By John Orrell, Contributing Writer
Westborough – For Marlborough High girls varsity soccer head coach Samantha Kiley and her young but steely group of competitors, hopes were high that, as the sage saying goes, the third time is the charm.
Having dropped a pair of decisions (3-1, 2-1) to rival Westborough High during the regular season, Kiley hoped beyond hope that her team’s Division 1quarterfinal matchup with host Westborough would yield a better outcome this time around, but it was not to be as the second-seed Rangers blanked the Panthers, 3-0, before a spirited and vocal crowd at James R. Mewhiney Field Nov. 6.
The loss ends seventh-seed Marlborough’s season at 11-7-1 while Midland B champion Westborough (15-4-0) looks to take on the winner of the Nashoba and Wachusett Regional matchup at a date and time to be determined.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times in a row so were very pumped up for this game,” said Holy-Cross College-bound senior co-captain Carly Flahive of her team’s pre-game outlook. “We knew it was going to be a hard one and we had to come in and play our game and if we did we knew we had a good chance of winning it.
“We were very determined. No one wanted the season to end. Our team is loaded with seniors (14) so none of us wanted to have the season end so we just kept pushing and fighting until we knew we were moving on.”
“Coming into this game already beating them twice we knew it was going to be hard to beat them a third time,” admitted fellow senior co-captain Rakasa Pattanaik. “We definitely knew it wasn’t going to be easy and there was a lot of pressure. We weren’t going to come out and take it too easy or be too cocky so we were all focused on not letting that happen.”
Westborough jumped on the board with their first score at the 24:06 mark of the opening half when Flahive took advantage of some well-executed team passing. In the midst of heavy traffic in front of the Marlborough net, the talented senior pounced on a rebound and knifed a well-placed shot home for the score.
“We ended up having a corner kick and Rakasa worked to get the ball in play and then ended up sending a nice cross into the goal and I just happened to get the rebound and put it in,” Flahive said of her ultimate game-clincher.
Westborough connected for its second tally at 8:40 when Emily Longo made a fast break on a ball that squirted free. The junior midfielder collected herself and buried the shot lower left corner to put her team up 2-0 at the break.
Both teams held one another at bay for most of the second half before Westborough tacked one on with just under two minutes remaining. Carter Bromm rifled home an unassisted blast to seal the win.
“They’re a fantastic team to coach. It’s been a pleasure every day,” said Kiley of her Panther girls. “They worked so hard starting in the summer. They’ve come into the season in great shape with great attitudes. The seniors have been great leaders.
“My four seniors (Charlotte Jolley, Abby Chrisafedeis, Hannah Mackay, Rachel McCormack) this year made all the kids feel like they were very important and that’s going to help us build for next year. We’re going to be sorry to see them go but they’ve done a really nice job.”
“When you play someone for a third time and try to beat them a third time, it’s always difficult because they have nothing to lose and we have everything to lose,” explained Ranger head coach Paul Mumby post-game. “Especially with the rivalry we have with Marlborough, it’s a game where it becomes important to get the first goal. We wanted to make sure they didn’t get the confidence to keep coming at us.
“We needed to be mentally prepared for this game and the kids looked good. The second half we were a little bit shaky and I expected them to come at us because we lost a little composure there but we finally got it together with the third goal late in the game.”
Photos/Jeff Slovin