Wednesday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 10/06/21

Today’s games are listed below.

Boys Soccer
Mansfield, 1 @ Attleboro, 1 – Final Mansfield got off to a great start with a goal in the opening minutes but it was all Attleboro the rest of the way, The Bombardiers leveled the game just before halftime and both teams took a point with a 1-1 draw. Junior Connor Palinski finished off a pass from classmate Grady Sullivan just three minutes into the game to take the lead. Attleboro sophomore Alex Vecchioli brought the Bombardiers level just before the halftime whistle on an assist from Kyle Neuendorf.

Foxboro, 1 @ Canton, 2 – Final

King Philip, 0 @ Franklin, 2 – Final Franklin scored twice in a 10-minute span in the second half and got a strong performance from its back line to blank King Philip. Jack Moran broke the stalemate with a goal in the 65th minute on an assist from Will Krysak. Ten minutes later, senior Terry O’Neill doubled the lead and buried the insurance goal off a feed from Ben Costa. The Panthers got strong defensive performances Aidan Griffith, Rex Cinelli, Bradley Herndon, Nelson Martinez, Will Klawson, and Andrew O’Neill.

Taunton, 2 @ Milford, 2 – Final Taunton jumped out to a two goal lead in the first half but Milford cut the deficit in half by the break and scored the tying goal in the final minutes to get the tie. An own goal gave the Tigers the lead and senior Jairson Varela finished from in close to push the advantage to 2-0. A corner kick from Bill Silva was misplayed and went in shortly before half to get the Hawks on the board. On a counter attack, Silva played Eduardo Santana in behind the defense and he finished with two minutes to go to grab a point.

Oliver Ames, 6 @ North Attleboro, 0 – FinalOliver Ames stayed red hot on the offensive end of the pitch, pumping in six goals for the second straight contest. Senior Clide Neau scored a hat to lead the way while classmate Michael Haikal scored once and had one assist. John Dobbin added two goals, Mathias Taylor recorded three assists, and Casey Milliken had two assists.

Stoughton, 1 @ Sharon, 2 – Final










Girls Soccer
Attleboro, 0 @ Mansfield, 4 – FinalKara Santos scored twice and assisted on another goal, while also helping the Hornets defense keep an important clean sheet. The win keeps Mansfield in a first-place tie with Franklin in the Kelley-Rex standings. Katie Miller and Lyla Nappa also scored for the Hornets, while Olivia Salisbury made three saves in goal.

Foxboro, 5 @ Canton, 2 – FinalClick here for a Recap and Photo Gallery from this game.

Franklin, 1 @ King Philip, 0 – FinalStella Regan scored from about 30 yards out after taking a throw-in from Jackie O’Neil. It turned out to be the winner, as the Franklin defense and goalie Rachel Welch made it stand up. The win keeps the Panthers in a first-place tie with Mansfield and drops KP two points back of the division leaders. Bridget Leo, Chloe Barca, and Regan had strong games in the center of the pitch and Franklin coach Jodi Klein praised her team’s ability to control the ball and stay focused throughout.

Milford, 4 @ Taunton, 1 – FinalSerena Borges had a brace and Dani Atherton (a goal and two assists) totaled three points, as Milford went on the road and picked up its first win of the season. Freshman Paige Caldon also found the back of the net for the Hawks, her first varsity goal. Kailany Ferreira made seven saves in goal, picking up her first career win in the process.

North Attleboro, 0 @ Oliver Ames, 4 – FinalKatie Gibson and Camryn O’Connor each found the back of the net twice as Oliver Ames rolled to a win at home over the Rocketeers. Kyla Melton, Sophie Byron, and Ella McDonough all had strong games for the Tigers while Charlotte Moynihan, Abby Pratt and Brayden Rice played well for North Attleboro.

Sharon, 2 @ Stoughton, 3 – FinalSivannah Marcy scored with a few minutes remaining to lift Stoughton to come from behind victory. Trailing 2-1 at the break, Stoughton moved Shayla Ford up front to try to get more of an attacking threat and it worked as she scored the equalizer, assisted by Lauren Mitchell. Makenzie O’Connor, in her first game back from an injury, got her second assist of the day, setting up Marcy for the winner. O’Connor also set up the game’s opening goal with a cross to Isabella Rodrigues, who put away her first goal of the season. Sharon came storming back as Sofia Goclowski and Wendy Wooden each found the back of the net, both assisted by Autumn Simon. The Eagles had chances to extend the lead, but couldn’t take their opportunities and the Black Knights put together a comeback to split the season series. Bianca Casna and Sabrina Rodrigues also played well to help Stoughton earn the win.




Field Hockey
Foxboro, 4 @ Hopkinton, 0 – Final

Volleyball
Oliver Ames, 3 @ Brockton, 0 – Final Senior Shannon Willard dished out 14 assists and Oliver Ames picked up a 3-0 win (25-11, 25-11, 25-20) over neighboring Brockton. Junior Maddie Homer added 21 digs, senior Hadley Rhodes recorded 11 assists and seven kills, and sophomore Claire O’Rourke chipped in with 10 kills.

Golf
Mansfield, 168 @ Canton, 147 – FinalCanton sophomore Mekhala Costello fired a one over par round of 35 to lead the Bulldogs to their second win in as many days. Nate MacDonald added a 36 for the hosts while both Conor Hunter and Will Gefteas finished the day with a 38. Cian Goulet had a team-low round of 39, Ryan Doherty shot a 42 on the day, Hunter Tang chipped in with a 43, and both Drew Urban and Nate McClean finished at 44.

Taunton, 190 @ Milford, 178 – Final Jacob Hipolito and Anthony LaPierre shared match medalist honors to help Milford record its second win over Taunton in as many days, sweeping the series against the Tigers with a win at Hopedale Country Club. Both LaPierre and Hipolito finished with a round of 42. Loran Corcoran led Taunton with a 46 while Jack Gobin added a 47.

Oliver Ames, 160 @ Sharon, 171 – FinalOliver Ames went on the road and returned home from The Cape Club of Sharon with a division win over the Eagles. Senior Jo Jo Gaultier shot a team-low round of 38 to help the Tigers pick up their ninth win of the season. Sean Kearns added a 40 for OA while both Lucas Riley and Jack Kaplan came into the clubhouse with a 41.

Attleboro, 169 @ Franklin, 157 – Final Franklin defended its home turf with a win over upset-minded Attleboro at Franklin Country Club. Jack Hagerty led the way for the Panthers with a team-best round of 36, Brendan Collins added a 39, CJ Steel chipped in with a 41, and Jack Ryan finished at 42 for the day.

Total Team Effort Lifts Taunton to First State Title

Taunton baseball Evan Melo Josh Lajoie Jack Moynihan
Taunton captains (L-R) Evan Melo, Josh Lajoie, and Jack Moynihan celebrate with the D1 State Championship trophy. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)
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LOWELL, Mass. – It was fitting that the final out bounced to sophomore shortstop Ty Cali. He jumped into the lineup in the playoffs after starter Danny MacDougall suffered an injury in the first game of the postseason. Cali had two hits and an RBI in Saturday night’s Div. 1 state championship game at Lowell’s LeLacheur Park and was an example of the way the whole Taunton program came together to send the Tigers on an improbable championship run.

That run came to a climax on Saturday, as Taunton (21-7) got four hits and a pair of RBI from the bottom three in its lineup, got four strong innings from senior Josh Lajoie, who was making his first start of the playoffs, and rallied with a pair of runs in the final two innings after seeing a 3-0 lead slip away.

The Tigers found a way to win, a common thread throughout the tournament, pulling out a 5-3 victory against Shrewsbury to secure the program’s first-ever state championship.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

“We knew it was going to be another tough game,” said Taunton coach Blair Bourque. “That’s a great team over there and they gave us everything we could handle. We were able to put some at-bats together. It’s a team effort.”

Senior pitcher Logan Lawrence, who picked up the win with three innings of relief, said, “It almost feels too good. First time in history winning sectionals, never mind winning states.”

A state championship seemed farfetched in April. The Tigers stumbled out of the gates, going 4-4 in their opening eight games, but they stayed the course and eventually things turned around. Taunton finished the season by going 17-3 over its final 20 games. Its only losses in that span were to Super 8 participants Mansfield (twice) and Franklin.

“At the beginning of the year we all talked about it in the weight room about how nice it would be, but we also knew how difficult it would be and all the hard work it would take, and how much better we’d have to get throughout the year,” said senior Jack Moynihan.
“We knew we’d have to keep fighting and everyone in the program has busted their butts.”

Bourque said, “This season we had a lot of adversity early and I think that helped us down the road. Obviously, the Mansfields and the Franklins are the teams we want to compete with. This is a step in the right direction.”

On Saturday, the Tigers faced Shrewsbury ace John West. The 6-foot-8 junior has already committed to Boston College and he lived up to the billing the first time through the Taunton order. He struck out five, held the Tigers hitless, and allowed only one base runner over the first three innings.

West may have drawn the headlines prior to the game, but he was matched over the first three innings by Lajoie. The St. John’s University-commit got the ball for the final and allowed only two hits through four innings. An error and a walk gave Shrewsbury its only rally in that stretch, but Lajoie responded with a strikeout and induced a pop up to get out of the jam.

Taunton grabbed the lead in the fourth. Colby Lariviere drew a one-out walk and would come all the way around to score when Lawrence’s line drive skipped past the centerfielder and turned into a triple. Nolan Melo came in to run at third base and he would score on a perfectly placed safety squeeze by Jared Roderick.

The Tigers tacked on another run in the fifth. Evan Melo led off the inning by drilling a double into the corner in right and he was quickly brought home by a Cali single. Gavin Leahy drew a walk and Lucas Martins had an infield single to load the bases with one out but a double play ended the inning.

“It’s great because as a pitcher you look at the bottom of the order and you think just breeze through them,” said Lawrence about Taunton getting production from its full lineup. “When you know for a fact that other teams aren’t going to be able to breeze through the bottom of your lineup, that helps you a lot mentally. A lot of confidence comes from that.”

Shrewsbury did not go quietly. In the bottom of the fifth, the Colonials had three straight singles, including a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Lajoie was pulled for Lawrence, who gave up an RBI-single on his first pitch.

The next batter hit a shot down the first base line but Lariviere made a diving stop and got the lead runner at home. The batter had slipped so a return throw to first turned into a double play. With a chance to get out of the inning with the lead, Lawrence gave up a single to West, which scored a pair and tied the game.

Rather than letting their heads drop, the Tigers got right back to the plate and promptly grabbed back the lead. Roderick reached on a fielder’s choice, moved to second on a wild pitch, and then took third on an error that allowed Andrew Gomes to reach. For the second time in the game, Bourque called for a squeeze and this time it was Evan Melo who dropped it down, pushing it up the first base line for a single and an RBI.

“We have confidence in ourselves and our ability to generate a couple of runs here and there,” Bourque explained. “There was no panic, we’ve been down before. Last game, we were down twice, so we had the confidence in our ability to generate some offense.

Taunton loaded the bases with one out for the second straight inning but both times failed to score a run. Lawrence made sure that it wouldn’t hurt too much by throwing a perfect sixth inning.

In the seventh, Taunton added an important insurance run. Nic Notarangelo, who’s inclusion in the starting lineup coincided with the Tigers’ improvement, started the inning by drilling a triple to the wall in right. Two batters later, Lariviere made it 5-3 with a sacrifice fly to left.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

As it turned out, the Tigers didn’t need the extra run. Lawrence got back to the mound for the seventh inning and threw another clean inning. He got a grounder to second, a strikeout, and then a grounder to short to seal the win and the championship.

“Nothing, just strictly adrenaline,” said Lawrence about what was going through his mind in the seventh. “When it was a 3-2 [count] and everyone was screaming, oh my god…” Lawrence shook his head, chuckled, and smiled.

Lajoie added, “It’s a dream come true. You dream of this at the beginning of the season and then you go through the season with your team, battling, and you see the pieces falling together…It’s unbelievable; I’m speechless.”