By RYAN MARSH
WAKEFIELD — On Thursday night, the Wakefield High girls’ soccer team took on the Burlington Red Devils in their last game of the regular season. The Warriors were on a roll, coming off of a win the night before against Stoneham to put themselves in prime position to win the Middlesex League Freedom Division Title, which they did with a 2-1 victory.
At 10-5-1, Wakefield already clinched their spot in the state tournament, looking to clinch their league title against a Red Devils team they had already beaten 3-1 earlier in the season.
“The last year on the banner was 1987 and when we knew it may happen, the girls wanted their year up there as well,” head coach Stephanie Martin said. The feather in the cap of the 2021 team would be the league title.
The game started promptly at 6 p.m. following the Youth Night celebration on a cold fall night. The two teams battled to start the game, trading shots on the opposing keepers. Wakefield’s defense and goaltending stifled all the Burlington chances.
As the Warriors played ferocious defense, a key opportunity appeared early on as the offense began to pressure the Burlington net. The ball flew by the net as Burlington played tough defense, until a shot by sophomore Molly Forrest went in.
Now up 1-0, Wakefield continued to play tough, but Burlington stepped up their game. The Red Devils pressured the Wakefield keeper, senior captain Bailey McDevitt, but the solid Warrior defense led to a great scoring chance which ended with a missed header.
Wakefield continued to pile on the pressure. The Warriors took shot after shot until another ball found the back of the net off the foot of Forrest for her second of the game.
Now with a solid lead, the Warriors just needed to hold on and keep pressure, but Burlington began to fight back. In the last minutes of the half, the Red Devils got a fastbreak, but the Warriors shut it down due to three crucial stops.
The Warriors entered the second half up 2-0 and the second half was similar to the end of the first, with both teams trading shots, but no team was making big strides. Wakefield got two chances early in the half with senior captain Kayli Porter taking two corner kicks but were denied by the Red Devils’ keeper.
Burlington tested McDevitt, but she ranged all over to make saves and shut down the Red Devils. Following the saves, the Red Devils got the ball back and shot it straight at McDevitt, who saved it and flung the ball to senior captain Ashlee Purcell, who raced up the field and blasted it off the post.
With the minutes ticking down in the game, the Red Devils found their offense and put a goal on the board over the head of McDevitt. Now only down by one, the Red Devils found a new life. Burlington began moving the ball around well, getting more shots on the net. Making a last effort push, the Red Devils had a corner kick to try to tie the game. Burlington blasted the ball towards the net, but the Warriors blocked it and sent it out of their zone.
Even with the late goal, it still was not enough to beat the Warriors, who rushed the field to their keeper to celebrate their first league title in 34 years.
With the final game of the regular season played away against Malden last Saturday, a 4-2 win with two goals from junior Caroline Roberts and a goal each from captains Porter and Purcell, the Warriors finished their season at 12-5-1.
“This is a tremendous group of kids on and off the field,” said coach Martin. “We know what we are capable of when we put it all together and I know these kids are still hungry and want to extend their season for a while.”
Wakefield will find out their matchup in the state tournament today as they look to make a deep run in the postseason led by captains Bailey McDevitt, Kayli Porter, Ashlee Purcell and Maeve Recene.
The Warriors were rated as the No. 25 seed in the latest MIAA Div. 2 girls’ soccer power rankings, meaning they will need to travel for a first round game. Wakefield is the only Middlesex League team in the Div. 2 tournament. As of the latest rankings, the Warriors would travel to No. 8 Mansfield High for their first game. Follow our Twitter account, @Wakeitemsports for more details today. The official rankings and first round schedule will appear in tomorrow’s sports section.
