Forrest, Spaulding make history in Senior Night win
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High girls’ lacrosse team concluded their regular season yesterday with an emphatic, 16-3 win over Gloucester at Landrigan Field.
With that, the Warriors ended their regular season on a four-game winning streak to finish at 8-10. Wakefield has all but punched their ticket to the state tournament as they were ranked No. 17 in the latest Div. 3 rankings that were released on Tuesday. The top 32 ranked teams automatically qualify.
“I’m so happy for the girls, they’ve worked hard these last four games of the season to secure a spot in the tournament,” said head coach Cara Luca. “Everyone put in a good effort and it was really great to see how we’ve grown as a team since our first game.”
The Warriors controlled their win against the Fishermen from the start and never looked back.
Senior captain Molly Forrest had 5 goals and 2 assists to lead the way. Sophomore Rory McNeill had 3 goals. Sophomore Cara Carangelo had a goal and 2 assists and junior Leah Conners had 2 goals. Finishing with single tallies were junior Ally Bligh, senior Julia Welch and freshmen Maura Barrett, Keira O’Brien and Allie DeGray. It was the first career goal for DeGray and O’Brien.
All three goalies got playing time as senior Sofia Macaluso had 4 saves in 2 quarters, allowing 1 goal; senior Mackenzie Grace and sophomore Alla Othman each had a save in 1 quarter allowing just 1 goal each.
The defense was plenty impressive as well with cornerstones like senior captain Lea Carangelo, juniors Maddy Taylor and Shea Suntken and sophomore Emma Ickes shutting down Gloucester from start to finish.
“They were able to stop Gloucester from entering the 8 meter,” said Luca of her defense. “It was a great all-around team effort. I was able to get all the girls in for playing time.”
That win came just two days after Wakefield’s exciting 11-7 victory over Tewksbury on Senior Night at Landrigan.
Before the game, the Warriors honored their 12 seniors: captains Forrest, Lea Carangelo, Kyleigh Formicola and Juliana Spaulding along with Welch, Macaluso, Grace, Corinne Dunlap, Alexis Biscoe, Alexa Kelliher, Alexis Manzi and Megan Cataldo.
“Senior Night is always a big game,” said Luca. “Having 12 seniors come together was great to see. It was also great to see family members and friends supporting the girls.”
The underclassmen each chose a senior to make a poster for and provided them each with a rose. The rose was then given to the senior’s parents where a family picture was taken by Beth Boudreau. On the fence, fans could see the senior banners hung up which would signify their last year at Landrigan Field.
Another highlight was the youth program, which showed up in full force to support their Warriors.
“They formed a huge tunnel for the girls to run down,” said Luca. “It was great to see future lax players on the field with the team.”
The game certainly did not disappoint either.
The highlight came from Wakefield’s best attackers: Spaulding and Forrest. The two seniors both scored their 100th career goals on Senior Night. Spaulding finished with 4 goals and an assist and Forrest also finished with 4 goals.
“It was a huge milestone for both of them but even better that it was on Senior Night,” said Luca. “I didn’t tell them about the milestone until we were ready to go onto the field. I didn’t want to overwhelm them. I was happy that it happened on Senior Night.
“Both of these girls love the sport of lacrosse. They train hard on and off the field. It was well deserved. It has been an absolute pleasure to have coached the both of them these past four years. I wish them the best of luck in college.”
Both will continue their lacrosse careers in college. Forrest will be playing at Springfield College and Spaulding will be playing lacrosse and field hockey at Mount Holyoke College.
Biscoe and Dunlap both added goals on their Senior Night and the two senior goalies combined to hold Tewksbury off for the win. Macaluso had 5 saves and Grace had 7 stops.
Wakefield’s winning streak started on May 15 with a thrilling 11-10 win over Watertown on the road. That carried over into a 14-9 win over Wilmington on Friday before their Senior Night victory.
The Warriors are slated to make the state tournament again after just missing it last year. They made it in 2022 and won a preliminary round game, 14-1 at home against Amherst-Pelham before falling to Duxbury in the first round.
Wakefield was re-aligned to Div. 3 this season. The Warriors will be hoping they can move up just one more spot in the final seedings. The top 16 teams will host a first round tournament game. The bracket will be released on Wednesday, May 29.
THE SENIORS were honored before the Wakefield High girls’ lacrosse team’s 11-7 victory over Tewksbury on Monday at Landrigan Field. In the front row from left to right are captains Molly Forrest, Juliana Spaulding, Kyleigh Formicola and Lea Carangelo. In the back row from left is Mackenzie Grace, Julia Welch, Alexis Manzi, Alexis Biscoe, Megan Cataldo, Alexa Kelliher, Corinne Dunlap and Sofia Macaluso. (Beth Boudreau Photography)
