Lopsided tournament victories over the Hollis-Brookline Lady Cavaliers and the Salem High Lady Blue Devils last week brought coach Rob Daziel and his talented Pinkerton Academy girls’ lacrosse team within a win of repeating as the Division I champions.
The Astro second-seeded crew pummeled the number seven Hollis-Brookline team by an 18-3 score in Derry in quarterfinal-round play Wednesday, June 5, and followed up that fine piece of work by bagging 18 more goals in a defeat of sixth-ranked Salem on Saturday night at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.
In the humbling of Hollis-Brookline, Daziel’s dames drove out to a 10-1 lead in the first half and never wound up with any reason to look back over their shoulders during half number two.
“Our offense executed very well, controlling the ball until a scoring opportunity was exposed,” said Daziel. “And the team shot well with 18 goals on 23 shots.”
The coach’s daughter – senior Kennedy Daziel – led the Lady Astros’ offensive charge with seven points on three goals and four assists. Maggie McCarthy was also great with five goals and one assist for six points, and Erin Coutts had three goals and one helper.
Other important offensive contributors were Sierra Sanchez (two goals, two assists), Avery Drouin (two goals), Micaela Capozzo (two assists), Ali Davis, Colby Millsaps, and Ariel Vaillancourt (one goal apiece), and Nola Wesche (two assists).
Goalies Sarah Lambert (seven saves) and Kyra Goucher (one) each did their parts as well in the PA blowout.
“Our defense was led by Jess Cote, Eva Murray, Sam Albano, and Kristen Sobolewski. Defensive support was led by Melanie George, Courtney Lampert, Emily Sharretts, and Morgan Hazelton. The defensive play caused five turnovers and six interceptions,” added Daziel.
And Pinkerton assured itself of a return trip to the championship match by handing former PA multi-sport athlete Faith Wahlen’s Salem High Lady Blue Devils an 18-10 defeat in the semfinals over the weekend.
The defending champs grasped a commanding, 12-3 lead at halftime – which sent the Salem starting goalie to the sidelines to stay – and they repelled Salem’s comeback attempts during the second half by potting another six goals.
Kennedy Daziel potted five goals, McCarthy snagged three, Sanchez and Davis were good for two each, and single scores were registered by Capozzo, Amanda Szostak, Coutts, Drouin, Dani Tompkins, and Nola Wesche.
Assists were notched by Daziel, Sanchez, Capozzo, Coutts, McCarthy, Drouin, and Colby Milsaps.
Lambert and Goucher combined for six saves in the solid, productive victory.
Later that evening at SNHU, top-seeded Souhegan of Amherst defeated the number-four Exeter Lady Blue Hawks in the other semifinal contest to set up at rematch of last spring’s D-I title match between Pinkerton and Souhegan. That contest was scheduled to be played at SNHU Tuesday night, June 10, after Nutfield News press time.
The teams met most recently on May 29 at Souhegan where Pinkerton narrowly lost by a score of 14-13 in a highly-anticipated battle.
