Sports: Belmont Field Hockey’s Banner Day at Reading [VIDEO]

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Photo: The champions. 

The bus taking the Belmont High School Field Hockey team to Reading was late picking them up and was stuck in traffic last Friday, Oct. 23 for the final game of the 2015 regular season.

Finally arriving a half-hour late, the team was given ten minutes to warm up on the chilly late afternoon.

“Hurry up, hurry up,” said Belmont Head Coach Jessie Smith who arrived with 15 varsity players, the JV team and her three children. The team did a little hitting and running before they were called to go out and win their second Middlesex League Liberty Division championship in five years.

In their 16th game, the team was seeking its 14th victory and the chance to raise a banner on the wall of the Wenner Field House.

“We’ve played a lot this week,” said Smith, after guiding her team to victories over 10 win Lexington on Monday and 13 win Winchester Wednesday. While on paper the game against last year’s league champs should have been easier than the first two, “that’s why you play the game, you never can tell who shows up,” said the coach.

But the Marauders got out ahead quickly – scoring a goal on the first shot of the game after 45 seconds from junior midfielder AnneMarie Habelow and a second five minutes later from senior forward Kerri Lynch – and held the Rockets on their end of the field for large segments of the half.

When Reading put Belmont under pressure, this season’s defensive stalwarts of junior defensive sweeper Julia Chase and senior co-captain defender Molly Thayer were there to take the ball out of danger.

Co-captain senior midfielder Serena Nally scored at the end of the first and second halfs to finish off the scoring and with it, the victory and the championship.

“We’ve had some great teams but we’ve never finished a season with 14 wins,” said Smith, who praised the girls for exceeding all her expectations.

“Now they can show their grandchildren their banner,” said Smith.

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Sports: Field Hockey in Driver’s Seat for League Title After Defeating Winchester

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Photo: Katherine McCarthy’s game-winning goal vs. Lexington.

In a pair of gutsy performances over a 48 hour period, the Belmont High Field Hockey team is out front in the race for its first league divisional title after defeating a tough Lexington squad, 3-2, Monday, Oct. 19 than avenging its loss to Winchester by beating the former league leaders, 2-0, on Harris Field Wednesday night, Oct. 21.

“That was truly amazing, to play two great teams back-to-back and win both,” said Jessica Smith, who has headed the program for the past decade.

With the victories, Belmont (13-2) needs a win in the final game of the regular season at Reading on Friday, Oct. 23 to secure its first Middlesex League Liberty Divison crown.

But for Smith, the best part of the wins were the final whistle.

“I can’t continue to do this,” said Smith, who described the two games as “insane.”

“I have never been this nervous for regular season games in my life!”

Belmont 3, Lexington 2

At Lexington, Belmont would take one-goal leads only to see the Minutemen tie up the match held in Lexington. Belmont was able to apply pressure on Lexington’s back line and midfielders, but could not find the final tip or shot to extend its lead.

While the Marauders’ defense was able to keep the Minutemen in check, they could be overpowered by the size and talent of the Minutemen forwards, including the Minuteman’s standout junior Emily Devine.

Belmont took the lead on the first shot of the game in the third minute as senior co-captain Serena Nally re-directed a shot from junior standout AnnMarie Habelow by Lexington’s freshman goalie Abby Ortyl.

That lead would stand until the midpoint of the half when Brigid Avery scored to tie it up at one. Belmont retook the lead when Habelow, the team’s leading scorer, rocketed a shot from 15 meters that eluded Ortyl with seven minutes remaining in the half.

Lexington pressured early in the second and earned the equalizer through Leah Strohmeyer from in front of the net. But slowly, Belmont’s midfield would begin to dominate play by clogging the passing lanes and intercepting passes.

The game winner came from a scrum in front of Lexington’s net where Katherine McCarthy’s third swipe at the ball proved to be golden.

Up by a single goal, Belmont needed to survive a frantic final minute when Belmont’s defenders somehow kept the ball out of their net with more than half a dozen Minutemen crashing the goal.

“We kept yelling at the official, ‘White foot! White foot!’ said senior defender and co-captain Molly Thayer, to inform the referees that the ball had come off of a Lexington shoe which would give Belmont possession.

A final penalty corner with time expired was cleared securing the emotional victory.

“I think we knew Lexington would be difficult at their home field, so we focused on keeping [players] in front of us and not give them any room,” said Thayer.

Belmont 2, Winchester 0

Wednesday’s game held some significants for Belmont’s players and coaches, as it provided the Marauders the opportunity to avenge a painful loss when Belmont allowed Winchester to score four goals in the final 12 minutes of their earlier game to fall 5-4 after leading 4-1.

While not possessing a star player, Winchester was fast on the ball and played a stubborn defense. It also had the first real tester on Belmont goalie Christine MacLeod as a steady shot hit the post but stayed out.

But Belmont made the most of their opportunities leading to Belmont’s first goal. With Marauders swarming the Sachems’ net, the Winchester goalie covered the ball under her body resulting in a penalty stroke, similar to a penalty kick in soccer. Habelow made no mistake sending the ball high into the back webbing to give Belmont a 1-0 lead.

Winchester kept up the pressure but were not sharp inside the scoring arc, unable to score on several penalty corners, a reversal of their win when they tallied four corners.

Midway through the second half, Belmont got the break they needed. After having an apparent goal called back for coming outside the arc, the Marauders’ co-captain Serena Nally stole the ball off a Winchester stick, turned and took a shot at goal. Standing before the goalie, Kerri Lynch got the tip, and the ball settled in the back of the goal.

While Winchester threatened, Belmont’s backline – Molly Goldberg, Thayer, Lilly Devitt, Sophie Stafford and sweeper Julia Chase – withstood each attack, allowing MacLeod to earn her tenth shutout of her first varsity season.

“This was a real team effort,” said Smith, noting that while not playing at their best, the players worked together as a unit defensively and were always looking to combine passes on offense.

A win at Reading, which Belmont defeated 5-0 earlier in the season, could see Belmont secure a top seed in the coming Div. 1 sectional as well as a banner to hang on the Wenner Field House wall.

Sports: Girls’ Soccer Secure Playoffs with Wins Over Lexington, Winchester

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Photo: Belmont’s Julia Cella carrying the ball vs Lexington.

Early in the season, Belmont Head Coach Paul Graham said getting the 2015 Girls’ Soccer team into the playoffs would be a “numbers game”; win the games against the smaller schools in the Freedom Division of the Middlesex League and surprise some of the “big” teams in the Liberty Division.

“We do that, the points will be there,” said the long-time coach who won his 300th victory earlier in the season.

Now, with just a handful of games to contest in the season, the Marauders have successfully executed Graham’s “math” plan as the team successfully qualified for the MIAA Division 2 North Sectionals after defeating Lexington, 2-0, on Thursday, Oct. 15. 

This week, the team visited Winchester on Tuesday, Oct. 20 and beat its archrival, 3-1, in an important away game.

After last week’s win over the Minutemen, Graham said the victory “makes it 21 for 22” in number of postseason appearances to his years as head coach.

“We didn’t play our best, but our young defense came through for us,” he said, including defender Rachel Berets – the most senior member of the backline as a junior – who cleared a Lexington shot off the goal line just nine minutes into the game.

The Minutemen – which Belmont beat last month, 1-0, in Lexington – had the majority of the play and threatened to score throughout the first half including hitting a post and sending an open net shot over the crossbar.

But Belmont found its bearings in the second half, leading to two quick goals. Leading scorer Carrie Allard took a perfectly-weighted pass between the two center backs and slipped the ball by the Lexington keeper with 28 minutes remaining in the game. 

Four minutes later, Kristin Gay snuck the ball into the net sitting on the right post. 

Belmont’s Reagan Haight kept the clean sheet for her first shutout this season. 

Graham praised the play of sophomore Eliza Filler, who recorded both assists coming off the bench.

“She was a spark plug out there,” said Graham. 

On Monday, Belmont welcomed a starter’s return to form as junior forward Julia Cella broke her duck and scored her first goal of the season to lead the Marauders over the Sachems. 

Belmont is currently 9-5-0 and faces Reading at Harris Field on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m.

Sports: Belmont Volleyball Stage Epic Comeback Victory, Stunning Woburn

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Photo: Belmont celebrates its improbable comeback victory over Woburn.

Belmont High School Volleyball’s pending loss to host Woburn High on Thursday, Oct. 15 was signed, sealed and all but delivered.

Having dropped the first two sets and trailing the Tanners 21-8 in the third, it appeared the Marauders would lose their third straight game and all but end their chances of returning to the MIAA postseason for a school-record third year in a row.

But a combination of pinpoint serving from a pair of senior leaders and a demonstration of heart and guts from those on the court gave the Marauders the opening it needed to defeat Woburn 3-2 (21-25, 12-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-10) and complete the most epic rally in program history.

“In my five years coaching this team I’ve never witnessed such a comeback,” proclaimed Belmont Head Coach Jen Couture.

“They were able to completely forget the first two sets and transform into the team they needed to be to win that game. Everyone was cheering and screaming. It was a magical atmosphere. There were even some tears at the end of the match,” she said.

The win ups Belmont’s record to 8-7, leaving the Marauders needing to win two of its remaining four games to secure a spot in the playoffs. 

Woburn won a somewhat tightly contested first set, 25-21, before taking the second quickly, 25 to 12.

“The team started off flat. We weren’t moving or communicating at all,” said Couture.

The Tanner’s quickly took charge of the third set, building a 21 to 8 lead and “running away with the match,” said Couture.

With the side out to Belmont, senior back row starter Su Jing Chen took the ball and the game in her hands as she went on a 12-point serving run before Woburn sided out bringing the score to 20-22.

The Marauders won the ball back with an immediate side out (21-22), and Chen’s fellow senior Shannon Corrigan served out the set, giving Belmont the improbable set victory as the Marauders outscored the Tanners, 17-1, after trailing by 13 points.

But the Marauders was still behind two sets to one against a team that defeated it earlier in the season. Belmont surged to a 7–1 lead in the fourth set but Woburn came back to knot the score up at 14. The score seesawed to where Belmont had a slim single-point lead 20-19, Before the Marauders outscored the Tanners, 5-2, to take the fourth set 25–21.

In the 15-point winner take-all-final set, Woburn took an early 6-4 lead before Belmont scored 4 out of the next 5 points to lead 8 to 7.

Belmont moved to a two-point lead at 10-8. Woburn drew to within one at 10-9 but would never come closer as Belmont won 5 of the next 6 points to win the set, 15-10, to complete the victory.

Couture pointed to several players as keys to the comeback, noting that senior co-captain Katelyn Messer was solid in her hitting and contributed superb defense.
                                                                                               
“[Messer] was everywhere on the court. She read the hitters so well and was able to anticipate where to be on defense,” Couture said.
 
Messer’s fellow senior co-captain Faye Reagan and junior Colleen McVay provided beautiful, consistent sets on the front line while freshman Jane Mahon in her varsity debut recorded three kills and a solo block, in addition to clutch serving in the 5th set.
 
Couture said junior front row Fiona Martin “had a fabulous day in the middle hitting 32 for 33 with five kills.”
 
“Martin” was incredibly consistent and did a great job of moving the ball around the court and mixing up her attacks.”
 
Next for Belmont is traveling to Lexington on Monday, a team the Marauders defeated earlier in the season.

Sports: Girls’ Swimming Powers Past Minutemen as Rockets Await

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Photo: Belmont High senior swimmers and divers.

For the seniors on Belmont High’s Girls’ Swimming and Diving team, the past three meets with the Lexington High Minutemen have been heartbreakers (twice), exhilarating (last year) and always close in determining which team would win the Middlesex League title.

But for those seniors, this season’s confrontation held at Belmont’s Higgenbottom Pool on Wednesday, Oct. 14, would be an outlier as the Marauders scored often and early to easily power past the visiting Minutemen on Senior’s Day.

While the final score was 88-87, the officials stopped tallying Belmont’s score with three events remaining.

“We have a good solid team,” said Ev Crosscup, Belmont’s head coach who has been coping with a serious lung infection over the past five weeks. 

“We are continuing to work hard and don’t let down. I’m not concerned that we are peaking too soon. We should be OK going into the sectionals and state championships.” 

In two weeks, Belmont will host a red-hot Reading High Rockets, which is returning to its past prominence when it won multiple league titles.

“That will be difficult,” said Crosscup. “They have a ton of good freshmen and are also quite solid in every stroke. It should be a very competitive, exciting meet.” 

Shining for the Marauders was, predictably, senior star and co-captain Jessica Blake-West who broke Belmont’s long-standing 50-yard freestyle pool record with a blistering 24.57 seconds, one of four events that Blake-West dominated individually or as part of a team.

The four-year starter, who Crosscup called one of the best overall swimmers in the state, also took first in her specialty, the 100 butterfly in 57.34 (eight seconds faster than the field) in which she is defending Div. 2 state champion.

Blake-West started the meet joining freshman Sophie Butte, sophomore Alison Sawyer and freshman find Nicole Kalavantis to win the 200 medley relay, dipping under two minutes in 1 minute, 59.31 seconds, while later teaming up with Sawyer, Solvay Metelmann (who finished second in both the 50 free and the 100 backstroke) and Julia Bozkurtain to capture the 200 free relay. 

Joining Blake-West with multiple wins was Kalavantis, who took first in the 200 (2:05.50) and 500 free (5:36.78) where she led a Marauder sweep with senior co-captain Sara Noorouzi (second) and junior Allie Beecroft (third). 

Capturing firsts included senior co-captain Emily Quinn in her specialty, the 100 breaststroke, in 1:11.71 and junior Molly Thomas whose 1:06.88 in the 100 back qualified her for the state championships. 

Over at diving, senior Cynthia Kelsey treated the meet with a perfect score of 10 (out of three judges) in her first of six dives to win the competition.

At the midpoint of the meet, seniors from both teams received roses and balloons and Crosscup’s speech about fleas didn’t go over as well as expected. But the girls joined him in reciting a quote from one of their coach’s favorite speakers, UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.

“Strive each day to make it your masterpiece.” 

 

Sports: With Head Coach Ailing; Captains and Asst. Coach Lead Girls’ Swimming

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Photo: Belmont High Girls’ Swimming Head Coach Ev Crosscup and his assistant, Gretchen Turner. 

The water in Belmont High School’s Higgenbottom Pool was churning from six lanes of swimmers powering over the 25-meter course as teammates urge the backstrokers on as they prepare to reach for the wall. 

While the meet between Belmont and Burlington high schools was determined several races before – the Marauders piled up the points early and often – Belmont High’s venerable head coach Ev Crosscup began gathering up his belongs and started slowly for the exit. 

But Crosscup’s action was not due to the score.

“I’ve run out of gas,” Crosscup said as he pulled his alway present baseball cap over his eyes, apologizing that he’s unable to stay longer to speak about his team. Sitting on a bench on the pool’s edge, Crosscup’s eyes mostly stares downward even as his team wins another meet.

In a season the Marauders is one of the favorites to win a first state championship – Belmont has been runners-up in the past two Div. 2 title meets – and defend its Middlesex League title, the team’s long-time coach is struggling with a lingering illness in his lungs that hospitalized him for six days in September.

Today, the two-time Boston Globe All-Scholastic Swimming Coach of the Year undergoes continuing painful treatments stripping him of his strength and ability to sit in the humid pool enclosure.

“I was stubborn, a very male reaction to being sick. I thought I could ignore it, and it would go away,” said Crosscup, who has known many of the Marauders since they first tried out as kindergarteners on the Belmont Aquatics Team he coached.

With Crosscup’s daily coaching limited, leading the team in practice and motivating it towards a goal of a state title has been taken up by the Marauders’ four senior co-captains and it’s second-year assistant coach, Gretchen Turner.

For Sarah Stewart, a senior co-captain and relay specialist, the absence of Crosscup – a tall, lanky New Englander who doesn’t need to raise his voice to be heard and who’s exceedingly polite and proper – is felt by the entire team.

“[Crosscup] has been missing every day but we hear from him so even though he’s not physically here, we know he’s with us,” said Stewart.

For Stewart and her fellow captains, “there are situations that we know, ‘no, you can’t [reduce the time for each lap of the pool], you have to push more, Ev would want you to do that’.” 

And it is the seniors and juniors, who have spent time with Crosscup, who have taken to conveying that respect for hard work to a large number of freshmen and sophomores swimming beside them, she said. 

“There’s an unspoken commitment that we have to each other, that motivates us,” she said.

So far, the season has seen Belmont put up solid results, staying with Division 1 powers Chelmsford and Andover while dominating the league schedule. And much the credit for putting all the pieces in the correct order has fallen onto Crosscup’s assistant, Gretchen Turner. 

“This year, [Turner] definitely stepped up,” said Stewart.

Turner grew up in a swimming family in Littleton and swam for the Acton-Boxborough Town Swim Team under legionary coach Jeff Johnson (who also coaches the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School Girls’ team) since she was four. 

Recruited to play soccer at Niagara University, she would see the swimmers head off for 5:30 a.m. practice “and I really missed that.” Deciding she didn’t like high-level soccer but loved the water, Turner was able to swim competitive breaststroke for her four years with the Purple Eagles graduating in 2003. 

After college, Turner had helped Johnson with the club program and worked with her family’s swimming lessons business when she learned from her sister, Belmont High School Assistant Principal Sherri Turner, that a position opened with Crosscut and immediately got her an interview. 

“Ev and I hit it off immediately,” said Turner. 

While Turner has all but taken the reins of the program due to Crosscup’s illness, it’s not as if she has been thrown into the deep in the pool, struggling to meet the challenge of running the team. 

“Crosscup did such a great job last year preparing me for this, not knowing this was going to happen,” said Turner, allowing her to set the practices, arranging the lineups for the contests, and once when he was away last year, to run an entire meet by herself. 

“There are still things that I’m learning that I’ve missed, but I’m so thankful he stepped aside and pushed me last year,” Turner said. 

Turner admits there is added pressure on her with the program’s successes over the past three years 

“I don’t want to let them down with the expectations for the season what the girls want to get out of it. Every minute of every day, I’m thinking of them and where they want to go,” she said.

And that journey, all hope, will end next month with the girls celebrating in Harvard’s Blodgett Pool with a state championship trophy. 

Stewart said since the first day of trials, “our goal is to win states. We choose that goal last April at the captain’s meeting. We’ve put that in the heads of the new kids who made the team.”

And now they want to dedicate their goal to Ev.

“We want to prove to [Crosscup] that our aim will be achieved and met,” said Stewart.

Sports: Field Hockey Back on Winning Track with 7-0 Shutout of Arlington

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Photo: Belmont’s Kate McCarthy skies for a shot against Arlington.

After its hard-fought loss to powerhouse Watertown this past Thursday, Belmont Field Hockey headed back to its home on Harris Field to begin the home stretch of its season with a Columbus Day matinee against Arlington. 

And the Marauders reestablished its impressive scoring touch with a workman-like 7-0 defeat of the SpyPonders as the team prepares for two important match-ups with league rivals; one just above them in the standings and the other just behind.

Monday, senior forward Kate McCarthy and co-captain Serena Nalley hit for a pair of goals each while Kerri Lynch and freshman Morgan Chase (along with two assists) each scored while junior leader AnnMarie Habelow has a goal and an assist as defenders Julia Lynch and Molly Goldberg each tallied two assists. 

Next Monday, Belmont (10-2-0) will visit Lexington (9-3-1), which is undefeated at home in the rematch of the Marauder’s 2-0 win in September. Belmont will seek to avenge its only other defeat of the season when Winchester (10-2-0) comes to Harris Field on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Belmont was leading 4-1 midway through the second half before allowing four goals in 12 minutes to lose 5-4. The Winchester game will also be Senior’s Night.

 “We are trying to improve every one of our skills,” said Head Coach Jessie Smith. “Our defense has really picked up recently. 

Smith said what they took away from the Watertown match, a 4-0 defeat (1-0 at the half) against the six-time consecutive Div. 2 state champions was to keep its work rate high even if the score is 7-0.

“We need to know that it’s always important to continue to look for the pass, to make them more automatic. That will happen by practicing it in each game,” said Smith. 

Sports: Belmont Football Falls to Reading as Rockets’ Ugly Tactics and Behavior Dominate

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Photo: 

According to the mission statement of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body for high school sports, says “[t]he ideals of good sportsmanship, ethical behavior, and integrity should encompass all interscholastic athletics in our community.

“Our athletic fields should be the laboratories to produce good sports who reflect “fair play” in every area of life,” says the statement.

Under the Friday Night Lights in Belmont, the small number of fans who gutted out the torrid of rain witnessed a once proud program fail those ideals that high school sports are based on.

The Harris Field scoreboard indicated Reading Memorial scored 56 points and held host Belmont scoreless, Oct. 9. But at the end of the game, Reading Memorial football walked off the field defeated, having lost the respect of those who witnessed an utter lack of sportsmanship, discipline and accountability from the Reading coaching staff and many players. 

Rather than with class, Reading’s performance on Friday left veteran gridiron observers speechless with a display of crass behavior and ugliness. 

“Reading is a good football team, and we didn’t play our best as evident by the scoreboard,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Yann Kumin.

“But we kept our composure in a game that was … ” said Kumin, pausing to find the words. 

“I’ll just say I was proud of our guys for keeping their composure and keeping their head and continuing to work,” said Kumin.

Belmont (1-3) came into the match with 3-1 Reading (ranked #11 by the Boston Herald, #10 in the Boston Globe poll) knowing it was going to be a struggle to stay with a team seeking a trip to the Division 2 Super Bowl.

The level of superior play was evident quickly in the first three possessions as Reading’s Will Connery ran the opening kickoff 85-yards for a touchdown, Belmont offense went three-and-out after gaining two yards, before Reading quickly stormed down the field as the Rocket’s D’Aundray Burcy scampered 25-yards for Reading’s second touchdown in the first 7 minutes of the game.

The question requiring an answer is why a program holding aces against an opponent would resort to violent cheap shots and common vulgarity throughout the game?

It came from the constant cursing from Reading’s coaches (head coach John Fiore and his assistants) in the first half – heard across the field to the opposite grandstand and on the Belmont sideline – to apparent deliberate attempts at excessive physical infractions against key Belmont players including quarterback Cal Christofori, running back Mekhai Johnson and punter Lowell Haska (Reading was flagged throughout the game for misconduct) culminating in a spearing penalty by a Reading linebacker who launched himself head first into a prone and vulnerable Christofori. 

That final penalty, which is considered extremely dangerous, resulted in the immediate removal of offending player from the game. There was no reaction from the Reading coaches.

“Third time in 45 years,” said the referee of the call, as he shook his head.

While Belmont had a few memorial moments – three 15 yard plus runs by Johnson, Haska’s 50 yard punts and an apparent touchdown pass from Christofori to Joe Shaughnessy that was questionably ruled out of bounds – the game was never in doubt in the favor of Reading after going into the half 42-0.

Yet constant trash talking and late hits continued until the final minutes when both teams sent in their second squads.

Even in victory, Reading’s baseness came to the fore. During the traditional handshake between players at game’s end, Reading players cursed at their Belmont opponents, who were told by their coaches not to respond.

When approached by a Reading assistant coach after the players encounter, Kumin would only express his private disappointment how the game was conducted by the players and coaches.

Belmont Athletic Director James Davis, who attended the game on the Belmont sidelines, said he made a phone call after the game to his counterpart, Reading Athletic Director Tom Zaya, to discuss the spearing penalty and “the game.” 

While not willing to discuss the conversation, Davis said Belmont would continue to approach sports with a positive attitude.

“The culture that’s being established within not just our football but all our sports programs is such that we rise above those types of things. It’s something that we pride ourselves on, and I think it’s indicative why we’ve been recognized last year on the sportsmanship honor roll for not having a single player disqualified throughout the school year. That’s important to us,” said Davis.

With no natural rivalry between the teams in football, the question for the unwarranted hostility from a superior team appears rooted in Reading’s drive to a Super Bowl placement that requires them to defeat weaker opponents by ever greater scores. 

When asked the reason for Readings animosity toward Belmont, Kumin could not explain the myriad examples of abhorrent actions and behavior from Reading.

“We’re not concerned with their program, I’m more concerned with our program. That’s the message that we preach with our kids. I’m just happy that our guys continued to fight, continue to try and execute reps and showed class and pride in everything they did. That’s the Marauder Way, which we preach from start to finish,” he said. 

“I told the team, I’d rather be at the losing end of a 56-0 score with these guys then be over there,” said Kumin, nodding over to the Reading sideline. 

Sports: Belmont Field Hockey Forces Watertown to Work for 150

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Photo: Belmont’s stellar defense against Watertown.

Belmont High Field Hockey made Watertown work hard for this one.

The match played in Belmont Thursday night, Oct. 8, didn’t follow the oh-so-typical Watertown script in which the six-time consecutive Division 2 state champions score countless goals minutes after the opening whistle before handing the game off to the subs in the second half.

By the final horn with the Raiders up 4-0, Watertown’s starters were still on the field and, by their demeanour and body language, were glad the contest was finally over.

“I am so proud of you,” Belmont Head Coach Jessica Smith told her team after the game. “I was worried that we were g0ing to come here and flop. And you did not do that. You stood up strong, and you really made them work.”

The final tally sheet didn’t reflect the superb effort the Marauders 11 (9-2-0) left on the Harris Field pitch, forcing the 12-0 Raiders – which won its 150th consecutive game as it heads towards the national high school sports record of 154 – to earn each goal, battling through a “hold-on tight” marking defense that frustrated the Raiders in the first 30 minutes.

“Of course, I’d like the scoreboard to be the other way, but to play Watertown and make them sweat like that, I feel good about that,” said Smith.

“[Watertown] is an extremely strong team. It’s so well oiled; they have everyone in their position. If one misses, another is right behind them. And they are so fast, they never let you any space,” said Smith.

Watertown came out firing, sending eight shots on net against sophomore goaltender Christina McLeod, who Smith said played “out of her mind.”

“[McLeod] was the reason we were in this game,” said Smith.

“I was just afraid of letting a shot go in,” McLeod said of her performance.

Coming off a less than successful match against Wakefield in which it gave up three goals in a 9-3 win on Tuesday, the defense back line was stellar against the Raiders.

Facing an aggressive, quick squad which employed tactics such as multiple players crashing the goal mouth and deliberate “picks” of defenders, Belmont defenders – led by senior captain Serena Nalley and included converted wing Julia Lynch, Molly Thayer, Lilly Devitt and Molly Goldberg – kept the ball between them and the goal, stepping in front of passes and being general pests to the Raiders forwards and midfielders. 

“What a great job they did. They never let up during the entire game. That is the best team they will face now and in the tournament and they shut them down,” said Smith.

Some of the best action occurred when the team’s best players, Belmont’s AnnMarie Habelow and Watertown’s Kourtney Kennedy (both juniors who have already committed to play Division 1 field hockey for nationally-ranked teams), squared off against each other.

Belmont weathered the Watertown storm front for 23 minutes before a shot after a penalty corner – a bugaboo for the Marauders all season – saw Raider’s Michela Anotenellis score in close redirecting a Maddie Leitner pass.

Just a minute later, it appeared from the sideline that Belmont had scored off a tip by one of two Marauders at the goal mouth from a Habelow rocket shot from distance. After a few seconds of no call, the officials concluded that Habelow’s attempt was outside the 15-meter scoring circle.

Moments later Habelow got Belmont best chance of the half with a full-swing shot from 12 meters out which Watertown’s goalie Joanna Kennedy blocked with her right pad. 

At the half, Watertown had its slimmest lead of the season and the Marauders were in high spirits on the sidelines. 

“We just need one beautiful shot to tie this game,” said Smith.

At the start of the second 30 minutes, Belmont began pressing up the field. But after a failed penalty corner, Watertown commenced a fast counter attack that saw Raider Ally McCall bury a breakaway against McLeod four minutes into the match. 

Five minutes later, Watertown put the game away off another penalty corner as Maddie Leitner scored off a perfectly set-up shot.

“That was a frickin’ great goal. There was nothing McLeod could do about that,” said Smith.

Anotenellis finished off her brace and the scoring with 12 minutes left in the game.

Smith was philosophical after then game when talking to her team that handled the defeat matter-a-factly.

“I think a lot of it is that they have more veteran players. And some of our players were intimidated and maybe didn’t step up to the next level tonight. But in the future, they’ll be able to step forward,” said Smith.

“You know what, they’ll go win their championship, and we’ll go win ours,” Smith told the team. 

Belmont’s next match is a holiday matinee as they take on Arlington at Harris Field on Monday, Oct. 12. 

Sports: Bram the Bright Spot as Marauder Harriers Fall to Minutemen

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Photo: Coming home. 

There were two powerhouses running the Clay Pit Pond cross country course Tuesday, Oct. 6: the cross country teams from Lexington High School and Belmont senior Leah Bram.

It was going to be a mighty high mountain to climb for Belmont High’s harriers to scale past the Minutemen, which has become a juggernaut program. While the boys’ fell by a convincing 15-46, the girls’ ate into Lexington’s score line, dropping a 21-34 decision against the Minutemen’s top varsity lineup (last season Lexington ran a largely second-string team against the Marauders).

Leading Belmont’s Girls’ was its steady star Brams, who has always finished first racing the Clay Pit Pond course and has only lost once in a Middlesex League duel meet in her four varsity seasons (last season to Woburn’s Gina D’Addario who is currently running at defending Division 3 national champions John Hopkins). Brams held a 20 second lead with a little over a mile remaining and finished in 19 minutes and 7.6 seconds, a season’s best and just outside her course record of 18:58.

Second for the Marauders and sixth overall was junior (a recent transplant from Washington state) Sara Naumann who split Lexington’s middle runners with a strong 20:23, followed by senior leader Sophia Klimasmith who set her season’s best of 20:50 in eighth place. Rounding out the varsity race, senior Meredith Hughes (9th, 231.01), final varsity scorer freshman Audrey Christo (10th, 21.03), frosh Eleanor Amer (12th, 22:02) and seniors Brett Koslowsky (13th, 22:04), Emma Chambers (14th, 22:16), Madison Kelts (16th, 22:45) and Carly Tymm (18th, 22:50).

On the boys side of the ledger, freshman Zach Tseng led the Marauders in 6th in 17:18. The rest of the varsity scorers were sophmore Calvin Perkins (8th, 17:37), senior Mike Ferrante (9th, 17:46), junior Manion Wilder (11th, 18:10) and senior Ian Bowe (12th, 18:17).