ME Hornet Eli Cox, #7, shown after he punches one in to the upper right corner of the net against Triton during Saturday’s match at Hyland Field. Triton played well during the first half but the Hornets lit up the second half and took the W 6-0 against the Vikings.
Senior Tyler Erdmann runs in the Hornets’ last home meet, against Newburyport. Last week the team prevailed against Hamilton-Wenham at Patton Park in Hamilton.
After opening up the season with a 4-0 win on the road at Ipswich, the boys would have a busy week going 2-1 with three matches in just five days. Thursday night, the Hornets traveled to Lynnfield to take on a physical and speedy Pioneers team who were up to the task. A distance strike late in the first put Lynnfield on the board 1-0 and then just moments later with 20 seconds remaining in the half Lynnfield would add another on a give and go down the left side of the field. Manchester Essex remained stout carrying some possession throughout the second half. Early in the fourth quarter, the Hornets got on the board on a PK that was drawn by Mason O'Grady that Naderson Curtis buried to cut the lead in half. Despite good pressure from the Hornets up thru the end of the match, Lynnfield held on for the win.
With not much time to bemoan the loss, the Hornets tackled Triton on Hyland Field on Saturday, Oct. 10th for their home opener. From the start Triton was very organized and disciplined in their defensive structure, but patience was key for the Hornets. With three minutes left in the first half, Gus Brown whipped a ball into Naderson Curtis who collected it and pounded a shot past the Triton keeper. The Hornets took that lead into the break and the lead seemed to loosen things up a bit for Manchester Essex. As Triton began to try to create on the offensive side of the field, the Hornets began to put pressure on the Triton backs in those moments of transition. Tommy Bowen would score next off a feed from Curtis. After that the flood gates seemed to open. Beren Schmidt played a beautiful ball into Curtis for his second then Schmidt would play another long ball thru to Eli Cox who cut the ball on to his right and buried a shot from the penalty spot for 4-0. Gus Brown would find Bowen for the fifth then Schmidt would get his easiest assist of the day touching an indirect to Curtis for his third of the day.
It would be similar script that Georgetown would follow on Monday morning, Oct. 12th again at Hyland Field. The Royals seemed happy early to just get defensive numbers behind the ball and contain the Hornet's possession style attack. The match remained scoreless until early in the third quarter when a direct kick at the top of the box had Bowen shaping up for a lefty strike and Curtis shaping up for a right footed strike. Curtis yielded the better scoring window to Bowen who buried the kick for 1-0. Eli Cox added one for his second in as many matches, and Curtis added another to seal the win for the Hornets.
With no state tournament this season due to COVID19, the Hornets look to earn a spot in the top bracket for a new league tournament format featuring three tiers of four team competition; a gold bracket, a silver and a bronze.
Next up for Manchester Essex is a trip to CAL Large perennial power Pentucket next Saturday who will surely be in that top tier.
Cross Country had its second meet of the season against Hamilton Wenham at Patton Park on Thursday, October 8. The boys team prevailed 26 to 31 with Will Kenney taking first place in 16:43 on the 5k course. Freshman Cormac Edgerton followed with a 3rd place, Eli Heanue 5th, Charlie Lations 8th and Connor Burke 9th. James Wendell and Colin Harrison also contributed to the win by beating the Generals fifth boy. The boys have a lot of depth this year and a good mix of Seniors and younger runners. They are now 2-0 on the season.
The girls team lost 39 to 19. Oli Turner lead the Hornets with a 4th place finish followed by Jane Whitten 5th, Mary Annabel Chrzanowski 9th, Lily Pilaud 10th and Anna Whitten 11th. They fell to 1-1 for the season. The next meet is Thursday, October 15 at Amesbury.
