UXBRIDGE – It began as a harmless free hit for the Cohasset field hockey team just outside of their 25-yard zone. The third quarter clock read just under eight minutes to go with the Spartans clinging to a 1-0 lead. For the most part, up until that point in the game, except for a handful of random shot opportunities, the Skippers were unable to mount any consistent pressure against Uxbridge’s stout defense, led by Spartans senior captain Grace Boisvert at the center back position.

However, with a trip to the MIAA Division 4 semifinals on the line, the sixth ranked Skippers, who averaged five-and-a-half goals per game in the tournament, were not about to go down quietly. 

Chloe Kaeller, who scored the first goal of the game late in the second quarter for Uxbridge, knew Cohasset was poised to make a push. “When we scored, I knew they were going to come back hard,” she said. “They were not going to give up. I know we wouldn’t give up in that situation. So, I knew they’re going to press us … It was really intense.” 

The push started with Cohasset defender Abigail Moy, who slapped the free hit fifteen yards up the field to her teammate, Ellie Fox. After she received the pass,

Chloe Kaeller had two goals for the Spartans. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba

she quickly approached the center line where she met Uxbridge midfielder Gracie Nummela, who attempted to steal the ball. Fox tapped the ball over Nummela’s stick, catching the Uxbridge forward flat footed as the ball rolled five more yards up field. 

The race was on as Fox scampered down the field ahead of Nummela. Then, ten yards past the center line, Spartans’ defender Samantha Jones attempted to stop Fox. Jones placed her stick low and horizontal near the turf in front of the fast-moving Fox. Jones tried to sweep the ball off Fox’s stick but she used the same move again and popped the ball past Jones. Fox sprinted with the ball nearly twenty-five more yards into Uxbridge’s defensive zone where Boisvert was finally able to make a play to stop the ball’s progress. But as Boisvert turned to make a play with the ball, Cohasset forward Ainsley Allen stole the ball from Boisvert and sprinted to the right corner of the Uxbridge zone. 

Nummela, who had gotten back into the play, slid on her knees with her stick outstretched in her left hand and poke-checked the ball to the end line. With Nummela still on the ground, Allen recovered the ball near the end line and quickly backhanded a pass to a wide-open Maddie Miller standing five yards to the right of Uxbridge goalkeeper Jessica Lutton. 

Lutton squared her body to the shooter as Miller one-timed a hard shot. Lutton kicked it away, but the ball landed five yards in front of the goal where Miller grabbed the juicy rebound for another quick shot, but Lutton kicked it away again. 

Uxbridge goalkeeper Jessica Lutton was forced to made several big saves in the third quarter against Cohasset. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba

From that point on, Lutton and the Uxbridge defense were under siege for about five minutes straight with wave-upon-wave of Cohasset pressure, including a handful of penalty corners and five point-blank shots on goal. “They were definitely a pretty skilled team,” Boisvert said after the game. 

While the Cohasset forwards relentlessly challenged the Uxbridge defense, Boisvert could be heard shouting, “You gotta stay strong, White! You gotta stay clean!” Boisvert, throughout the sequence, acted like a coach on the field directing her teammates and keeping a chaotic situation under control.

Fortunately for Uxbridge, they survived the deluge and countered with pressure of their own as the shifted momentum spilled into the fourth quarter. Withstanding the Cohasset attack was a major watershed moment for the Spartans as they were able to seize momentum away from the Skippers. Uxbridge tacked on two fourth quarter goals following that third quarter barrage to clinch the game, 3-0. 

“Scoring provides a lot of momentum for a team, especially if you’re down, so preventing them from scoring really takes away that momentum,” Boisvert said. “If they had scored in that third quarter, we would have been tied, 1-1, and that would have given them momentum to come back and it potentially would have been an overtime game. So, really just preventing that goal really was a game changer.”

In order to survive Cohasset’s pressure, Boisvert said her team had to stay calm and focused on doing their job. “It was really difficult because they had the ball on their strong side and they attacked our weak side, so that was something that we had to adjust to,” she said. “That was the first time where Cohasset really honed in our defensive circle, so my job was to basically just make sure everybody was marked in the defensive circle and that everyone is organized. I definitely think that’s why they didn’t end up scoring and we succeeded as a defensive unit … In games, people tend to focus on the goals and scoring goals win games, but in my personal opinion, defense wins games.”

Kaeller said Boisvert is a crucial member of the defense. “She’s really good back there. She really helped us out. She knows exactly what to do, and I think she really helps our whole team defense.”

The main part of a good defense is having a good goalkeeper. Lutton came up with some big saves when called upon to record her third straight shutout of the postseason and her ninth all together. “She calls the goal her pond,” Boisvert said. “She says she’s an alligator and she’s gotta protect her pond, which I like … She’s a very aggressive goalie. She has very good vision of the field. She takes good angles and she’s always in a good position to stop balls. She does her job back there.” 

Fortunately for the Spartans, they were able to score a few goals, as well. Kaeller, the leading scorer in Central Mass with 30 goals in the regular season, put the Spartans on the board first with four minutes left in the second quarter. The scoring play started off a penalty corner. Nummela snapped the ball from the corner to Kaeller, who then performed a nice give-and-go between Amelia Blood and herself. Kaeller then capped the give-and-go off with a smooth shot in the right corner of the goal past the Cohasset goalkeeper, Lucy Farrington, who had no chance to make the stop.

The second goal came from another top Central Mass scorer, Ellie Bouchard, who has 23 goals in the regular season. The goal was set up by Julianna Casucci

Juliana Casucci had the ability to corral the ball from her knees before setting up Ellie Bouchard_s goal. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba

who camped herself in front of the Cohasset goal. However, at one point she was knocked to her knees, but as the loose ball bounced around in the circle, she corralled it with her stick and hopped back to her feet with possession and her back to the keeper. She then drew the attention of four Skipper defenders. As she looked to her left, she saw Bouchard uncovered at the top of the circle to the right of the goal. She launched a pass to Bouchard. “It came over and crossed the net,” Bouchard said. “I grabbed it, spun around and shot it and it went into the corner.” 

When the ball hit the back of the goal, “I was super excited,” she said. “Everyone around me was getting super excited and I knew that we were still in the game.”

Amelia Blood about to hit the ball. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba

Kaeller would score the third goal off a free hit from Blood. Kaeller received Blood’s hit from about twenty yards out at the top of the circle in front of the goal. “My initial thought was to pass it to Ellie, but I saw them drop in on her so I just hit it into the right corner of the net.” 

Even before that goal, Kaeller said the Spartans could feel the game was theirs. “Once we made the second goal, we didn’t stop our intensity,” she said. “Our intensity was so high. We were like, ‘we got this!’ We gained a lot of confidence to play stronger.”

As the Spartan head into the Final Four of the tournament they will have a difficult task of knocking off the second seeded Manchester Essex Regional High School squad. The Hornets have been tough to score on, not allowing any goals in the postseason. Kaeller said as long as they play Uxbridge field hockey, they have a good chance to advance to the finals. “We learned we can compete and win against a quality opponent,” she said. “We proved that and we need to continue to play with that intensity. We have to play strong and together and we’ll have a good chance.”

Uxbridge will travel to Watertown High School on Tuesday to face Manchester Essex at 7 p.m. Following their win over Cohasset, Spartan coach Kelly Rosborough had a few questions for her team.

“Girls! Guess what?” she shouted. “Guess how many more teams are playing?”

The team shouted in unison, “four!”

Rosborough repeated, “girls! Guess how many teams are playing?

“FOUR!” as the team shouted louder.

“How many more games until our goal!”

“TWO!”

Rosborough started clapping, “Let’s keep it going! I’m so proud of you! That was a team win; a team win!”

“We’re going to the Final Four, baby!” one of the Spartans hollered with joy.

The Spartans jump for joy after the final horn sounded for their hard-fought victory advancement into the Final Four. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba

 

FIELD HOCKEY 

Central Mass Roundup

 

Division 1

Wachusett (7) lost a tough game against Walpole (2), 5-0 on Saturday for only their second loss of the season. The Mountaineers finish their season with a 13-2-4 record.

  

Division 2

Nashoba Regional (4) beat Holliston (5), 3-0, on Sunday to advance to the Division 2 Final Four. They improved to 15-3-1 on the season.

 

Division 4

Uxbridge (3) beat Cohasset (6), 3-0. Uxbridge will travel to Watertown High School on Tuesday to face Manchester Essex at 7 p.m. 

 

Sutton (5) fell to Ipswich (4), 2-1, for their only loss of the season. The Suzies finished with a record of 18-0-1.