Hornet field hockey beats Dedham in first round

THE HORNET field hockey team celebrates their 1-0 state tournament win over Dedham on Nov. 3 at NRHS. The No. 13 Hornets moved onto the Round of 16 where they were edged on the road Tuesday night by No. 4 Dover-Sherborn 2-0. (NRHS Field Hockey Photo)

Edged by Dover-Sherborn in Sweet 16

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

NORTH READING — The season came to an end for the North Reading High field hockey team on Tuesday night as they were shutout, 2-0, by host Dover-Sherborn in the MIAA Division 3 Round of 16.

With the loss, the 13^th-seeded Hornets ended the year at 9-9-1 overall while the 4th-seeded Raiders improved to 15-1-4.

Both Raider goals can in the second quarter and they were both scored by forward Avery Bent. The first one came with 5:50 remaining off a corner. The second one came on a partial breakaway with 31 seconds left.

“We had a couple of breakdowns and they were able to capitalize on it,” said Hornets head coach Andrea Slaven. “In these type of games, there is only a small margin of error.”

North Reading had a golden opportunity to cut the lead in half with 10:48 left in the third quarter as they awarded a penalty stroke but Alyse Mutti’s shot was batted away by Raider goalie Caroline Harvey with her left blocker setting off a huge celebration by her teammates.

“It was a great save,” acknowledged Slaven.

That was the Hornets best chance to score in the second half as Harvey had eight stops total.

North Reading junior netminder, Caroline Burton, made 13 saves to finish at 9-9-1 in goal.

Sophomore, Maddie Lambert, also made a defensive save in the second quarter.

Dover-Sherborn finished with six corners while the Hornets had five.

In their Round of 32 game last Thursday night, the Hornets edged guest Dedham by a final of 1-0. With the loss, the 20^th-seeded Marauders ended the year at 6-8-4.

“That was a very exciting game,” said Slaven.

Freshman, Alaina Driscoll, was the hero scoring the lone goal with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter off a corner. Ellie Moberg had the assist.

“It was an evenly-matched game,” said Slaven. “I really didn’t know anything about them heading into the game.”

Burton had 10 saves to post her sixth shutout of the year.

The Hornets had six corners while Dedham had three.