LAWRENCE – Two great teams. League championship on the line. Playoff type atmosphere with a big crowd on hand.
Monday night’s game had it all.
The clash between No. 6 Chelmsford and No. 7 Central Catholic exceeded all of the hype. Top two teams in the Merrimack Valley Conference, and two of the top in Division 1 across the state, exchanged leads seven times, while six other times the hard-fought physical contest was tied. Defense was at a premium and goaltending on both sides was outstanding.
With 5:40 to go in the game, Central Catholic went up by two goals, only to see the Lions roar back, scoring the game’s final three goals in the come from behind, 10-9 victory.
The win gave Chelmsford (14-3) the MVC Division 1 league championship crown, while, Central (14-5) needed a win to share the title, since the Lions beat them 16-6 in the first go-around.
“It was a great game. It’s actually turning into a rivalry. It’s not so much Central-Andover anymore, it’s more like Central-Chelmsford,” said CC head coach Vanessa Pino. “It was a hard-fought game. I wish the officiating was a bit better, but I could not be more proud of the team. A loss by one goal just shows how even skilled the two teams are.”
Chelmsford, playing without two of its top players, tri-captain Amelia Kelly and defensive star Remore Serra, still was able to shut down Central’s highly-touted offense at crucial moments of the game.
“If you look at the (Division 1 MIAA) power rankings, all of us (from the Merrimack Valley Conference) are right up there, so I know I definitely don’t want to see (Central Catholic) again,” said Chelmsford head coach Ashley Rokas. “I hope we don’t see them again in the playoffs. They are very talented.”
Both teams got off to slow starts, scoring just two goals each. One reason for the low scoring was the play of both goalies, Grace Cashman for Central (10 saves) and Madelin Dunbar for Chelmsford (8 saves). Dunbar made five first-half saves just on penalty shots alone. Then early in the second half, it was Cashman’s turned as she completely robbed Chelmsford’s Julianna Lanzillo on back-to-back in-tight shots.
“It was a big hyped up game. We definitely lost to them pretty bad the last time so it was a mental game (for us) and the girls came out a little slow in the first half,” said Pino. “I was still pleased because we were tied (at the break). We weren’t getting beat; we were just making silly mistakes.”
Things really opened up offensively in the second half. Central took leads of 3-2, 4-3, 5-3, 6-5, 8-7 and 9-7 but Chelmsford came back each time. Sophomore Kerri Finneran got things going for Central scoring three straight goals in a seven minute span, giving the Raiders the 5-3 lead. The teams kept setting up their offenses and were running plays which were executed much better during a ten-minute stretch. Nicolette Licare was set up by Jacqueline Tattan to make it 6-5, but the Lions scored the next two.
With less than ten minutes to go, Central was on the man-up and scored on a Finneran penalty shot, which was followed by two tallies from Licare, the second on a beautiful running backhander. That gave Central a 9-7 lead with 5:40 to go. After that it was all Chelmsford with two goals from Maggie Loeber, before the game winner by Madelyn Callahan coming with 3:04 to go.
Chelmsford won the ensuing draw, and all but ran out the clock – besides a short possession by Central – the rest of the way.
CHELMSFORD 10, CENTRAL CATHOLIC 9
Chelmsford (14-3) 2 8 -10
Central Catholic (14-5) 2 7 -9
Goals, Chelmsford, Jillian Martin 4, Tajia Bell 2, Madelyn Callahan 2, Maggie Loeber 2; Central Catholic, Nicolette Licare 4, Kerri Finneran 4, Jacqueline Tattan 1.
Saves: Chelmsford, Madelin Dunbar (8 saves); Central Catholic, Grace Cashman (10 saves).