NEWBURYPORT — Wednesday’s game wasn’t supposed to play out the way that it did.
Yes, on paper, the Newburyport field hockey team walked on to its home James T. Stehlin Field absolutely red-hot, having won seven in a row following a season-opening setback to Lynnfield. But on the other sideline was a talented and CAL Baker-leading Manchester Essex squad, which had only lost this year to traditional state powers Masconomet and Sandwich.
So, really, it was a meeting of two of the CAL’s best.
And what ended up taking place was a major statement being made.
Newburyport dominated from the opening whistle to the final buzzer, putting together a complete performance to shut out the Hornets, 6-0. It was a running clock midway through the third quarter with the reserves taking over the rest of the way, as the Clippers (8-1) have now outscored opponents 45-7 over their current eight-game winning streak.
“I think we’re just so focused because it’s our first year in Division 2,” said senior captain Riley Lombard. “I think all of us just really want to succeed and have the season go as long as we can, because we have a really fun team. And today we came out with an energy I don’t think we’ve seen yet this year. A big thing for us has been consistency into the second half, and I think today we really showed up for that.”
While the final scores have been good, all season long Newburyport has been looking for that “complete game.”
Well, the Clippers certainly achieved it on Wednesday.
“Like Riley said, one of the things we’ve really been trying to hone in on has been our consistency,” said Newburyport coach Shannon Haley. “You know, come out ready to play in the first half, and then finish playing a complete game. And I think we did just that today, and we’re just so proud of how the kids came ready to play. It felt like today, everything that we’ve been working on sort of came together, so that’s a great feeling.”
Even though all Newburyport sports have moved up to Division 2 this year, there’s still plenty of confidence in that field hockey locker room that they can compete with anybody in the state.
And there should be.
This is Haley’s fourth year with the program — meaning her little freshmen in Year 1 are now seniors — and during her tenure Newburyport has now gone 60-11-4 with a Division 3 state title, semifinal and quarterfinal appearance. The Clippers returned 11 key players from last year’s roster, and there’s just talent all over the field.
Cody Saboliauskas is back for her second season as the team’s starting goalie, and Wednesday was already her third shutout. Senior captain Olivia Kreuz leads the defense, which has both experience and talented youth between Jade Steinberg, Reese Beauparlant, Sonia Tummala and freshman Kendall Martyn.
It’s a defense that, so far, has only allowed 9 goals in nine total games.
“Communication is definitely key down there,” said Kreuz. “Talking, moving around a lot and getting open. We’ve been working a lot on our communication, and it’s definitely gotten a lot better over the last eight games.”
In the midfield is where Lombard shines, along with Lottie O’Brien, Sadie Aiello, Ari DeRosa, Morgan Sweet, Lila Boomgardt and fellow senior captains Rachel Casson and Sophie Johnson. Then up front, you can certainly point to names like Amelia Price, Blaire Fox and Meredith Boelke, who are all having strong starts to the season.
But Newburyport might have the best goal-scorer in the entire state in Olivia Wilson.
The team’s final senior captain, Wilson poured in yet another hat-trick during Wednesday’s win. The field hockey/ice hockey superstar is now already up to an incredible 21 goals on the season, and, again, the Clippers have only played nine games so far.
“I think we have a special group this year,” said Johnson. “There’s just like a team camaraderie that we have, everyone has really bonded. We’ve spent a lot of time together and it’s just a great group of girls. Everyone is supportive and we’re just having a lot of fun out there.”
That bond certainly showed on Wednesday.
Not even two minutes into the game, following two straight corners, it was O’Brien sending home a blast to put Newburyport up 1-0. Wilson’s first of the game doubled the lead after the opening quarter, and her second came off a great feed from DeRosa and made it 3-0 at halftime. Fox and Boelke would then score early in the third, and Wilson would soon complete her hat-trick to make it 6-0 and initiate a running clock.
Meanwhile for Manchester Essex (5-3), goalie Maeve McArdle made over a dozen saves while being under seige most of the game. Kendall Franklin made some nice defensive plays, and both Abby Kent and Laila Mears helped to draw corner tries.
But the Hornets, who will try to regroup before hosting St. Mary’s (Lynn) on Thursday night, couldn’t crack the scoreboard.