RallyNorth.net

Central stumbles in semis

Tuesday, November, 11 By Jeff Hamrick

LYNN — According to the Division 1 North soccer pairings Central Catholic went just as deep into the postseason as anticipated when the seventh-seeded Raiders dropped yesterday's quarterfinal match to third-seeded Lincoln-Sudbury 1-0 at Manning Field.

But considering the late-season injuries suffered, the three-game playoff run not only surprised a few it also might prove the incentive a young squad uses for future motivation.

Playing without starters Alli Wiggins, the senior leading scorer who tore her ACL a month ago, and Brooke Hernon, a sophomore midfielder who suffered a concussion in the first round, Central Catholic still managed to reach the sectional semis for the fourth time in five years.

"Anytime you lose your top scorer, and she was our top scorer by (a wide margin), it hurts," said Central coach Casey Grange, who guided the Raiders to the 2010 state title. "But these kids bounced back and responded.

"Every team we played double teamed Alli, and she kind of took the pressure off the other players, but with her out everyone had to step up and I think we did that."

In the absence of Wiggins, CC (11-5-4) also was missing the player that had dominated Lincoln-Sudbury (15-4-1) the previous two postseasons. She scored four of the team's five combined goals while defeating the Warriors in the quarters and semis, respectively.

Those victories proved even more incentive yesterday for L-S, which scored the game's only goal on a 15-foot kick from Jenna Barnes in the 10th minute.

"This means everything," senior LS goalie Caroline Fahey said of yesterday's win. "They've knocked us out of the playoffs two years running, so we prepared well. As a collected team, we thought this could be our year. It feels good to finally get a win."

Stepping up in the playoffs for the Raiders has been senior Jenna Martin, who had three goals and two assists in early-round victories over Medford and Billerica. Martin, who had a team-high three shots against L-S, led a more consistent second-half attack yesterday that was unable to get past Fahey, who had seven of her 10 saves after intermission. Others with multiple attempts on net for CC were freshman Elayna Grillakis and junior Erin Dwinell.

Among the 11 starters Grange sent to the pitch yesterday, three were freshmen — Ashley Raphael, who had a hat trick in the quarters, Caitlin Regan and Grillakis — and three were sophomores — two-year starting goalie Amanda Fay, who stopped four of the five shots she faced trying for her ninth shutout on the season, Nicole Wiggins and Daria Bakhtiari. The first two players off the bench (Grace Quaratiello and Erin Kinsella) were also sophomores.

That's a group Grange hopes will keep the Raiders contending for years to come.

"I'm going to tell them to remember this feeling," Grange said. "I think this team definitely overachieved after the success ... no one thought we'd be in this game, especially the way we finished our regular season (2-2-1 without Wiggins), so the way that brought the heat back for the tournament says a lot about them not only as players but as people in their ability to find a way."