Published in the September 24, 2019 edition.
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — After an 0-4 start to the season, the Wakefield High field hockey team is officially back.
The Warriors beat Revere 5-0 yesterday at Landrigan Field for their fourth straight victory. The win came after a huge 3-2 league win over Melrose on Thursday.
A closer look at the slow start shows a schedule in which the use of daunting as an adjective would be an understatement.
After playing three Liberty Division teams in Reading, Lexington and Arlington, the Warriors finally got to move on to the Freedom Division…when they traveled to Watertown on Sept. 13 to play the state powerhouse Raiders.
The Warriors and head coach Cara Luca regrouped and got back on track with a 6-1 victory over Peabody on Sept. 16 and then continued their run with one-goal wins over Wilmington and Melrose.
“We’ve improved a lot,” said Luca after Wakefield’s win over Revere. “That’s something we try to work on every day.”
Captain Annabella Forziati led the charge for the offense, finishing with two goals and an assist against the Patriots.
The freshmen got the Warriors going early, as Caroline Melanson scored, assisted by Grace Seabury.
The defense held strong throughout the first half. Junior Olivia Fortier made some nice stops, cutting off long passes before Revere could find a rhythm.
Forziati scored off a corner from Carestin Stewart to make it 2-0 Wakefield. The Warriors had a few more chances including another great run by Sarah Melanson but the half ended 2-0.
The Warriors kept the pressure up to start the second half. Captains Hope Melanson and Erin Heffernan continued to control the midfield. Hope Melanson found Forziati’s stick in front that almost resulted in another goal.
Wakefield forced plenty of corners in the second half. Forziati converted for her second tally again holding her ground in a tough area in front and finishing strong to make it 3-0.
“The offense was good today,” said Luca. “We weren’t moving the ball like we have been the last few games. I called a timeout and said they needed to step it up and communicate more. Second half they looked a lot better.”
Abby Boudreau made a couple of nice stops especially early in the half, as she did a nice job of kicking away any dangerous plays.
In the end, Boudreau picked up her first shutout of the season and thus her field hockey career. At times, it looked as though the Wakefield High ice hockey goalie wanted to to naturally kick the pad for a leg save or flash the glove to rob a high shot, but she has done a nice job of picking up the differences between the two sports.
“Abby again had some great saves. She does use her hand, and she uses her stick; she’s been working really hard. We’ve only had one butterfly save, but that’s ok,” said Luca with a laugh.
Sophomore Yana Herzog scored off another corner to make it 4-0 and Seabury made it a multi-point game as she got the last goal assisted by Forziati. Seabury had a nice spin and shot while controlling the ball in front of the net.
Wakefield still has room for improvement, especially defensively. Despite the shutout, Luca knows there are strong scorers coming up.
“We’re struggling a little bit with defense and playing in our positions, we talked about backing each other up and not staying on top of each other,” said Luca.
Boudreau and the defense held on against Melrose on Thursday. The sophomore had six saves and the Warriors just got out of town with a huge 3-2 win over their rivals.
Sophomore Angelina Nardone scored twice and added an assist to lead the Warriors in that one. Her goals were assisted by Forziati and Stewart.
Forziati accounted for the other goal with assists to Nardone and Christina Covelle.
Wakefield will go for their fifth straight today in Stoneham at 4 p.m. They travel to Burlington on Thursday at 4 p.m.