FOXBORO, Mass. – Hours before Foxboro was supposed to open the Div. 3 playoffs, the Warriors found out that Pope Francis was opting out and that the game was a forfeit. Going into Thursday night’s visit from No. 13 Bromfield to the Sam Berns Community Field, Foxboro had not played a competitive game since May 22, a span of 17 days.
Facing the team that knocked them out of last year’s tournament, in a one-goal quarterfinal thriller, on nearly three weeks of rest was not ideal. When the game started, Foxboro jumped out to an early lead but was clearly not playing with its typical pace or crispness.
That all turned around in the second half. Foxboro started winning draws (11-of-15 in the second half) and closed the game on an 11-2 run, turning a two-goal game into an 18-7 blowout that sends the Warriors back to the final eight.
Foxboro coach Kathleen McCullough said, “Inside I was thinking, I don’t want this to hurt us. At practice, we try to make it game-like and competitive just to prepare their minds and they’ve been really focused, so I have to hand it to them. It did take us a little bit to adjust but definitely second half was more our style of play.”
“The first half we were definitely felt a little stagnant,” senior Paige Curran admitted. “We were saying that we have really good competition in our practices, so we’re really lucky to have the team we have, but it does get mentally fatiguing because you just get in the same rhythm. I think we did a really good job of coming out of that and locking in.”
The Warriors weren’t shying away from the revenge factor. They readily admitted that last year’s loss was front and center during the layoff and a motivating factor to help stay ready.
Curran explained, “For the three weeks, we needed something to keep us motivated for whenever this game would come. After the forfeit, we were a little deflated but we were able to get right back into it.”
Despite the rust, the Warriors got off to a decent start. Audrey Campbell (five saves) stopped Bromfield’s first shot and Foxboro scored three times to look in control. Val Beigel (five goals) fed Mary Collins (two goals and two assists) for the opening score 100 seconds into the game, Mya Waryas (three goals and an assist) scored from an eight-meter, and Curran (six goals and three assists) got on the board with a nice sidearm finish cutting across the crease.
Things seemed comfortable but there were signs that the game was far from over. Campbell was forced into nice saves to deny Savanna Kuliesis and Hannah Wicks and Kuliesis put the visitors on board with a run right down the middle of the Foxboro defense. With Bromfield winning draws (7-of-12 in the first half), the Trojans continued to press and Julia Kimball set up Kristin Podgorni to cut the lead to one.
Curran teed up Beigel on a cut down the middle, but Podgorni took the draw and raced straight at goal to make it 4-3. Hannah Higgins answered back on a free position, going five-hole to restore the two-goal lead. Waryas hustled to scoop a ground ball and keep a possession alive for Curran to dodge from behind the cage and score.
With 51.7 left in the half, Collins assisted on Curran’s third goal to put Foxboro up by four, but a procedure whistle gave Bromfield the ball back with only 10 second left and Podgorni made it count with a physical drive to the goal.
Foxboro was missing Cate Noone, who was out for family reasons, which put Curran in charge of taking the draws. After the struggles of the first half, the team came together, adjusted, and things improved after the break.
“Cate wasn’t here today, so we kind of had to compensate,” Curran said. “We knew that they pushed on the draw and I’m a lefty, so I pull, and in the halftime talk we were talking about how to better maneuver our sticks and where to put people on the draw and where best we would fit.”
Bromfield still got the first goal of the second half, a brilliant behind-the back finish by Clover Logan. That cut the lead to 7-5 and the hosts were starting to get a little nervous.
A minute later, the Trojans picked up a yellow card. Foxboro took advantage of the extra player, scoring three times to wrest control of the game. Beigel scored on a free position, Addison Riley hit Grace Riley on a nice cut, and Curran fed Beigel for a lefty finish to extend the lead to 10-5.
Foxboro had the momentum and wasn’t about to let it go. Waryas saw Curran wide open in the heart of the defense for a quick-release finish. Podgorni responded with an eight-meter goal, but Waryas sliced through the middle to make it 12-6 with 14:34 to play.
After Beigel and Collins each hit the bar, Higgins had a free position from a tough angle, so she passed it back to Collins, who saw Curran cutting from behind the cage. Podgorni was trying to keep Bromfield in it, scoring her fifth goal of the night, but Waryas came right back down to extend the lead back to seven.
“We’ve been playing together since we were six, seven years old, so I think that really helps with our chemistry,” Curran said about the connection between Foxboro’s experienced attackers. “We know what each other are going to do before we even do it. I think it helps our offense flow.”
McCullough added, “They know each other’s strengths and they like to set each other up. It’s fun to watch. They surprise me too.”
The Warriors tacked on at the end. Curran to Beigel, Collins unassisted, Curran with a lefty shot, and Beigel going low-angle to finish off the scoring inside the final minute. What started as a nervous night for Foxboro turned out to be a comfortable win.
“You don’t forget those losses in the playoffs,” McCullough said about getting a rematch with Bromfield and the team’s desire to go even further this season. “I think it’s still very fresh in the mind. I think that fuels them and I think they still have that pit in their stomach, I know I do, so I think it’s part of sports and you want to play them again and test yourself again.”
Foxboro (18-2) will host No. 5 Pentucket in the D3 quarterfinal at a date and time to be determined.