By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High girls’ lacrosse team improved to 2-1 on the season yesterday with an impressive 16-10 win over Woburn on the road.
That victory followed a 10-9 win over Arlington on Tuesday. The Warriors started their campaign with a 20-8 loss to Manchester-Essex last Friday at Landrigan Field.
Wakefield started slow against the Hornets, down 7-2 after the first quarter but they got back into it with 6 goals in the 2nd, no easy task against Manchester-Essex goalie Brigid Carovillano who is committed to playing lacrosse at the University of North Carolina.
“We really had a great second quarter to put up six against a goalie like that,” said Wakefield head coach Cara Luca. “Our quick passing and quick shots were working well.”
The Warriors cut the deficit to 10-8 at the half but the Hornets came out reenergized in the second half. Carovillano locked in and kept the home team off the board while the attack got on a roll and cruised to victory.
Wakefield had a strong day from multiple players on attack, especially sophomore Kiera O’Brien (2 goals, 3 assists), freshman Teaghan Johnson (3 goals) and junior Rory McNeill (1 goal, 1 assist).
“We had some good takeaways from this game and made some adjustments in practice to prepare for Arlington,” said Luca.
The Warriors were ready to go from the start against the Spy Ponders on Tuesday. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead as the defense controlled the play. Junior goalie Alla Othman played well and multiple defenders stepped up including senior captains Shea Suntken and Maddy Taylor, juniors Emma Ickes and Victoria Grace and sophomores Allie DeGray and Maura Barrett.
The offense got it going in the second and third as the attack was led by McNeill (3 goals, 1 assist), O’Brien (2 goals, 1 assist), Johnson (3 goals) and junior Cara Carangelo (1 goal, 1 assist). Barrett also added a goal. In addition to her scoring, Johnson played good defense and led the Warriors with four draw controls.
Arlington was able to close the gap, making it 9-6 Wakefield after three.
With the game tied late, O’Brien had the winning goal to seal what was ultimately a key, early-season win.
“We came out strong but fell flat in the second half,” said Luca. “The defense played much stronger today with our zone coverage and a lot more communication. Offensively, we had a strong first half putting the ball in the net. We just have to work on possession and being aware of when to slow the ball down.”
Wakefield moved to 2-1 with their win over the Tanners yesterday.
The Warriors led 10-3 at the half and held on for the 16-10 win.
Wakefield jumped out to another early lead in this one, a goal from senior Leah Conners off an O’Brien dish giving the visitors a 3-0 lead midway through the first. The defense had a terrific start again. A ground ball from DeGray and outlet to O’Brien led to a fast break which Johnson confidently finished to make it 4-1 which was the score after one quarter.
A dodge and finish from Carangelo made it 5-1 and a free position tally by O’Brien made it 6-1. Conners later extended it to 7-1 as the Warriors were officially rolling.
Wakefield’s 10-3 lead turned into 13-5 after three thanks to goals from Johnson, O’Brien and McNeill and although the Tanners won the final quarter, the Warriors played comfortably in front for the majority of the matchup as senior Ayla Willis helped put it away with two fourth-quarter goals.
Wakefield’s midfielders and attackers controlled this one and Johnson had another terrific all-around game including dominating draws for the visitors.
Wakefield has a good, early-season test coming to Landrigan Field on Wednesday against Belmont (1-2). The Marauders had an exciting, 15-14 win over Melrose on Tuesday. Wakefield welcomes Melrose (1-1) to Landrigan next Friday at 4 p.m.