HAMILTON — For the fourth consecutive season, the Hamilton-Wenham girls lacrosse team was trying to leap over the hurdle that was the quarterfinal round of the Division 4 state tournament.
Their opponents on Wednesday evening, Manchester Essex, had already dropped a pair of games to the Generals earlier this spring in Cape Ann League play. But they were tickled pink when the tournament bracket came out last week and they saw they could possibly meet up with them a third time in the postseason.
As it turns out, it was the visiting Hornets who got their wish. Taking a lead in the opening minute and never surrendering it, they upset the third-seeded Generals, 11-8, before a large and vocal crowd at Edfund Field.
For the fourth straight season, the Generals — who finished the year 14-3 — are headed home one step short of the state semifinals.
Instead, it’ll be sixth seeded Manchester Essex (now 14-6) that advances to Monday’s Final Four matchup in Danvers (5 p.m.) against the winner of Thursday’s Ipswich/Fairhaven contest.
“We wanted it more and played like a true team,” first-year Hornets head coach GG Huet said as her players whooped and hollered in the postgame celebration around her.
“The second we got that bracket and saw there was a chance we could play them again, we were literally jumping for joy. We knew we hadn’t played our best against them the first two games, and we wanted to go against No. 12 (Generals star and Cape Ann League Player of the Year Evie Bernard), go against the best of the best and win.”
Down 2-0 early, the Generals tied it behind goals from Grace Glidden and Caroline Ciriello. But after Manchester Essex responded twice before the quarter ended, the hosts never got that close again.
“I think nerves got us,” admitted head coach Emily Leland. “We never really hit our groove. We felt good coming in, playing at home against a familiar foe … but at the same time knew it’s tough to beat the same team three times.
“GG’s a great coach, and I knew she’d have something up her sleeve. And they came ready to play; their energy was good, a lot of their players stepped up … and we just seemed a little bit tired.”
The University of Pennsylvania-bound Bernard, a senior captain and midfielder who had scored a dozen goals with five assists in her team’s first two postseason wins, was hounded by Hornets star Abby Kent and host of other defenders —Annie Prinn, Ava Dickerson, Joslin Twombly, Colby McClain and Harper Brooks — the entire contest. She still managed to score a game-high five goals, but all were as Hamilton-Wenham was trying to battle its way back from behind.
“We had a bunch of different things to throw at them defensively,” said Huet, “but we never ended up changing from our starting defense and matchups because they worked so well. You can’t just have one player guard (Bernard), so we stayed with what was working for us.”
Manchester Essex spread out its scoring, getting goals from seven different players. With the Generals face guarding Kent (goal, 2 assists) early on, that opened up opportunities for many of her offensive teammates, and they cashed in when given the chance.
Fellow captain Laila Mears was at the forefront of that movement, finishing with three goals and three assists. Freshman Wren Lewis and the aforementioned Brooks both pocketed two goals, while junior Shields Edgerton, plus sophomores Stella Lage and McClain, also found the back of the net.
Goaltenders Ema Mustafa, a sophomore, and Ellie Virden, a junior, split time in net for the Hornets, each making five saves. Virden stopped four in the final quarter as Hamilton-Wenham made a desperation push to cut into its deficit.
In addition to Bernard — who finished the season with 78 goals and her career with an eye-popping 383 tallies — Bailey Shepherd, Glidden and Ciriello scored, with Maddie Graber, Jane Boardman, Pieper Tosh, Ciriello and Shepherd all dishing out one assist.
Freshman goaltender Hazel McWilliams had a strong outing, making seven saves, while teammates Margot Bryce Morris, Hailey Ireland and Molly Ryan defended well in front of her.
“We really wanted to win this for our seniors,” said Leland, who will say goodbye to 10 such graduates. “They came in as freshmen my first season, so in a way we’re all seniors. But it just wasn’t our day.”
Contact Phil Stacey
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