ANNABELLA FORZIATI scores one of her four goals during Wakefield’s win over Gloucester on April 13. The junior followed that up with seven goals in the next three games. (Donna Larsson Photo)
Published in the April 25, 2019 edition.
By DAN BYRNE
WAKEFIELD — It has been a busy couple of weeks on the field for the Wakefield Memorial High School’s girls’ varsity lacrosse team. Over April vacation, the girls played three games, winning two and losing one, before being beaten at home on Tuesday of this week. Following that loss to Lexington, the Warriors’ head coach spoke for a moment about the things her team has done and what is to come.
On April 13 against Gloucester, the Warriors picked up a 15-6 win. In the game, Erin Heffernan had five goals, Annabella Forziati had four goals, Casey Kearney and Abby Mondello had two goals each, and Brooke Lilley added one for the Warriors in the win.
“Against Gloucester, we weren’t pressured as much, we were able to get our passing down, our defense was good and we applied a lot of pressure which held them,” said head coach Cara Luca.
On April 17, the team played Tewksbury on the road.
“We lost 10-7,” Coach Luca said. “Things were not going our way at all, we had dropped balls, and turnovers on turnovers.”
The Warriors fought hard throughout the game and three goals from Mondello helped them stay in it until the end. Forziati and Erin Heffernan added a pair of goals to the tally, but it wasn’t enough offense to come up with the win.
“We needed the Tewksbury game,” Luca said. “But we’ll have to pick up another win along the way.”
The team did pick up another win, on the road against North Reading the very next day, as they claimed a 16-11 win.
“We won and we played really hard that game,” Luca said of the win against the Hornets. “The things we did well were passing, defense; it was a very physical game, but things went well.”
The Warriors were led by four Forizati goals and three goals each from Erin Heffernan and Brooke Lilley. Keegan, Kearney, McNall, Heffernan, Fortier, and Mondello all scored single goals for the Warriors as they claimed their second win of the season to move to 2-3.
On the 23rd of April the girls got back to game action as they played host to the Lexington Minutemen. Wakefield struggled to keep up with the Middlesex League powerhouse, and ultimately fell by a 16-5 final score.
“The girls played really good in the first half,” Luca said after the loss. Her team trailed 10-2 at the halftime mark, but she saw some better things defensively from her team in the 1st half.
“Lexington really is a powerhouse,” Luca said. “They’re a great team, they’re very highly skilled, and going into it I said that the girls just had to be determined and motivated and not give up today, and in the first half they played really well.”
Forziati and Kearney had the first half goals for the home team.
“Bella DiMare, our goalie had an amazing first half, she played really well,” Luca said of her goalie who finished with eight saves. “This was the best game that I’ve seen from her all season.”
The Warriors pushed forward on offense and outscored Lexington 3-2 in the final 15 minutes, but the attacking edge took away from the defensive solidity according to coach Luca.
“We stepped back on defense there at the end a little bit,” the coach said. “And I told them they can’t give up on a team like Lexington because they just kept going, going, and going.”
In the final 15 minutes, Rachel McNall scored one, and Kearney added her second and third goals of the game.
Coach Luca added, “We have some things to work on, and we have a huge game against Peabody on Thursday, they’re a very strong team, then we have Burlington on Friday.”
The busy week continues Thursday as coach Luca mentioned, with a road trip to face 6-0 Peabody, and then turn around and play host to Burlington on Friday.
A win in either game would be huge towards the Warriors’ tournament hopes with their record currently standing at 2-4 on the season.
