WESTWOOD — If the young and returning players on the Masconomet girls soccer team learn only one thing from the squad’s two seniors starters, Cate Shaffer and Violet Malinowski, let it be this:
Be willing to do anything you can to put the team first.
The defending state champions saw their bid to repeat atop Division 2 end Monday night against top-seed Duxbury, 2-1, in the state semifinals at the Hawk Bowl at Xaverian Brothers High School. In a rematch of last year’s state final (won convincingly by Masconomet, 5-0), the fact that the Chieftains found themselves tied with arguably the state’s most potent girls soccer offense with 15 minutes to play was a credit to both their own defense and the versatility of their two captains.
Make no mistake: both Shaffer and Malinowski can score with anybody out there. If they spent their time at striker or even center-mid, they’d rack up points. What the No. 4 seed Chieftains (17-4-2) needed against the Dragons (17-2-3) wasn’t artsy attacking, but dogged work in the middle of the field and a serious commitment to marking two forwards who’d scored six goals each of their last two playoff wins.
While it seemed impossible to hold Duxbury (who will battle Longmeadow for the D2 state title on Saturday) off the board for the full 80 minutes, Masconomet came as close as humanly possible. It took intense defending by juniors Sadie Morris and Ada Paglierani in the middle and freshman Maddie Orciuch outside.
“That’s how it has always been for us: We start with our defense, start with controlling that, and then build out,” said Chieftains head coach Alison Lecesse.
With junior keeper Evy Mills making nine saves, Masconomet dodged more than a few Dragon bullets. Duxbury hit the crossbar twice in the first half and three times in all, and it was a 1-1 into the 67th minute of play.
That’s when Duxbury’s speedy Olivia Copperine, probably the best player on the field, broke up the sideline and sent a pass over to Annabel Manganello, who finished off the game-winner with 13:30 left in the game.
“They’re extremely dangerous on cutbacks and they’re very fast,” Lecesse observed of Duxbury. “It’s a very good team, very physical. I was pleased with the way we played and that we held them off the way we did.”
Masconomet made a slight adjustment up top and had a few near-misses of its own over the last eight minutes. Shaffer nearly dribbled through four defenders to find a through-ball, but the Chieftains were a step offside. Victoria Cerbone also had some nice pushes up top along with freshman Mia Schiavuzzo, and Malinowski was the focal point of the attack on the wing.
“We had some chances,” said Lecesse, “but the tough thing is that when you don’t have very many chances, taking advantage of the ones you do get becomes that much bigger.”
That’s what Masconomet did in the first half, earning a free kick from the 13-yard line just 12 minutes into the game. Ava Wexler (who had a tremendous game in back as well) took the shot and hit the far post, but junior Kaia Reardon was there to clean up the rebound and give her team a 1-0 advantage.
Duxbury got a free kick of its own from the same short distance, and Mills made the save.
Masconomet was nearly perfect defensively in that first half, but with just moments to go before the break Manganello put a corner kick directly into the top corner to level the score at 1-1.
With three starters from earlier in the playoff run lost to injury — plus star twins and University of Maryland commits Maggie and Lily Blosser out with other ailments — the Chieftains went deep into their bench. Standing up to a talented, seasoned club like Duxbury said a lot about the Chieftains’ young players, who can only benefit from playing these important minutes.
“These girls never gave up,” said Lecesse. “Our subs got so much experience they’ll take with them next year. There’s a lot of good to take away from this run.”
The Chieftains hung their third consecutive Final Four banner this fall and capture their third straight Northeastern Conference Dunn title, rallying impressively after losing their season opener to Marblehead (“a bit of a wakeup call,” Lecesse noted).
Since the statewide playoff tournament began in 2021 after the pandemic, Masconomet is a staggering 91-9-8 overall. That’s as impressive and consistent as any public school program in any sport on the North Shore — and beyond.
“It’s an individual commitment to a group effort. They buy into that,” Lecesse said when asked what it takes to have such success. “We don’t get to choose our players, right, but the way these girls come together and play so well as one and play for their school is pretty awesome.”