DANVERS — Violet Malinowski and Cate Sheffer are 18-year-old National Honor Society members at Masconomet Regional. They’re both officers for clubs at the school, are in the process of narrowing down their list of potential college choices (Syracuse is the top pick for Malinowski, Wake Forest for Sheffer), and serve as captains of the defending Division 2 state champion Chieftains’ girls soccer team.
With a vastly different roster makeup than a year ago — one that includes three freshmen in the starting lineup — Malinowski and Sheffer serve not only as veteran leaders, but difference makers on the pitch as well.
With a shorthanded roster Saturday afternoon, Masconomet dug deep and turned in a strong 80-minute effort to cut down visiting Westwood, 4-0, in a second round playoff matchup at Deering Stadium in Danvers. Shaffer scored the Chieftains’ second goal, and Malinowski assisted on the their final tally, which was knocked home by defender Victoria Cerbone.
“It started in practice (Friday), and we carried that over into the game and played how we practiced,” said Malinowski. “Starting strong was the key for us.”
Head coach Alison Lecesse said it was a “next girl up” mentality that her Chieftains have adopted of late, with some of the younger players literally learning as the team keeps advancing in the postseason.
“We had three freshman starters (forward Ella Cammarata, midfielder Mia Schiavuzzo and defender Maddie Orciuch) that didn’t come off the field today,” said Lecesse, her team improving to 16-3-1 with the victory. “We haven’t had freshmen on the varsity for a while, so it’s nice to see. At the same time, I have very high expectations for them. It’s like, ‘You’re here because you earned it, but now you have to stay here with your play.'”
“The freshmen have clicked with us, and us with them, from the beginning,” added Shaffer.
Seeded fourth in the draw, Masconomet will be back in Danvers Wednesday (6:30 p.m.) for the state quarterfinals against a powerful No. 5 seed from Hingham (15-4-2).
Controlling the first half of play, the locals took a 1-0 lead into halftime after converting a penalty kick after Shaffer had been fouled in the box.
Shaffer then doubled her team’s lead off the rush five minutes into the second half.
“I was kind of watching their goalie (Sofia Bertone), because I knew Ella was going to take a really hard shot, and I was expecting it to bobble off the goalie,” said Shaffer. “So I ran in and positioned myself so that I wouldn’t miss it. But sometimes those easy ones are the ones you miss because you overthink it. So I made sure to go in with power, and Ella set me up perfectly.”
Cammarata increased her team’s lead to 3-0 about 12 minutes later, playing Ava Wexler’s ball that went over a defender’s head and shooting it through the back of the Wolverines’ (13-5-2) net. Cerbone concluded the scoring with a little under five minutes to play.
At the other end of the field, junior goalkeeper Evy Mills was asked to make only one difficult shot among her three saves, diving across to deny one of the rare bids generated by the Tri-Valley League champs. Ada Paglierani, center back Sadie Morris, Orciuch and Wexler all played well defensively in front of her.
While this year’s squad is certainly different from the unbeaten 2024 state champions (“we don’t mention last year,” assistant coach Dan Bisceglia half-joked), this year’s Chieftains are moving on because of their guile, willingness to be flexible in terms of positional play, and battling through adversity.
“You can have all the skill, but it’s also so important to have good dynamics, too,” stressed Malinowski. “That’s what we have on this team.”