WEST BRIDGEWATER–No. 9 West Bridgewater came away with a 5-2 victory against No. 24 Narragansett Regional in the MIAA Division 4 First Round Field Hockey tournament on Monday evening.
This game was originally scheduled for Oct. 30 but was moved to Monday due to inclement weather. The Warriors (13-4-2) hailed into Wildcat (13-4-3) territory from Western Mass and West Bridgewater head coach Bill Flynn felt they were a strong first test for his group.
“I thought Narragansett played a great game; they’ve got some good players over there,” Flynn said. “They’re better than a 24 seed; they played up to it. They had a great season, and they gave a good test early.”
Both teams had some chances in the first quarter, with Alivia Phillip missing a shot after she broke away after a pass from Sarah Diedrichsen, and Narragansett getting involved in a scrum in front of sophomore goalkeeper Allie Edgerly.
The Warriors in the second quarter were able to keep the ball in their offensive zone, not allowing the Wildcats to exit the defensive zone for the first half of the quarter, but Narragansett was unable to capitalize on the momentum.
West Bridgewater responded with the game’s first goal, which came from Diedrichsen after she backhanded a pass from Haylee Krakowski into the net with just over two minutes left in the second quarter.
Flynn said the Wildcats didn’t play up to their potential in the opening half despite holding the one-goal lead and were able to adjust well at the break.
“I thought we were a little sluggish starting out,” Flynn said. “We finally got some good bounces, some good breaks, and we capitalized on them, and the girls played a really good second half.”
The Wildcats added to their lead with Krakowski scoring off a backhand with just under seven minutes left in the third. About three minutes later, the Wildcats scored off another corner, with Reese O’Keefe getting in front of the net and firing it in to make it 3-0. The Warriors were able to break the shutout with just 15 seconds left in the third with Mia Manca scoring to make it 3-1.
The fourth quarter saw two West Bridgewater tallies from Brianna LaGrange and Julia Martineau, and one Narragansett goal from Shannon Iannacone to give the game its final score of 5-2.
“We have a really strong midfield that’s giving the ball up to the forwards that are great at tipping it in.” West Bridgewater junior Alexis LaGrange said, “We’re a very young team, so it’s a little hard for us sometimes, but we do really good, and working with the team has been great.”
West Bridgewater advances to the second round of the Div. 4 tournament and will head to the North Shore to face No. 8 Manchester-Essex on Wednesday.
