THE WARRIORS celebrate Sam Goc’s second half goal against Stoneham on Wednesday in a 1-1 tie. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
STONEHAM — The Wakefield High girls’ soccer team hit the road on Wednesday to meet Stoneham.
After a scoreless stalemate in the first half, Wakefield got on the board early in the second with a goal from junior Sam Goc, assisted by senior captain Molly Forrest.
The Spartans rallied just one minute later, finishing a chance in close after a free kick from just outside the 18.
From there, a tense, back-and-forth matchup ultimately ended in a draw, bringing Wakefield’s record to 1-3-2 and Stoneham’s to 0-5-2.
Wakefield’s junior goalkeeper Emma Waldeck earned Player of the Game from her team, making multiple strong saves throughout the 80 minutes.
Her best came on a diving stop after a free kick during stoppage time of the first half, somehow getting to the shot and reeling it in as well to prevent a rebound chance for the home team.
That ended a solid half for the Warriors as they had the better possession through the midfield with senior captain Fiona Recene and junior Aliza Margolis leading the way.
Junior defender Abby Myette set the tone for the defense in the first half, moving over to center back and shutting down any Spartan chances before they got going.
Goc had some promising efforts on the left wing late in the opening half working with Forrest, a trend that would continue.
After Waldeck’s impressive save, the Warriors took all the momentum into the second half, which they capitalized on early with Goc’s goal. Forrest made a great run down the left sideline with the ball and played a perfect cross in front where Goc was waiting to finish on a well-placed one-timer to open the scoring.
That goal came just under two minutes into the half and appeared to really tilt the momentum until Stoneham drew a free kick and finished a broken play that the Warriors couldn’t clear, evening the score just one minute after Goc’s goal.
To Wakefield’s credit, they didn’t let it deflate them, as they got the better chances during the rest of the game.
Goc almost had her second after a nice find from Recene but the Stoneham goalie made a quality stop.
Later in the half, after a creative give and go between freshman Nora Fitzgerald and junior Rachel Caplin, Recene almost set another one up as Margolis had a good bid on net that was again stopped.
With the midfielders and strikers continuing to hustle, Waldeck and the defense held strong, especially on some late corner kicks for Stoneham. Myette concluded her impressive day with a blocked shot on one of those corners and Waldeck made a nice catch on another after a smart read to leave her goal line.
In the end, Wakefield will be proud of the effort but certainly hungry for the win next time. They’ll get that chance today when they travel to Burlington at 4:15 p.m. to meet a tough, 4-3 Red Devils squad coming off a close, 3-2 loss to undefeated Melrose on Wednesday.
