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Junior Nora Duval works the ball downfield with plenty of open turf in front of her during Masconomet’s blowout first round playoff win over Tewksbury Saturday.
Masconomet sophomore standout Mia Juliano follows the play during Sunday’s Division 2 playoff opener vs. Tewksbury.
Masconomet senior Greta Mowers takes a corner during Sunday’s first round playoff triumph over Tewksbury.
Captain Julia Graves of Masconomet sends a pass to a teammate Sunday against Tewksbury. She scored two goals and an assist in her team’s 14-0 win.
Masconomet senior captain tallied six times in Sunday’s first round playoff win over Tewksbury.
Freshman Sara Graves attempts to knock the ball away for Masconomet against a Tewksbury foe.
Junior Nora Duval works the ball downfield with plenty of open turf in front of her during Masconomet’s blowout first round playoff win over Tewksbury Saturday.
Masconomet sophomore standout Mia Juliano follows the play during Sunday’s Division 2 playoff opener vs. Tewksbury.
Masconomet senior Greta Mowers takes a corner during Sunday’s first round playoff triumph over Tewksbury.
Captain Julia Graves of Masconomet sends a pass to a teammate Sunday against Tewksbury. She scored two goals and an assist in her team’s 14-0 win.
Masconomet senior captain tallied six times in Sunday’s first round playoff win over Tewksbury.
Freshman Sara Graves attempts to knock the ball away for Masconomet against a Tewksbury foe.
BOXFORD — It was a big mismatch on paper. But disappointing playoff endings to past seasons have taught Maggie Sturgis and Julia Graves, the captains for the top seeded Masconomet field hockey team, not to take any opponent lightly.
The pair spoke to their teammates about this very topic before the game, then went out and combined for eight goals in a 14-0 walloping of Tewksbury in a Division 2 first round postseason matchup.
“This means a lot to us as a team,” said Sturgis, who had six goals — all before halftime. She now has 42 goals in this, her senior season.
“We’ve been working very hard in the last couple of weeks to get ready for the tournament. Even though we’re the top seed, we still consider ourselves underdogs and have something to prove,” she added. “Julia and I reminding them we need to respect every team. Last year we were the No. 1 seed and were upset (in the state semifinals), and our freshman year it happened again when we were the No. 2 seed.”
Graves, who scored twice Sunday to bump her season total to a dozen tallies (and, like Sturgis, had one assist), agreed.
“This is right where we wanted to be and worked really hard all season to get seeded No. 1,” added Graves. “This was 100 percent a team win; we all helped each other out. It’s great, and we know we can’t underestimate any team.”
The final score, an anomaly in field hockey, is the most goals Sturgis and Graves can remember the Chieftains ever scoring — and they came fast and furious.
The game wasn’t even a minute old before Sturgis put in a beautiful goal from the right side. Just over four minutes later she did it again to give her team a 2-0 lead, firing a low shot past Tewksbury goalie Avery Della Piana.
“The girls did an awesome job and there were a lot of firsts today,” said Chieftains first-year head coach Liz Dean. “We got off to a really good start, and that’s something you don’t know what to expect when you face a team from a different league with different opponents. In a sense it’s the unknown.
“I’m extremely pleased with everybody. Even the girls up from the JV’s did a great job,” added Dean “Our two freshmen, Sara Graves and Savannah Stevens, didn’t let the pressure get to them or affect their play. (Senior forward) Greta Mowers and Julia (Graves) controlled the middle.”
Sara Graves scored a goal and set up another. Senior Kaleigh Monagle had her first of the season and set up Shaye Trodden for her second of the year.
At the end of the first 15 minutes it was 4-0 and could have been even more except for the outstanding play of Piana, who faced a shooting gallery. Several times she stopped two or three shots at a time, only to have the next one get by her.
“Their goalie was very good and made some big stops,” said Sturgis. “We scored a lot of goals, but that wasn’t her fault.”
Julia Graves notched the first of her team’s six second quarter goals, and Sturgis found the back of the net for the next four to make it 9-0 before Nora Duval contributed the first of her two (to go along with an assist).
It was running time in the second half, and Dean moved players around to different positions while clearing her bench. Mia Juliano (goal, assist), and Duval increased the lead to 12-0, the latter on a penalty stroke.
Masco had 10 different players contribute to the scoring. Mowers had a pair of assists while Piper Morris had one. Goalie Maddie Wayland only had to make two saves.
The Redmen fought all game even when they fell behind quickly, and supported teammates with a lot of cheers from the sidelines.
Next up for Masconomet is No. 17 Scituate back at Boxford Common on Wednesday (2:30 p.m.) in the Round of 16.
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