ME Hornets get revved up before their joust with Dover Sherborn in the D4 State Finals.
Everything about the state final game was “perfect,” according to Manchester Essex girls lacrosse coach Nan Gorton. Everything, that is, except for the final score.
The Hornets lost to Dover Sherborn by a 10-7 score in the Div. 4 State Final game on June 21, ending a spectacular run for the team that saw them go 19-3 and earn the top seed in the tournament.
“It was a close one,” explains Gorton. “A perfect final game for the Division. Although it did not go our way, I was really proud of the heart with which our team played - we never gave up, and we gave the crowd quite a show. In the end we just had a little bad luck against a very good team.”
One reason the Hornets were so successful this season is that they shared the wealth on offense – it wasn’t just one or two players scoring goals and contributing, multiple players chipped in on the offensive end, making it harder for opposing defenses to focus on any one player. Things were no different in this one, with Mechi O’Neil, Ella Chafe and Emma Fitzgerald scoring two goals each, and Paige Garlitz adding a goal of her own. Goaltender Brigid Carovillano had eight saves, adding to her impressive season total of 209, helping to keep the Hornets in the game against a high-powered Dover Sherborn offense.
“What has always been special about this team is that we do not have just one player making it happen,” says Gorton. “In the final game, four different players scored, so many contributed to the game, including great hustle by [Hadley] Levendusky, [Sylvie] McCavanagh, and [Meyer] Gist on attack, and [Wrede] Charlton, [Amelia] Donnellan, [Charlotte] Crocker and [Helaina] Davis on defense.”
Manchester Essex is poised for another run at the state title in 2023. While the team loses seniors in Charlton, Donnellan and Fitzgerald, most of this squad returns next spring, including newly-elected captains Levendusky, Garlitz and Chafe. It also doesn’t hurt that the team’s starting goaltender is back in Carovillano, and O’Neil brings back some scoring punch.
“This team will be remembered for its heart and determination to never give up,” says Gorton. “This was highlighted by our game against Masco, when we were down at the half by six. We came back, as everyone will remember, in the final second of that game, to then win it in overtime. That will be our team’s legacy.”
