Tag: Walpole
Oliver Ames Rolls Past Walpole To Reach Quarterfinals
NORTH EASTON, Mass. — No MVP, no problem.
With sophomore sensation and league MVP Casey Milliken restricted to just a handful of first half minutes, the Oliver Ames boys soccer team didn’t miss a beat in a dominant win over Walpole.
Junior Joey Carney scored a pair of goals while sophomore Andrew Martins and senior Mirray Dasilva each found the back of the net once as the top-seeded Tigers advanced to the state quarterfinals with a win over the 17th-seeded Timberwolves, the sixth postseason meeting between the two sides since 2012.
“I think the guys were eager to show we aren’t a one-man team,” said Oliver Ames head coach John Barata. “The good thing is, they appreciate all of [Casey’s] accolades and they all look at it like a team achievement. We had other guys step up and do things well. We’ve created a family culture and I think that was really prominent today.”
Milliken set a single-season program record with 23 goals and 21 assists to earn All-American honors but missed the final half hour of OA’s playoff opener after suffering an injury.
It didn’t take very long for the Davenport division champions to answer the question of how they’d perform down a starter.
Carney found the back of the net in the 10th minute and Martins doubled the hosts’ advantage with a super strike just two minutes later. Dasilva tacked on a key insurance tally just past the midway point of the second half and Carney capped the scoring with 10 minutes to go.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ back line of Diego Rivera, Jake Williams, Hector Bucio, and Jackson Mercieri, plus center midfielders Luke Churchill and Craig Churchill, made it an easy night for sophomore goalie Drew Hall, who had to deal with one corner and mostly came off his line to keep possession for the Tigers. He did not record a save, the lone shot from the Timberwolves coming in the final minutes with OA’s second unit in.
“That was a great effort overall,” Barata said. “The team defense was outstanding and that’s what we have to continue to do because the challenge in the playoffs is being able to defend. I thought the guys really came out to play today. We moved the ball, we created chances, and we conceded zero shots until the last couple of minutes with the second unit in.
“Playing Walpole is always tough. Lee [Delaney] has them well-prepared and disciplined, they are hungry, and they just want to go through you. We knew that’d be their game so we had to try and counter that.”
Junior Ryan Linhares whipped in a corner that was cleared but only as far as Rivera, who put in a low service that was one-timed in front by Bucio. The keeper made a quick reaction save but the rebound fell to Carney and he looped a volley into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
OA quickly doubled its lead just two minutes later. Martins put in a low service on a free kick from 35 yards out but it was quickly cleared by the Walpole defense. The ball came right back to Martins, who settled and took a touch with his right foot to set up a blast from 30 yards out that hit the crossbar and went in to make it 2-0.
“That was a collegiate-level goal,” Barata said. “He’s a Hockomock League All Star for a reason, he can play. He took that on a dime and buried it. We’ll take those, we didn’t get those against Reading. And hopefully, we have a couple more because our next opponent [Longmeadow] is a beast.”
OA kept the pressure up throughout the opening half. Milliken did make a brief appearance following Martins’ strike, and nearly found the back of the net in the 19th minute but his first shot was blocked on a slide tackle from the defender, and his rebound bid was parried away by the keeper.
Dasilva had another chance in the 31st minute but his shot from in close went high and just before halftime, Craig Churchill linked up with Mike MacAdam for a shot from 25 yards out that was gobbled up.
After a bit of back-and-forth long balls for the opening 15 minutes of the second half, the visitors thought they had cut the deficit in half on a header off a free kick but it was ruled offside.
OA regained control of the game and the Tigers were able to play their style again. In the 62nd minute, Craig Churchill intercepted a clearance attempt from the Timberwolves and it fell right to junior Braeden Blass, and his blast forced a one-handed save from the keeper that resulted in a corner.
On the ensuing corner, Linhares whipped in a cross that was headed down by Bucio, and after hitting off a Walpole player, Dasilva was first to pounce on it and buried his chance to make it 3-0 in the 63rd minute.
Carney put a cherry on top with just over 10 minutes to go. He latched onto a loose ball just over midfield and carried possession all the way to the box. He split a pair of defenders, touched to his left, and slotted a low shot between a third defender’s legs to the far post to make it 4-0.
“Joey’s been fantastic,” Barata said. “He missed seven or eight games with an injury but he’s been playing like this towards the end of the season. When we had a lot of our big goal games, he wasn’t out there. The last two games, he’s really come to life and really stepped up tremendously for us.”
Oliver Ames boys soccer (17-1-2) is set to play #9 Longmeadow (10-5-5) on Sunday. Longmeadow, which beat Mansfield in the opening round, reached the state semifinals last year and won the Division 1 state championship in 2019.
Softball Photos: North Attleboro vs. Walpole
North Attleboro Blanks Walpole To Reach State Semis
WALPOLE, Mass. — The North Attleboro softball squad is heading into uncharted waters after making history on the road.
The sixth-seeded Rocketeers blanked #3 Walpole, 3-0, on the campus of Bird Middle School, securing their spot in the Division 2 Final Four for the first time in program history. North previously reached this point back in 2014 when the state was formatted by sections, then in the Division 1 South Final.
Now in a statewide format, North is just one of four teams left in the state in Division 2 after junior Kelly Colleran tossed a shutout with 12 strikeouts, Mandi Hanewich clubbed four hits and scored two runs, and the Rocketeers handed the Timberwolves just their third loss of the season.
“I’m so happy for them, it’s so awesome,” said longtime North Attleboro head coach Bill Wallace, who has been at the helm for 21 seasons over two stints. “They’ve done a great job, they’ve bought in, and it’s really fun. I need Lewis and Clark, I’ve never been this far.
“It’s been such a fun ride because I don’t think in our heart of hearts going into this season and even during the middle of the season, we were wondering if we could win three games in the tournament? But as the season has progressed, they believe they can beat anyone and that’s awesome. That’s all you want.”
The last time the program reached this point in the tournament, they fell behind in the first inning. This time, the Rocketeers got off to a great start with two runs in the top of the first inning, putting the pressure on the hosts.
Hanewich smacked a leadoff single and took second after a bunt from Ally Levine was misplayed in the infield. A wild pitch pushed both runners ahead and Hanewich came home to score as Levine beat the throw to third on an infield grounder from Zoey McDonough for a 1-0 lead just four at-bats into the game.
“That was huge,” Wallace said. “I will tell you…if Mandi Hanewich is not the best leadoff batter in the state, she’s gotta be in the top three. She just gets on and the best thing about her, she did a lot of that with two strikes. She takes that monster cut on the first pitch and then next thing you know, she’s driving it out, and she’s so fast out of the box.”
That set the stage for senior Shaelyn Burns, who took the first pitch she saw into right field for an RBI single and a quick 2-0 lead.
“Our team was super excited on the bench, I could definitely feel our confidence [rise],” Hanewich said. “We were all riled up and we were so excited all week getting ready for today. We just wanted to get on them early and we did. We’ve never done this in program history so this is awesome. It just means a lot for me because it’s my senior year, and I’m super excited.
Colleran allowed a one-out single to Walpole’s Susie McAdams but quickly got two outs, including her first strikeout, to escape without any further harm. And that’s just about how each of the next five innings went as well.
After a leadoff walk in the second and a sac bunt put a runner in scoring position, Colleran got another strikeout and then Burns made a terrific diving play at third on a bunt attempt for the third out. The junior right-handed pitcher struck out the six in the third, and retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, getting a pair of strikeouts in each of the latter two.
“I’ve said this all along…when you have two kids that can back-to-back and keep pounding the strike zone, throw 12, 14, 16 strikeouts a game…it’s really hard to scout for, it’s really hard to defend,” Wallace said of Colleran and McDonough, who started in North’s win earlier this week. “I’m sure they knew Kelly was going to pitch today, but having the second option can create doubt.”
Walpole freshman pitcher Sharlotte Stazinski settled down after the first, working around a two-out bunt from Hanewich in the second, and getting the Rocketeers in order in back-to-back innings in the third and fourth.
North’s offense once again got a big spark from Hanewich, who orchestrated the insurance run with a one-out single in the top of the fifth. An error moved both runners forward and an infield single from Colleran loaded the bases for the Big Red.
McDonough got under one and sent it deep enough to the outfield to allow the speedy Hanewich to race home to make it 3-0.
Hanewich also had a one-out double in the top of the seventh but was stranded at third.
Walpole finally snapped Colleran’s streak at 15 batters in a row retired as Catie Powderly gave the hosts some life with a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh, the Timberwolves’ first hit since the first inning. To add to the drama, Norah Broderick followed with another single before Colleran got back-to-back strikeouts. An infield error loaded the bases and brought the winning run to the plate but Colleran induced a grounder to second where Maddie Bailey was able to knock it down, collect the ball, and fire to first for the final out.
“I knew the heart of the order was coming up but I knew if I just trusted what I had been doing all season I could get it done,” Colleran said. “And Maddie made a great play for us sticking with it.”
North Attleboro softball (17-6) will play the winner of #2 Tewksbury and #9 Somerset Berkley in the D2 Semifinals on a date and time to be announced, with a location to be determined. Tewksbury and S-B are set to play on Saturday night at 7:00.
Boys Hockey Photos: Mansfield vs. Walpole
Girls Basketball Photos: Oliver Ames vs. Walpole
Oliver Ames Can’t Contain Rebels In D1 South Opener
NORTH EASTON, Mass. – The Oliver Ames girls basketball rallied to erase a double-digit deficit in the first half in its D1 South First Round matchup with #10 Walpole.
The Tigers nearly did it again in the second half, but couldn’t complete the comeback bid in the final seconds, suffering a 53-45 loss to the Rebels.
Oliver Ames trimmed a once 14-point fourth quarter deficit down to five in the final minute, even getting a chance to shrink the lead even more but came up just short as the Rebels hit enough free throws down the stretch as OA’s offense ran out of gas.
“We just didn’t finish it, we didn’t take advantage of our chances late,” said longtime Oliver Ames head coach Laney Clement-Holbrook. “We had the perfect scenario [at the beginning of the comeback], shooting free throws with no time coming off the clock trying to get back into it and we missed a couple.
“They were missing to keep us in it but we just didn’t step up to finish. We had the big comeback in the first and we had to get back into in the second, I wonder if we expended too much energy there.”
Walpole rattled off a 15-2 run over the final four minutes of the third quarter to create its second double-digit lead of the game and the Rebels’ advantage peaked just before the midway point of the fourth quarter when senior Ainsley Dundon drained a three for a 45-31 lead.
The Tigers slowly started to claw back into the game, first with defensive stops and then with trips to the line. OA went just 1-for-4 from the line in that span but sophomore Caroline Peper (19 points) sank her second three of the game on the next trip to make it 47-39 with three minutes to play.
A putback off an offensive rebound from Walpole freshman Catie Hurley and a free throw from senior Sydney Scales pushed the lead to 10, 50-40, with just over a minute to go but OA continued to fight back.
Peper scored off a nice cut to the basket, converting a feed from Tori Harney (five points, four rebounds, three assists). After Walpole missed the front end of a one-and-one, Harney drained a contested three and the Tigers were down just five, 50-45, with 57 seconds to play.
Walpole again missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Tigers a chance to make it a one-possession game but OA couldn’t find a clean look and had a three-point shot go off the mark. Scales sank two more at the line and OA again came up short on a three. Walpole gave OA a final shot with two more misses from the line but the Tigers had two shots off the mark.
“Walpole is a good team…the Hock and the Bay State are the two best leagues in the state,” Clement-Holbrook said. “To draw somebody from that league, you don’t look at the record, that means nothing. They play tough teams throughout the year and the had beaten us before too.”
The Tigers score the majority of their points between the second and fourth quarters as the Rebels’ defense limited the hosts to just two field goals in the first quarter and seven points total, and six points total in the third.
“They really were physical with us, they didn’t give us any open looks,” Clement-Holbrook said. OA finished 3-for-14 from three-point range and shot under 30% from two-point range. “They bumped us like we’re supposed to bump others. I hope the takeaway from this is we learn from that, that’s how you defend when you’re going against teams that can shoot. You have to be right up on them, be physical.”
Trailing 12-7 after a quarter of play, OA’s offense didn’t shift into gear until it was faced with a 21-11 deficit. Anna Murphy converted down low to get the run started and junior Caroline Flynn (11 points, 12 rebounds) scored off a feed from Meg Holleran (eight rebounds).
Harney came up with a big block on Scales on one end and Peper converted on the other, and then the Tigers’ defense forced a shot clock violation before Peper hit a jumper. Holleran battled for an offensive rebound and sank a pair of free throws to make it 21-21.
Flynn hit a free throw to cap OA’s 11-0 surge to take a brief 22-21 lead before Scales answered with one of her own to make it 22-22 at the halftime break.
Holding a 26-25 lead early in the third thanks to a pair of baskets from Peper, the Tigers’ defense continued to focus in on Scales. When the two teams met in the regular season, Scales accounted for over half of her team’s points (25 of 48).
While Scales finished with less points this time around (20 points), her teammates stepped up to hit big shots. In Walpole’s 15-2 run. Scales help set up a pair of threes from freshman Brooke Walonis, who also added a strong take to the rim for eight points in the frame. Scales put an exclamation point on the run with a three that beat the third quarter buzzer.
“You know who’s who in the neighborhood and you’re going to try and take them away, but those role players for them stepped up,” Clement-Holbrook said. “They had players hit those big threes, they had the offensive rebound [putback].”
Oliver Ames girls basketball finishes the season at 14-7.
Sharon Holds On To Earn First Win Over Walpole
WESTWOOD, Mass. – While there are plenty of different coaching philosophies in the game of basketball, you can essentially split coaches into two groups: those who foul up by three late in the game, and those who don’t.
You can count Sharon’s Andrew Ferguson among the former group.
Right after Sharon senior Aaron Strong (career-high 19 points) sank two free throws to make it 61-58 with 5.2 seconds left, the Eagles fouled, sending Walpole to the line to shoot two with 3.3 to go.
The strategy worked out, as the first free throw was off, forcing the Rebels to purposely miss the second. A loose ball ended up with a jump ball with 0.3 left, and Walpole’s last-second desperation three was off the side of the backboard, giving the Eagles their first win of the season.
“We were very worried of Matt Falvey getting open and hitting a three,” Ferguson said. “We wanted to put them on the line, and then if he missed it, have to make that decision to miss the second. Nick Stamm knew exactly what we wanted to do right away, he did such a great job in the fourth quarter on [Falvey]. We felt fouling was the best strategy for us in that spot. With under 10 seconds left, didn’t want to get caught on a switch on a screen and it ended up working out.”
Ferguson’s concern about Falvey was beyond warranted as the senior guard scored a game-high 29 points, keeping the Rebels within striking distance until their fourth-quarter push that nearly stole the game.
Sharon had a 12-point lead at halftime and entered the final quarter with a 51-42 advantage and control of the game. The Eagles had an answer for Walpole’s early push as Caleb Gayle (eight points, seven rebounds) had back-to-back baskets and Stamm drove to the hoop to put Sharon ahead 57-46 with just under six minutes to go.
Walpole refused to go quietly, hitting a three after Sharon missed a pair of free throws. The Rebels got a turnover on the ensuing inbounds and converted a three-point play to make it 57-52.
After an empty trip, Falvey scored his lone two points on the final quarter with a nice take to the basket.
“That was Nick Stamm’s job, I told him ‘Don’t let him breath’ in the fourth quarter,’” Ferguson said. “Nick knows what his role is and he’s embraced it. He really stepped up to help us in the fourth.”
Sharon had a chance to answer but missed two more free throws. After trading misses over the next two minutes, Walpole made it a one-point game on two free throws from Brian DiPasca (18 points).
Sharon once again failed at the free throw line but forced a turnover on the defensive end to keep the lead. Despite a missed three, Sharon got the offensive rebound and Strong hit one of two chances at the line to push the lead to 58-56 with 1:32 to play.
With 30 seconds to play, Walpole came out of a timeout with a play to try and get level. It looked like the play was going to work when Connor McDonough got free on a curl but Ben Kaplan made a terrific block from behind off the backboard and Strong grabbed the rebound.
“We thought we could pressure them a little bit,” Ferguson said of the defense early on. “They have a young point guard so we were very successful with Ben [Kaplan] and Aaron [Strong] at the top of that 22. But Falvey was really killing us so we switch to the box-and-one and we really shut him down in the fourth quarter. Other guys stepped and hit shots for them but I’m proud of the defensive effort from my guys tonight.”
Strong hit one of two from the line to push the lead to 59-58, but Walpole sophomore Jack Connell drove to the basket for two, cutting the lead to one again. Sharon was almost called for a 10-second violation in the backcourt but Ferguson called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Strong got the ball, was fouled, and hit two free throws to seal the win.
“I told Aaron that I trusted him, that I trusted he would make the free throws,” Ferguson said.
Sharon trailed twice in the early minutes of the game but went ahead 14-10 by the end of the first quarter and never relinquished the advantage.
The Eagles had their best stretch of the first half at the very end of the second quarter. Holding a 22-18 advantage, Sharon closed the first half with an 11-3 run.
Aidan Kane (18 points) drove to the rim for two, Gayle hit a mid-range jumper and Kaplan took it strong to the basket for a 29-19 lead. Strong had one of his six steals and converted an easy two and Kane drilled a three on a feed from Stamm just before the buzzer to make it 33-21.
Sharon’s lead expanded to as much as 15 when Strong converted a layup with five minutes to go in the third quarter, but Walpole rallied to get within seven with under two minutes left in the period. JuniorAlec Filipkowski drilled a three to push the lead back to double digits.
“They ramped up their defensive intensity, they were cutting off the lane really well and we just weren’t making our foul shots,” Ferguson said of what changed in the fourth quarter. “We got to the free throw line but just didn’t cash in there. We’re going to shoot a lot of foul shots tomorrow in practice. Mike [Masto] does a great job with Walpole and they really ramped up their defensive intensity. We have a young group experience wise so we will work on that in practice and get better.”
Sharon boys basketball (1-4) returns home for a Hockomock League game against Davenport division rival North Attleboro on Friday, January 4th at 6:30.
Panthers Minutes From Upset Win, Fall in Overtime
TAUNTON, Mass. – Cassi Ronan picked up the ball inside the 30-yard-line and pushed the ball forward. She weaved her way past a pair of defenders and then touched it past a third to get clear on goal. The Walpole defender eventually caught up to Ronan, but not before she carried the ball nearly 70 yards.
The defender managed to slow her down but a foul was called, giving the Franklin senior a penalty stroke. She buried the shot, giving the goalie no chance and giving the Panthers a 3-1 lead over the No. 1 seed with just nine minutes remaining in Thursday night’s Div. 1 South semifinal at Taunton’s Tiger Aleixo Stadium.
It seemed like the Panthers, seeded 13th in the tournament, were finally going to end Walpole’s dominance in the rivalry and do it on the biggest stage. But, instead, the goal seemed to wake the Porkers up and they came storming back into the game.
Walpole scored twice in the closing minutes, including a goal with just two minutes left, to force overtime and then added a game-winner eight minutes later to stun Franklin 4-3 and advance to the South final.
“I thought we had it in the bag,” said Franklin coach Michelle Hess. “I thought we completely dominated the first half, dominated 75 percent of the game and in control. They definitely needed to comeback and got a spark, which probably speaks to their experience in tournament play and getting this far.”
Franklin has struggled in recent years against the Porkers, who are a perennial state title contender, but the Panthers weren’t intimidated and played at least an even game through the opening 50 minutes.
The Porkers jumped in front after just three minutes. Christina Luccini (18 saves) stopped the first shot by Molly Weiand, but Emery Murphy was on hand to tap in the rebound. Rather than let their heads drop, the Panthers answered back just five minutes later when Victoria Quinn redirected a shot by Ashley Reutlinger after a quick restart.
Franklin nearly took the lead right away when Regan Paterson got loose behind the Walpole defense, but her shot was saved. A minute later, Paterson pressured the Walpole goal and had a clearance rebound off her and just wide of the post.
In the 18th minute, Quinn and Amanda Lewandowski battled to keep the ball in the attacking zone and it opened up a chance for Quinn but she was unable to put it on frame. A minute later, she had her second of the night by being the first to react on a loose ball in the middle of the crease.
Walpole nearly tied it right after halftime with a quick move from a corner but Luccini came up with a sliding save to keep it out. Maeve Ledwith showed off her game awareness shortly after when she got behind Luccini and cleared a goal-bound shot off the line.
The Panthers nearly doubled the lead with 10 minutes to go. Quinn started the move down the left side with a pass to Paterson, who drove the ball all the way to the end line. She sent a ball towards goal that was tipped at the near post by Reutlinger, but only into the side of the goal. One minute later, Ronan got a head of steam and went on her amazing run to make it 3-1.
“She’s a phenomenal player,” Hess said of Ronan. “She’s strong, smart, and she definitely leads by example. She shows that when you put your nose to the grindstone you can make it happen.”
The third goal seemed to wake Walpole up. The Porkers flipped a switch in the final 10 minutes to put Franklin back on its heels and open up chance after chance.
Murphy got the comeback started with her second goal of the night, tipping in a corner to make it 3-2. Luccini was doing everything she could to keep the Panthers in front. She made a pair of saves to deny the Porkers and the rebound was knocked into the outside of the net by Jessica Tosone.
“She absolutely killed it,” Hess said of Luccini. “She was steady for us during the season but she rose to the occasion and stood on her head in every playoff game. Today was the epitome. She was just lights out.”
With just two minutes remaining, Luccini came out to challenge on a pass through the middle, but Weiand got to the ball first and managed to pull it past the goalie and just inside the post for a tie game.
In overtime, Luccini continued to be the hero for the Panthers, stopping both Audra Tosone and Brooke Skulski from close-range.
“I called a timeout and tried to settle them down a little bit and it worked for a little bit but then I think the emotions just started to rise and we made a few little mistakes. I’m very, very proud of my team.
Unfortunately for Franklin, Walpole looked like it had another gear while the Panthers were tiring. Off a corner, Caileen Quinn ripped a shot from straightaway, through a crowd, and into the back of the net for the win.
“They’re a quick team,” said Hess. “We tried to have our first step to the ball but they definitely have speed. They definitely seemed like they had a little more pep in their step. We were playing a little defensive.”
It is the second straight year that Franklin (13-6-2) has been knocked out in overtime in the tournament. Last year, King Philip went on to win the South title, a feat that Walpole will look to replicate on Saturday afternoon.
Bounces Go Against Milford in Season-Ending Loss
MILFORD, Mass. – As the clock was winding down, the desperation to find an equalizing goal ratcheted up from the stands to the fans lining the fence behind the Milford bench to the players, coaches, and alumni on the sidelines to the players trying to make it happen on the pitch.
Every move to create space was met with a roar, every perceived Walpole infraction met with arms thrown into the air and calls for a whistle, and every time the ball went into the box the cheering turned from words (in several languages) into a single, unintelligible sound trying to will the ball into the back of the net.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, every one of the chances that they created in a frenetic final 20 minutes on Wednesday night in the Div. 2 South quarterfinal was cleared, blocked, saved, or just trickled wide and Walpole’s second half penalty kick held up as the winner. The Rebels, who eliminated Oliver Ames in the first round, advanced to the sectional semifinal with a 1-0 victory.
“Frustrating is putting it lightly,” said Milford coach Brian Edwards after the game. “Frustrated at this result and how this game went. I’m proud of how our guys played. I think we stayed true to our style. I thought we played the kind of soccer we’ve been playing all year and unfortunately it came down to a PK call.”
After an evenly-matched opening half, which saw Milford have a goal called back for offsides, Walpole started the second half brightly, putting the Hawks on their heels and pinning Milford back on the edge of its own penalty area. Alex Maclean was peppering the Milford back line with a succession of long throws that forced center backs Tiago Filadelfo and Joao Boaventura to constantly be on their toes.
The Hawks took 14 minutes of the second half before creating anything of note going forward and it was a long-range effort by Jordan Borges that was comfortably saved. Walpole answered right back with a great chance of its own, but Tom Walsh blazed over the bar from only a few yards out.
In the 57th minute, Milford nearly grabbed the lead. Boaventura played the ball out of the back to Leo Coelho, who managed to get a toe on the ball and redirected it into the path of JJoey Madden making one of many forays down the right wing. Madden got all the way to the end line and cut it back to Walisson de Oliveira but the junior couldn’t generate enough power and his first-time shot was saved.
Three minutes later, the Rebels got on the board. Another long throw came in but was allowed to bounce in the penalty area, with the ball striking the hand of Joao Vitor Neiva. The officials deemed it enough to call a handball and a penalty. Aidan Murray got Josh Orellana to go the wrong way and knocked in his shot from the spot to make it 1-0.
“We’ve seen it a few times this year,” Edwards said about the challenge of defending Walpole’s set pieces. “We knew the game plan they had coming in, we stuck to ours and I thought we executed it well. I thought we didn’t finish our chances, but I thought we played well enough to win.”
The majority of the time remaining would be spent in the attacking third for Milford, as Walpole sat deeper and deeper, defending in numbers, to protect its advantage. de Oliveira, the team’s leading scorer and one of the top scorers in the Hock this season, fashioned a chance with skillful footwork in the box but the Walpole defense charged it down and blocked the shot.
In the 70th minute, Anthony Salvador drove into the box from the left and he went to ground under a challenge that the officials ruled was fair. The ball rolled into the path of Lucas Da Silva but his shot through traffic was well-saved by Walpole keeper Dennis Crowley.
A minute later and it was Dan Santos that found himself with room to try a shot. His left-footed effort got through the crowd of players in front but was cleared off the line at full stretch by Sebastian Pignone. Three minutes later, Salvador worked enough space to get off a shot but it was deflected and easily grabbed by Crowley.
A long throw by Madden reached de Oliveira but his header went just wide of the post. in the 80th minute, as the Walpole bench was pleading for a clearance and/or the final whistle, another Madden throw caused a panic in the box. Several Milford players got a touch and the ball seemed to pinball off everyone’s legs before rolling inches wide of the bottom corner.
It would be the game’s final chance. The whistle sounded and the Davenport division champions dropped to the ground in disbelief.
Edwards said, “I told my guys that I’m proud of how they played, but soccer is like that – you can play a good game and lose.”
Milford (13-2-5) won the program’s first Hockomock League title this fall, so there was plenty to celebrate, but on this night there was only the feeling that the Hawks season ended prematurely.
“These guys have done more than any Milford team in the last two decades, so of course I’m extremely proud of them but we felt like we could do a lot more,” said Edwards.
He added, “I’m sure the guys who are coming back are going to use this as motivation because they’re going to feel very angry with how this game was decided.