By John Orrell, Contributing Writer
Northborough / Holden — High school field hockey contests consist of two thirty-minute halves, but when playoff time comes around and matched-up teams are deadlocked at the end of regulation time, it’s simply play on and sometimes play on some more until there is a once-and-for-all decisive outcome.
For Westborough High School (WHS), it was all of that but with an outcome that resulted in euphoria for players, coaches and team supporters when the team faced off with host and second-seed Wachusett Regional High School in Central Mass. Division 1 quarterfinal competition on Nov. 4.
Senior co-captain Mridhu Khanna rifled home the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining in double-overtime to capture the 1-0 victory for the seventh-seed Rangers (11-5-2) setting off a frenzied on-field celebration. The win sends Westborough on to semifinal play versus three-seed Nashoba Regional at Grafton High School on Monday, Nov. 7.
“I’ve had a long and storied career coaching field hockey at Westborough High School, but this has to be one of the most spectacular games I’ve ever been involved in,” said veteran head coach Colleen Debish. “All the girls worked so hard and showed so much heart and intensity.
“She (Khanna) was able to get possession and they converged on her but her individual skills were so good. She started maneuvering. She beat two players out front and then was one-on-one with the goalie and she just put it in the corner of the net.”
“One of our teammates freed up the ball and I saw a lot of space down the middle so I just kept going and there were girls crashing the net so they were taking away defenders,” explained a smiling Khanna of the biggest goal of her high school career. “I saw a lane and just took a shot because we were focusing on taking that shot and getting those rebounds. Luckily it went through their goalie’s legs.”
Each team tugged at one another in the 60 minute regulation time but neither could find the back of their opponents’ net. Strong defense and superb goalkeeping by Jewlia Durning kept Ranger hopes alive. As each squad entered into double-overtime, digging deep for the needed energy to continue was challenging, but with so much on the line, neither team was about to succumb.
“I’ve been waiting for this team since freshman year,” said senior co-captain Peyton Brown. “There are so many seniors. Right from the start I knew the energy was there and we could do it. Some games the energy wasn’t there but everyone plays together and that makes it all great.”
“We didn’t want to lose twice,” added fellow senior co-captain Campbell Brown. Wachusett had defeated Westborough 1-0 during the regular season “We had a great practice yesterday and we were ready to come to this one. Everybody was really focused in warmups. We knew what we had to do and were all encouraging each other and we came together as a team and did what we needed to do.”
The Wachusett victory followed an 8-1 leveling of Worcester’s Burncoat High 48 hours earlier in opening round play that had the team surging with momentum. That resulting confidence and the want to win on Mountaineer turf only added to the determination, said senior co-captain Olivia Weckwerth.
“Everyone on the team knew when we heard we were going to be playing Wachusett again, we thought that we didn’t want to lose to them again. We knew that we wanted to come out here and show what we were made of. We worked so hard this season with so many practices. Everything worked up to this moment to show what we could do.”
Members of the 2016 Westborough High varsity field hockey team are seniors Olivia Weckwerth, Caroline Grady, Casey Welsh, Allyson Rota, Mridhu Khanna, Bridget Heffernan, Campbell Brown, Jewlia Durning, Peyton Brown, Kaitlyn Corcoran, Kaleigh Wright, Emma Grossman; juniors Lindsey Bromm, Caitlin McCarthy, Cassidy Sams, Grace Roney; sophomores Emma West, Isabelle Seymour, Haylie Borgia, Grace Desmond, Selena Hamilton, Amanda Parsons, Callyn West, Taylor Connolly along with freshmen Caitlin Papagelis and Meghana Paras.