ME Hornets girls soccer team practiced at Hyland Field on a hot and muggy afternoon early in the 2022 season.
A recent match against Ipswich at Crane Beach led by the ultimate winner Finn O’Hara, who was last years’ Baker Division Runner of the Year.
Girls Soccer:
The Manchester Essex Girls started their week by traveling to Rockport to face the Vikings in the rain. The first half was hard fought, but ended 2-0, with goals from Libby Lawler and Kendall Newton. After the break however, the Hornets stepped up the intensity and cruised to an 8-0 win with goals coming from Lilly Stefanovich, Mechi O'Neil, Harper Brooks, Olivia Kent and Meg Hurd (x2).
Player of the Match: Harper Brooks for an excellent game in which she scored a contender for goal of the season for the Hornets.
On Thursday the Hornets traveled to North Reading for a game that promised to be much more of a challenge and certainly delivered on that promise. Manchester Essex started strong and went close to scoring multiple times in the first 20 minutes. They were frustrated however, and Reading recovered to end the half strong with two great scoring chances of their own that they squandered. It was Reading who started the second half stronger and were rewarded when a great shot from just outside the box found the bottom corner. They added a second with a quick counterattack before Manchester Essex got back into the game. They created several chances which could have decreased the deficit but were unable to convert.
Player of the Match: Meg Hurd for great play on the wing. She looked like the most dangerous player for the Hornets going forward.
XCountry:
Manchester Essex Cross Country competed at the Bay State Invitational meet at Devens on Saturday. It was a tough course but the Hornets ran well. Individual medals went to Finn O'Hara for his 11th place finish and Lassen Ando for her 26th place finish. The girls placed 7th with a score of 169 points. Lassen Ando, Sabine Cooper, Whitney Turner, Stella Straub and Hayden Remington were the scorers. Due to a timing error, the boys did not score. The official results only had Finn O'Hara, Logan Cooper and Charlie Lations finishing. Unofficial times were Sam Heanue 23:03, Henry Chadbourne 23:05 and Henry Stevens 24:53. Saturday's Bay State Invitational was a great preview of the course for the All-State Meet. The next meet will be Wednesday at Georgetown.
Golf:
The Hornets golf team has reeled off three wins in a row this week and is playing their best golf of the season.
On Thursday 10/29, the team bested a much-improved Amesbury team by a score of 112-101. Sam Athanas led the way with 26 points, followed by Gray West with 17. Four players finished close behind with 16 points apiece, including Lilly Brigham, Mike DeOreo, Captain Mark Pollock and Matt DeOreo.
On Wednesday, October 5, the Hornets topped a very solid Ipswich team by a score of 104-102. Sam Athanas again led the way with 25 points, followed by Lilly Brigham with 20 and Gray West with 15.
And on Friday October 7, the Hornets bested Pentucket by a score of 115-82. Gray West led the team with 22 points, followed by Matt Graeter with 21. On the individual front this week, Sam Athanas won the Cape Ann Cup, held at Far Corners Golf Course with 65 points! The Cape Ann Cup features the two top golfers from each team and Sam bested 23 other golfers to take home the title! Lilly Brigham posted a very respectable 38 points for the Hornets. Both Sam and Lilly were outstanding representatives of our school and our team! The Hornets team also took home the season long Sportsmanship Award, as voted on by the other coaches.
