the Feehan goalie but was just a preview of the issues that Layne would cause running the left channel.
Feehan almost doubled the lead in the 33rd minute but Durant was quickly off her line and threw out a quick left hand to deny Shealyn Quinn. Seven minutes later, with halftime looming, Layne pulled KP level. Griffin sent in a cross from the left that Layne settled with one touch and created space just inside the box before depositing a shot under the bar to make it 2-2.
“Those two freshmen are my leading scorers,” said Pichel of Snead and Layne. “Chloe does some stuff with her feet that…she’ll juggle right in front of you and then she’ll bring it up to her head and push it right over the top and go around you.”
Just four minutes into the second half, Feehan had a rare opportunity from open play when a through ball split the defenders and gave Amedio a chance to run at the keeper, but Durant came flying out and got a hand to the ball to stop the chance.
In the 50th minute, Corcoran lined up a 25-yard free kick and for the second time in the game, a KP player fired a shot off the bar. Durant (five saves) came up huge off another Feehan corner 15 minutes later to not only stop the initial header but also to stuff the follow up from point-blank range.
That aggressiveness paid off in the final minute of the game, as Durant came out quickly and blocked an Amedio shot with her legs that kept it at 2-2.
“That was a nail-biter right there,” said Pichel of the heart-in-mouth moment that the Warriors had at the end. “I thought, ‘oh no, after all this work.’ [Emma] came up huge.
“I had a little one-on-one with her and said that we need to stop being conservative in net. We need to be super aggressive in games like this, going forward all the way.”
Durant had plenty of help in front of her, including Corcoran and freshman Olivia Berry. The central defensive pairing was effective in compressing the space for the forwards and covering for each other when one decided to step forward, either to prevent an attack or to start one.
“Olivia walked on and immediately showed that she can play with the best of them,” said Pichel. “She looked like Emma [Corcoran] did as a freshman.”
He added, “When we got beat by the Franklins and Mansfields, the middle was wide open, so I decided to mix up my five backs in a jagged shape to stop the through balls.”
At the final whistle, KP felt a mixture of relief and disappointment because snagging a point from Feehan is a positive but the overall play had the Warriors believing that they were the team on top. That gives the Warriors confidence as they get back into league play this week.
“We’ve been improving steadily since those losses to the top teams in the Hock,” Pichel explained. “I like our chances. I really do. We may not win the division, but we’ll be close.”
King Philip (8-3, 9-5-1) will try to get the one point left to ensure a return to the state tournament against Attleboro on Monday.
Girls Soccer Photos: King Philip vs. Bishop Feehan
Girls Lacrosse Photos: Franklin vs. Bishop Feehan
Battle Tested Panthers Return to D1 East Final
FRANKLIN, Mass. – For the second time in three seasons, Franklin will be playing in the Div. 1 East final, following a 14-7 victory on Tuesday night against fifth seed Bishop Feehan at Pisini Field.
The Panthers beat Feehan for the second time this season (Franklin won 10-3 in the regular season meeting) and the experience of playing a regular season schedule loaded with tournament-caliber opponents, including many ranked in the top 10 in the state, is paying off, according to head coach Kristin Igoe.
“I definitely think strength of schedule is a big factor,” she explained. “We’ve been in games where we’re up, we’ve been crushed, and we’ve been close at half…we’ve had every situation and I think that helps in the tournament.”
The Panthers have faced the likes of Westwood, Notre Dame Academy (Hingham), and Needham, which are widely considered the top three programs in the state, as well as perennial Div. 1 powers like North Andover, Lincoln-Sudbury, and Andover.
With that experience under their belts, Franklin was ready to play a type of defense that Feehan coach Nancy Anderson-Semple admitted was on a different level of physicality than the Shamrocks had encountered in the regular season.
“They’re playing teams that are tougher than ours during the season, so they’re used to playing that way,” said Anderson-Semple. “A lot of our kids have bruises everywhere, hits to the head, all that kind of stuff; we’re not used to that physical type of play.
“They have a tougher schedule where I guess they’re allowed to do that, so that was a little bit of a shock to the girls.”
While the Panthers had success against the Shamrocks in the regular season, Igoe insisted her team was focused to take on Feehan on Tuesday.
She said, “Our biggest thing was don’t underestimate Bishop Feehan. Even though we beat them in the regular season, it doesn’t matter. It’s tournament; it’s a whole new slate.
Thanks to strong play on the draws from senior Mandy Semple, Feehan was able to hang with the Panthers early in the game. Freshman Annie Walsh opened the scoring on a drive to her right hand three minutes in but the Shamrocks quickly answered to tie it.
Kendall Reardon scored on a low, eight-meter shot to regain the lead and Kenzie Pleshaw, who was recently named the Hockomock League MVP, made it 3-1 with a sidearm shot on the run, undeterred by a bump on her way to goal. Semple got one back but Emily Spath came down 24 seconds later to make it 4-2.
“They have an excellent draw taker and that’s where their momentum was,” said Igoe. “They would constantly win draws, which wasn’t good for us, but if they scored our defense shut them down on the next one of Dani [Lonati} made a save. It was important to not them get on a run.”
The defensive unit for Franklin proved to be the difference in the first half with a strong ride that stymied the Shamrocks in transition and then a settled defense that took away cuts and passing lanes. Led by Sam Jones, Olivia Truenow, Grace McDermott, and Dana Lewandowski, among others, the Panthers would limit Feehan to just three goals in the opening half.
Meanwhile, the offense was clicking into gear. Caroline Lounsbury assisted on Spath’s goal and on the next goal by Julia Jette that capped off a transition started by Truenow’s outlet pass. After Semple scored her second, Lounsbury converted an eight-meter try for her first goal of the game.
Pleshaw capped the half with a pinpoint shot across her body into the top corner with three seconds on the clock to give Franklin an 8-3 lead at the break.
Feehan tried to turn things around in the second half and again the draw controls played their part as the Shamrocks won the first two and turned both into goals by Caroline Toomey. But, Walsh snagged the next draw control for the Panthers and then converted on a free position for her second of the night.
“You would never know that she was a freshman,” said Igoe of Walsh. “The way she ran up and down the midfield today, she played like a senior. She may not get credit for all the goals and assists but the ground balls, the draws, she caused turnovers, she didn’t give them second chances.”
Semple converted her hat trick but Feehan still could not put a run together, as the score stayed 9-6 or five minutes before Diana Griffin put one under the bar for the Panthers, which was followed by goals from Pleshaw and Reardon to build the lead to six.
Feehan scored to make it 12-7 with 5:20 remaining but before the ensuing draw, lightning was seen and the teams had to take a 45-minute break until the weather cleared. Walsh scored off an assist by Pleshaw and then played provider on Griffin’s second to let the Panthers close out the game in style.
It was not unexpected to see the Panthers, the top seed in the sectional, get back into the final, but a little bit of a surprise is that it will be Acton-Boxboro making the trip to Franklin on Thursday night, not No. 2 seed Lincoln-Sudbury.
When asked about A-B, Igoe remarked, “I know they beat a great Concord team and a great L-S team, so they must be good. They were losing a bunch and people kind of doubted them and they said, who cares. They must be good and we’re not going to underestimate them.”
The final is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m.
Josh Perry can be contacted at JoshPerry@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.
Girls Lacrosse Photos: Sharon vs. Bishop Feehan
Sharon Gives Feehan Scare in Tournament Debut
SHARON, Mass. – On Wednesday afternoon, the Sharon girls’ lacrosse program made a giant step forward, one that was promised in the preseason, when the Eagles hosted Bishop Feehan for their first ever tournament game.
Rather than just being happy with experience the playoffs for the first time, the Eagles set about pushing the Shamrocks (who beat Sharon 18-1 in the regular season), trailing by just two at halftime on their home grass (although Feehan was the higher seed, the game was played at Sharon High because of graduation preparations at McGrath Stadium).
Feehan turned things around with a 7-0 run after the break and held off a late charge to win 13-7 and advance to the second round of the Div. 1 East bracket, but after the game the Sharon players huddled together with smiles on their faces knowing that it was an impressive display and a historic moment for the program.
“I thought it made it all worth it because my other three years we kind of weren’t that good, so to finally have a little success at the end was awesome,” said senior midfielder Heather Seggelin. “I haven’t been on many winning teams at Sharon, so I think it’s worth it even if we didn’t win.”
Sharon coach Colleen Manning raved, “It’s just something that they really looked forward to and something they’ve never really experienced before, but I’m sure if you ask them they’re just thrilled to be here.
“They absolutely love playing.”
Feehan was the heavy favorite coming into the tournament game and jumped in front with a pair of early goals. Sharon would not let the game get away from it and junior Alex Rabb cut in from the left and scored the Eagles first postseason goal to slice the lead in half.
The Shamrocks answered back with three straight goals to take a 5-1 lead with 6:01 remaining in the half, forcing Manning to take a timeout. Although Feehan had pushed its lead to four, the visitors were having to work hard to get past the Sharon defense, which was crashing the middle and preventing clean looks.
Sophomore goalie Kathryn Derry made several big stops and Alexandra Miller, Amanda Kaplan, Anna Crosby, Seggelin and others combined to stymie the Shamrocks potent attack.
Sharon had struggled to create scoring opportunities for most of the half but as the clock was winding down inside two minutes, Sabrina Robbins found space in the middle to score her first. With seven seconds left in the half, Emma Eberhardt was given a chance from eight meters and put it away to close the gap to two at the break.
“It was an awesome first half,” said Manning. “I think our shooting percentage was low and their draw control is just phenomenal, but I think it was the best game I’ve ever seen them play. I really can’t ask for a better game.”
Seggelin said about the halftime team talk, “We were talking about how excited we were and how proud we were to make it this far and we wanted to keep up the aggression.
“We’re not as much of a second half team as a first half team, but I don’t know, I think we still kept it together…We finished strong, which is what matters.”
The Shamrocks stormed out of the gate to start the second half and imposed themselves on the Eagles, scoring three goals in the opening couple minutes for an 8-3 lead. Feehan extended the lead to as many as nine with seven straight goals in the second half until Robbins tallied her second of the game with 8:05 left.
“They had a lot of rebounds that they got, which I feel like we should have gotten them, but they worked so hard and we’re slowly climbing the ladder, so we’re getting there,” said Manning.
The Eagles closed the game with momentum. Rabb scored in traffic and then just seconds later off the ensuing face-off she added a third to make it 12-6. Rabb scored her fourth of the game rom eight meters and the lead was back down to five with just 1:55 on the clock.
Feehan tacked on one more before the final horn, but Seggelin was proud of the way the Eagles battled. She said, “Feehan is a really good team and last time we played them it was 18-1 and so that was a great improvement.”
Coming into the season, Manning made it clear that she had high expectations for the Eagles and that the playoffs were a legitimate goal. This was a clear change in attitude from the first 15 years of the program and Seggelin said that the team started to buy in after some early season wins.
“Before it wasn’t that serious,” she explained, “and then once we started winning, we won a couple of our first games…we beat [Attleboro] in overtime and it was so great and since then we got a lot better.”
With only two seniors on this season’s roster, the Eagles have a very bright future. Seggelin said, “I think next year will definitely be a lot better because last year we didn’t even make the playoffs and before that it wasn’t even an option.”
Manning is also hopeful that the playoff experience can lift the program to even greater achievements.
“It makes everyone happy and having fun is obviously one of the most important things,” she said. “They just keep improving. I see it in every practice.
“I’m hoping it brings more youth and more athletes and I can turn them into amazing lacrosse players.”
Josh Perry can be contacted at JoshPerry@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.
Feehan Walks Away With Win Against Franklin
ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Beach Field has not been a happy place for Hockomock baseball teams this spring and that continued on Monday afternoon, as Franklin became the third team to bea beaten by Bishop Feehan this spring.
The Panthers came closer than the previous two (North Attleboro and Attleboro), as they held a two-run lead into the bottom of the sixth and regained the lead in the top of the eighth. But, the Shamrocks countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, including the game-winner on a bases loaded walk by Brodie Carey, to pull out a 6-5 victory.
“I was talking to the guys and told them if they think the game was won or lost in the last inning then they weren’t watching the game,” said Franklin coach Zach Brown. “We did some things that were a little uncharacteristic of us today, especially on the base paths and it came back to hurt us.”
Franklin led 4-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth. Starter Mike Skaza had been strong through the first five, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out five, but he seemed to be tiring and Feehan took advantage.
Pat Cashin led off the inning with a sinlge to left and thenstole second. He scored on a single by Jason Medeiros, who then was caught leaning and was nearly picked off only for the ball to be held at first, which let him scamper safely into second. Skaza tried another pick-off move, and caught him leaning again, but it skipped into center.
Reid Spears brought in the tying run with an RBI-ground out. Two batters later, Skaza was replaced by lefty Ryan Morse, who got a grounder with runners at second and third to escape the jam.
“Michael threw the ball really well,” said Brown of Skaza, “and we maybe stuck with him a batter or two longer than we should have but he did a great job and we’re proud of his effort.”
Jake Lyons doubled with two outs in the seventh to give the Panthers a chance at the lead. Tyler Gomes, who went 2-3 and reached base four times, struck out but the ball got away from the catcher, who then threw to third to try and get Lyons instead of first and prolonged the inning.
Cashin, who allowed one run in 3-1/3 innings of relief, got out of it by getting Josh Macchi (1-3, RBI) to ground out to short. Morse threw a perfect seventh to send it to extra innings.
Jake Noviello singled to start the Franklin half of the eighth. Pinch runner Camden Lupien stole second and moved to third on an error by Matt Everton. Ryan Hodgkins then stole second. Skaza brought in Lupien with a sacrifice fly to center to give Franklin the lead. Cashin got two more fly outs to end the threat.
In the bottom of the eighth, Medeiros lined a single to left and then Kyle Freitas hit a high chopper that took a funny hop and eluded Alex Bissanti. With runners at second and third and no outs, Spears bounced a ball that was cut off by Joe Corsi, who threw home in time to get the lead runner, but on his slide Medeiros knocked the glove off Gomes and was ruled safe.
Brown said, “That’s baseball. Obviously both guys were going hard and there was some contact there and, honestly, their guy went hard and did a good job.”
Spears took second on the play, so Franklin elected to intentionally walk Josh Cayer to load the bases. Carey took four balls as well to plate the winning run.
“You have an opportunity with a ground ball that takes a big hop and then obviously the play at the plate,” Brown said. “I thought Ryan threw the ball well, threw hard…they just made one more play than we did.”
Feehan had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second, but Franklin bounced right back to take the lead in the fourth. Lyons, Gomes, Macchi, and Jake Noviello started the inning with four straight singles to cut the lead to one. With the bases loaded, Ryan Hodgkins drew a walk to tie the game and Skaza (0-3, 2 RBI) knocked in the go-ahead run on a 4-6-3 double play.
The Panthers tacked on another run in the fifth. Steven Luttazi led off with a double to left and Joe Corsi reached when his sac bunt was thrown away by the catcher, which allowed Luttazi to come in and score. Corsi reached third on a wild pitch but was then picked off.
“We had some chances to extend the lead early and we didn’t take advantage of them and those issues came up late,” said Brown.
He continued, “They’re a very good team and well-coached and they have a style that really works for them. If you let a good team hang around long enough then they’ll take some cracks at it.”
The Panthers have lost two in a row after winning the opening three games. Brown is confident that his team with “learn and grow” from the way Monday’s game played out.
“This is a resilient team and I certainly don’t think one game or one inning is going to define us,” he explained. “So we’re going to make some adjustments and go back to work tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be better for it in the long run.”
Franklin (3-2) will be back in action on Wednesday with the visit of Framingham and then travels to Catholic Memorial two days later.
Josh Perry can be contacted at JoshPerry@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.