Travel to No. 8 Minnechaug on Sunday night

 

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

WAKEFIELD — As the five Wakefield High field hockey seniors made their way across a Landrigan Field lined with teammates, friends and family, they took a moment to soak in their last home field hockey game.

“Senior night is special,” said head coach Cara Luca. “The JV players really stepped up and it was good to see the Red Sea (student section) here today.”

Brooke Fahey, Viv Mottl, Grace Seabury, Charolotte Rossicone and Jillian Schwartzberg enjoyed the moment, but made it clear they were on a mission.

And it was no easy mission despite the fact they were playing an Everett team they defeated 7-0 earlier in the season. Back in full force for the Crimson Tide were four boys, who tried to beat the Warriors with speed, but didn’t come close to having the skill necessary to win one-on-one battles.

Those were won by Wakefield throughout the field, none more evident than on defense where captain Rossicone controlled the game along with strong defense from multiple players like Erin Leary and Abigail Hodgdon while Schwartzberg picked up five saves.

“They were really excited coming into this game anyways,” said Luca. “I told them, ‘You’re going to have the senior jitters – it’s okay but we have to work through it because this game is still important to us.’ We beat them 7-0 last time but they’re a different team now.”

While the defense controlled the back line and Wakefield won battles in the midfield from multiple players like captains Fahey and Mottl and Juliana Spaulding, the Warriors left to goals to their leading scorer: Seabury.

THE WARRIOR defense was lights out in their 3-1 win on Senior Night Oct. 27. Pictured from left to righ is Abigail Hodgdon, Erin Leary, Jillian Schwartzberg and Charlotte Rossicone. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

The senior captain scored all three goals, two in the first half and one more in the final quarter.

Her first tally opened the scoring late in the 2nd quarter, finally breaking through on one of Wakefield’s 13 first-half corners on a long-range shot. The corner was helped set up by strong work from Hodgdon and started up after Rossicone won back possession deep in the Warrior zone.

Wakefield kept the pressure on immediately after scoring their first and Seabury pounced again on a scrum in front of the net and finished to make it 2-0, much to the delight of the Red Sea.

“She’s an amazing player,” said Luca of Seabury. “She has those great skills and she knows how to move the ball inside that circle. She really stepped up today, getting that ball in the net.”

Despite some more great defense early in the third quarter, the play was more even and Everett cut it to 2-1 with 51 seconds left, making for a tense fourth quarter.

Spaulding and Fahey set the tone with her hustle in the midfield and the Warriors had more chances to score.

Rossicone was great all game, but it was her play late in the contest with her team holding on to a one-goal lead that really impressed the fans as she worked tirelessly to stop Everett’s hard-charging athletes in their tracks.

“Chachie, she played defense perfectly today,” said Luca of Rossicone.

With the team looking for some insurance, Seabury provided it off a free hit from Spaulding in which the junior lofted it into the box while Seabury recovered and flipped it over the goalie on an impressive backhand shot.

The end result was the perfect way to end a regular season as the Warriors earned their 10th win, finishing at 10-7-1.

Wakefield earned the No. 25 seed in the state tournament and will travel to No. 8 Minnechaug this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. for a first round matchup. Minnechaug High, located about 94 miles away in Wilbraham, went 11-2-3 this season. The winner will play the winner of No. 9 Westwood vs. No. 24 Marlboro in the Round of 16.

While Wakefield will be underdogs this weekend, they’ll be ready to bring their best.

“Just play your game,” said Luca when asked what the message will be to her team before the game. “I keep telling them, ‘you’re a skilled team and you know how to play the right kind of field hockey’ – just play, persevere and don’t give up.”