ANDOVER – Last Tuesday it was the two Mias — Mia Batchelder and Mia Giaimo — who led Andover’s offense past Wellesley in the quarterfinals of the Div. 1 field hockey tournament.
On Friday night it was the Ella and Bella Show.
That is sophomore Ella Sewall and junior Bella DiFiore.
The two combined for all three goals to lift the two-time defending state champions and No. 2 seed Warriors (18-2-0) past the No. 7 seed Algonquin Regional, 3-0, in the Round of 8 game played at Andover High’s Lovely Field.
The win pushes Andover into the Final-4 where it will face No. 3 seed Wachusett Regional either Tuesday or Wednesday at a neutral site field.
In the third minute of the game, it was Sewall who assisted on DiFiore’s goal, which proved to be the game winner.
“It was a hard shot and the ball was going to go out of bounds (so I got it) and when I looked, I saw Bella and I sent it back to her (and she scored),” described Sewall.
Later in the game, Sewall had a chance to score another one but wasn’t in the right position, a mistake that she said wouldn’t happen again. It didn’t, and it led to two goals coming with 7:35 and 3:16 left in the fourth quarter.
“I was not on post the first time. I just knew after coach told me to get there, that I couldn’t mess up again. That was my one mess up of the night,” said Sewall with a laugh.
The duo has combined for 30 goals this season, and certainly seemed to be feeding off one another.
“They are both quick, they are both little and kind of unassuming, but they get themselves up there (to the net) especially with Bella and that cross ball to the back post, and they do a lot of that work together. They are a good little duo,” said first-year head coach Bridget Morris.
Lost in the Warriors’ success – now riding an 11-game winning streak – is the team’s defense. Andover has not given up a goal in three state tournament games over Methuen (6-0), Wellesley (2-0) and now Algonquin. In the 11-game winning streak, nine have come by shutout.
Goalie Madeline DiGiorgio had three saves, including a dandy blocker save on a high rocket shot coming with two minutes remaining, while in front of her a trio of seniors, Georgia Theriault, Sterre Kiaarenbeek and Rose Memmolo all played extremely well.
“Two of them really didn’t play much at all last year. Sterre in particular came into tryouts and just really impressed us,” noted Morris. “She has been working very hard and has completely flourished in this role all season long and keeps getting better and better. Georgia is just so steady. She is smart with her thinking, she does all of the right things and I know what she does is intentional. Then we have Rose in the middle which was kind of by accident. She sprained her ankle early on in the season and when she came back, we just moved her back there. Then I liked it and kept it.”
Morris explained that between youth and injuries that it took a lot of work for the team to come together – led by the defensive group — and start piling up the wins. DiFiore added that she’s just thrilled to be part of the magical ride to the state’s final four teams.
“It means a lot. We worked so hard over the off-season and it’s really rewarding. I had hope coming into this season that we would be strong, so it’s a rewarding feeling (to reach the Final-4),” she said.
Twitter: @JamiePote