Danvers girls soccer wins D2 North title

ACTON – For the 15 seniors on the roster for the Danvers High girls soccer team, Monday’s trip to the Division 2 North finals was something they had waited their entire high school careers for.And leave it to one of the five captains the Falcons have to make sure that the trip to Leary Field didn’t go unrewarded.Ashley Sullivan took advantage of a Wakefield turnover to net the game’s only goal with 6:11 left in regulation to give the Falcons a 1-0 win and their first North title since 2003.”It’s been a special year with these 15 seniors and they are special to me,” Danvers coach Jim Hinchion said. “They had won a state title in youth soccer but had never won a North title so this is great for them.”The title was a long time in coming for Danvers, which has reached the North semis in every season since the 2003 title, including a 2004 finals loss to Bishop Fenwick in Chelsea.”I’ve been waiting for this for four years,” said Sullivan, who now has scored in all of Danvers’ tournament wins. “And it’s great to have it happen as seniors. And hopefully we can go all the way to states.”For the Cinderella Warriors, the clock finally struck midnight on a journey that saw them post three shutouts and go a grand total of 493:49 without giving up a goal when you factor in their final two regular-season games. But on this Monday, it was a mistake from the most unlikely of sources – goalkeeper Erin Jackson – that proved to be their undoing.”Erin is just the best. She is a fantastic player and kid,” Wakefield coach Janel Stevenson said about her junior netminder. “She kept us in the game. It was just a bad little bounce on that shot and you hate to see the game end on something like that.”This game was everything that a North final should be. Both teams had quality chances and nearly the same amount of shots (9-7 in favor of Danvers) and got brilliant defensive play from two spectacular back lines.”That was just a fantastic game,” Hinchion said. “But in a game like that, you have to be ready to take advantage of mistakes and Ashley was there to put it in.”The opening 40 minutes belonged to the Falcons lock, stock and barrel. Despite putting only three shots on Jackson, Danvers (19-2-1) kept the play in Wakefield’s end for nearly the entire half. Yet the game stayed tied at 0-0.It wasn’t for a lack of chances by the Falcons, however.Alicia Franklin nearly gave Danvers an early lead but her header off a Casey King free kick sailed just over the crossbar and became the first in a series of near misses. Sullivan also was robbed in her attempt to make it 1-0 as Jackson made a sliding save midway through the half.King also sailed a shot over the crossbar and freshman Brittany Russo might have had the best chance of all when she had the ball in front of Jackson following a turnover but blasted a shot over the net with 90 seconds left in the half.”We played exactly how we wanted to in the first half but we never got any good scoring chances and that’s a credit to their defense,” Hinchion said.When the second half kicked off, for the third game in a row, Wakefield ratcheted up the intensity.”We really struggled in the first half because we were a little nervous,” Stevenson said. “But we played much better in the second half.”The indication of Wakefield’s arrival came less than two minutes into the second half when Rebecca Luciani had a chance, but her header was just over the net.Five minutes later, the Warriors had an even better chance off a long pass from Kelsey Delaney in midfield. Laura Spang ran onto the pass and had a sterling chance, but Caraline Moholland was able to punch the shot out of harm’s way.”They really put the pressure on us in the second half. It was just a matter of who could stay strong the longest,” Hinchion said.Danvers took the Warriors’ uppercut and slowly began to turn the play back towards Jackson’s end of the field. Sullivan again had a chance to break the scoreless deadlock, but her shot whizzed just wide of the right pos