Beat Watertown, fall to Wilmington
Published in the September 23, 2019 edition.
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High girls’ soccer team hosted Watertown and many future Warriors for Youth Soccer Night at the Galvin Middle School on Wednesday night.
Wakefield, following some advice from the young soccer stars who joined them in the pregame huddle and told them to play fast, wasted no time in taking a lead they wouldn’t relinquish as sophomore Maeve Recene scored her first varsity goal just six minutes in.
Senior captain Sarah Melanson made the play, pushing up from the back line, winning the ball in the midfield and playing a perfect pass in space to Recene on the right side who ran onto it and finished with her left foot to make it 1-0.
About nine minutes later, Wakefield’s sophomore playmakers took over again, this time with Kayli Porter scoring off a cross from Ashlee Purcell.
With 20 minutes left in the half and a lot of support from the young Warriors on the sidelines, Wakefield put the game away with two more goals over the span of a minute.
Purcell scored on a header off a corner kick from Liliana Carioli.
Junior Courtney Collins then quickly added to that, connecting on her first varsity goal with a strong finish off another great cross for a 4-0 lead.
Purcell scored her second of the game late in the half to give the Warriors a 5-0 lead.
The youth soccer kids, many of them second grade students of Wakefield head coach Steph Martin, got a chance to showcase their skills during a game at halftime. The Warrior coaches were busy going over the game plan with their team, but no doubt had one eye on the prospects, looking for the next great student athlete to walk into Wakefield High. Who knows, they might be helping the Warriors make the tournament in 2027.
“Youth night is one of my favorite parts of the season. It’s just as exciting for my own players as it is for the little Warriors,” said Martin. “It’s always nice to form a connection from the high school level down to our younger players. The experience all the players have, both younger and older, is certainly a memorable one.”
As for 2019, Wakefield cruised in the second half with goalie Bailey McDevitt picking up the win in her first game in goal at the varsity level.
Coach Martin was especially impressed with the work of seniors Lily Smith and Kyleigh Flannigan in the midfield, saying the two were “a threat all over the field.”
Wakefield took their 3-1 record into Wilmington on Friday night where they met a strong Wildcat team who took a 4-0 victory.
It was the first time this year that the Warriors were held scoreless.
Wakefield will look to get back in the win column on Wednesday when they host Melrose at the Galvin at 4 p.m.
The Red Raiders, in their last game on Friday, also beat Watertown 5-0. It was their first league win as they have lost to Arlington, Belmont and Stoneham.