NEWBURYPORT — When Morgan Felts, Ciara Geraghty, Ella Loomes and the rest of the Newburyport field hockey seniors entered the program four years ago, they had somewhat of an idea of what they were getting into. The Clippers had long been a premier program in the CAL, and were fresh off a pair of 10-win seasons, followed by an 8-2 campaign during the COVID-shortened 2020 fall.
But what happened next was a little out of the ordinary.
During that 2021 campaign, Newburyport went an uncharacteristic 5-8-3, and quietly bowed out in the first round of the Division 3 tournament with a 2-0 loss to Wayland. For Felts, Loomes, Geraghty and the rest of those then-freshmen, was that about to be a bad omen for their entire Newburyport field hockey careers?
Heck no.
“We just took it game-by-game,” said Loomes. “And we came farther than we ever expected.”
Yes, Newburyport did see its 2024 season come to an end with a 1-0 loss to Dennis-Yarmouth in Saturday’s Division 3 quarterfinals. But the larger point, one that those seniors plus Reese Bromby, Ruby Field, Isla DeVivo, Lucy Buchmayr and Avery Stare can take away, is that they’ve helped to turn the program back into a powerhouse. Over the past three years now since coach Shannon Haley has taken over, the Clippers have gone a combined 52-10-4 with three straight quarterfinal appearances, two Final Four berths, and a near-miracle upset of supwerpower Watertown in the 2023 Div. 3 state championship game.
Yeah, is that any good?
“We’ve turned it around,” said Geraghty, who will continue her field hockey career at Bates. “Having Shannon step in as such an amazing coach helped, and I think with all of us, there’s this new drive that we’ve brought to the program. Hopefully it’s something that will continue over the years. I think that our team is really well-bonded, and over the years we’ve just gotten more and more bonded with each other.”
In all honesty, even making Saturday’s quarterfinal was a surprise to some.
Coming into the year, Newburyport had waved goodbye to 12 seniors — which included five Daily News All-Stars — who were key pieces on last year’s runner-up team. Basically a whole new lineup had to be formed around the four returning starters, but the Clippers (15-4-2) still managed to win a share of the CAL Kinney title, earn the No. 3 seed in the Division 3 tournament, and then nearly make their third straight trip to a Final Four.
That’s the tell-tale sign of a healthy program.
“We really didn’t know after last year, graduating so many players, where we would be,” said Haley. “We just said to the kids that the amount of growth this team has shown, from the first game until now, has far exceeded any of our coaching staff’s expectations. They worked so hard. We had kids step up this year that weren’t really on our radar heading into the season. But, I think overall as coaches, we’re just so proud of where they started and where we ended today.”
And Newburyport could easily still be playing.
With just over two minutes left, the Clippers earned a corner and thought they had tied it. Geraghty took in the entry pass and sent it over to Riley Lombard, who fired a shot that went belt-high into the back of the cage. But as the “goal” was flying in, the ref had already called it off for — what was believed — to be a dangerous shot, and the heartbroken Clippers still trailed 1-0.
Minutes later, No. 6 Dennis-Yarmouth (14-5-2) was celebrating its Final Four berth.
Despite the undeniably tough break, Newburyport still had its heads held high after the game.
“We didn’t want it to end today, but we’re very proud,” said Loomes.
After a scoreless first half, the Dolphins finally broke through with 1:45 left in the third, when Brooke Chicoine poked one home in a scrum in front of the net. Geraghty dove to make a defensive save, and defenders Olivia Kreuz, Rachel Casson and Stare were all in the right spot to support goalie Cody Saboliauskas.
Chicoine just made a great play for her Dolphins.
And that, as it turned out, was the difference.
“A big emphasis this week was on our defensive transition,” said Haley. “Our defense and midfield really showed up to play, they showed such heart and fight. But credit to Dennis-Yarmouth, they had really good control of the ball for a large portion of the game.”