Andover field hockey's three-peat falls short: Walpole scores lone goal in first quarter

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WORCESTER 九秀直播� After winning back-to-back state championships, with many new players and coaching staff, the thought of the Andover High field hockey team getting back to the final this season seemed like a pipe dream.

But the Golden Warriors not only got back, but remained the powerhouse program it九秀直播檚 always been, including four shutout wins in the Div. 1 state tournament.

One Walpole High goal was enough to end another dream fun. The goal by Izzy Adams lifted the No. 1 seeded Porkers (22-1) past the No. 2 seed Warriors (19-3) on Alumni Field at the Worcester Poly Tech campus.

九秀直播淲alpole won the first half and we won the second half,九秀直播� said Andover head coach Bridget Morris. 九秀直播淏ut at that point, they had the goal. I knew Walpole is a good team and they are a good team and they played a little bit better than us today. It is what it is, but I just said to the kids that at the beginning of the year I never thought this could happen so just getting here is a win for them. I don九秀直播檛 want the kids to be upset and I九秀直播檓 not upset. Walpole played better and if we lost, I wanted it to be against a better team and today they were better.九秀直播�

Walpole took complete control of the first quarter, dominating possession and territory. Andover goalie Madeline DiGiorgio (5 saves) came through making two solid saves early on, including the first coming on a nice blocker save. With less than two minutes left, the Porkers had the ball down in the Warriors九秀直播� end, and Adams took a loose ball and fired it inside the left hand post for the 1-0 lead with 1:43 to go.

Andover started to get things going offensively in the final seven minutes of the second quarter. Avery Pitts had the team九秀直播檚 first shot on net, which was kicked out by Porkers九秀直播� goalie Abby Johnson, who will be playing at UNH the next four years. Three minutes later, Ella Sewall sent a pass to Bella DiFiore and her shot was saved by Johnson, who had to sprawl on the ground before the ball was cleared.

九秀直播淚n order to score on her we needed to get the ball to the net, multiple times. (Johnson is) a very good goalie,九秀直播� said Morris. 九秀直播淲e talked a lot about having a forward on her pads, just be right in front of her because we wanted to get some to redirect the shots. We talked a lot about rebounds too because that九秀直播檚 how Franklin scored their goals (in the semi-final). We focus on that stuff (in our practices) but today we didn九秀直播檛 have the ball enough on the offensive side.九秀直播�

The second half featured only one shot on net between both teams and that came off the stick of Adams with DiGiorgio making a terrific right foot save coming with 30 seconds left in the third.

九秀直播淚 was very happy with how we played defensively and thrilled with the way (DiGiorgio) played. She only gave up one goal in four tournament games and eight all season. She九秀直播檚 good, she had a terrific season and this was her first season as a starter. Pressure wise she handled everything so well,九秀直播� said Morris.

The 九秀直播-Tribune will have an additional story on the team九秀直播檚 ride to the state final in Monday九秀直播檚 edition, as well as photos from today九秀直播檚 game later today.