The MIAA statewide tournaments can often act in funny ways.
It was only just a year ago when the Georgetown girls soccer team had one of the best seasons in program history, winning 12 games and making an epic run to the Division 5 Final Four. But that run was halted by a talented — and as it turned out, young — Douglas team, which went on to be crowned State Champions before returning nine starters to this year’s roster.
Well, at least the Royals are up in Division 4 this year and will avoid all that.
… Wait, the Tigers moved up to D4, too!
And the two programs met again in a Round of 16 rematch on Monday night.
“(Douglas) overwhelmed us with their speed and skill last year,” said Georgetown coach Kevin Fair. “That loss was on me. I had us in the wrong formation, and left our defenders in space on islands and Douglas dominated the midfield.”
But that wasn’t about to happen again.
Monday night down at Millbury High School, No. 15 Georgetown pulled off a stunner, and earned some sweet, sweet playoff revenge in the process. A second-half goal from senior captain Jenna Johnson with four minutes left was the difference, and the Royals punched their ticket to their fourth straight state quarterfinal with a 1-0 upset of No. 2 Douglas.
“So proud and so happy for this group,” said Fair. “We are playing our best soccer in the most important time of the year. We had two pre-game themes tonight: Believe and trust. We needed to believe that we could win, and then we had to trust that we had each other’s backs.
“The girls did both.”
What a difference a year makes.
Douglas (15-4-1) was certainly a favorite to repeat as state champs despite being in a different division, entering the D4 tournament as one of only two teams — alongside Sutton — with an MIAA ranking over 3.0. What more, among those nine returning starters for the Tigers is two Division I collegiate recruits in strikers Sadie O’Toole (Stonehill College) and Meghan Brazeau (Emmanuel College).
But this time, the Royals (9-6-5) were ready.
Penny Church and Abbie Jarosch drew the difficult task of chasing those two around the pitch all night, but they remained technically sound and more than held their own. Then between Katie Davies and Liana Nakatsugawa at center back, along with Alana Smith and Sophie Smith defensively, the Royals were able to keep a high-powered offense off the scoreboard.
“In my opinion, Penny is the top defender in the CAL and the area, and Abbie is not far behind her,” said Fair. “They are physical and tenacious, and their compete levels are off the charts. Our whole defense was excellent tonight.”
And then, there’s Cora Robinson.
The senior keeper has been excellent for Georgetown all year, and on Monday she took her game to another level. Robinson made 15 total saves on the night, which included stopping a penalty kick with four minutes left in the first half. Douglas also drew a whopping 22 corners, but Robinson made sure that none of them ended with the ball in the back of the net.
“I’ve said all year that she’s as good a keeper as there is,” said Fair. “She came off her line with conviction and purpose all night, and she defended 22 corner kicks! I have never played in, or coached, a game where one team had 22 corners.”
Then, with four minutes left in regulation, the magic moment came.
It all started with 8th-grader Brylee Hodges winning the ball at midfield, and sliding a pass over to Kat Greenblatt with some space. The junior then played a perfect through-ball to Johnson, who beat her first defender and ripped a shot from the 20-yard-line that sailed into the upper-left corner of the net for the winner. Douglas drew three corners during a hectic last four minutes, but the Royals were able to hold on.
“We talked at halftime that their keeper was playing very high off her line,” said Fair. “I said to Jenna, from the 30 and in if you get space, rip it. Jenna is a scorer. She has been since she was 5 years old, and tonight she scored the biggest one of her high school career.”
And that career continues at least one more game.
Georgetown is back in the state quarterfinal for a fourth straight year, and will next play No. 10 Southwick Regional tonight (Wednesday, 11/12) at 7:30 p.m. out at Wesfield State University. The Rams (14-3-3) have earned a pair of one-goal wins over Wahconah and Hampshire Regional to make it to the Elite Eight.