TEWKSBURY — The Bishop Fenwick field hockey team opened up the Division 2 North tournament on a high note Wednesday afternoon, as the No. 17 Crusaders took down No. 16 Tewksbury, 3-1, on the road at Tewksbury High. The Crusaders, who’ve had trouble scoring goals in recent games, were able to score first and never looked back.
“I think when we get out in transition and turn our defense into offense we have a much better time scoring the ball,” said Fenwick coach Marybeth Mahoney. “We’ve really been focusing on our offense in practice lately, so it’s good to see it pay off with three goals today.”
Fenwick got one goal each from Molly O’Hare, Grace Morey and Isabella Modica, while Nicole Modica and Katherine Clancy each had one assist. On the defensive side of things, Stephanie Sleriti played a solid game and goalkeeper Lauren Wilkinson played well in net.
“Our defensive effort was really solid from start to finish,” Mahoney said. “We played good team defense and picked each other up if anything got through. It’s been one of our strong points all year and we’re going to need it to stay that way going forward.”
Fenwick’s offensive started slow, as Tewksbury spent the first 10 minutes dominating time of possession. The Redmen got a number of shots on goal in that time, but Wilkinson kicked each attempt away.
Just over halfway through the first half, things started to turn in Fenwick’s favor. The Crusaders began to keep possession all the way up the field and generated scoring chances of their own, putting Tewksbury back on its heels. Eventually, with just over 13 minutes left in the half, Clancy sent a pass over to a wide open Morey, who buried it in the back of the net to put Fenwick up 1-0.
Despite a number of opportunities on both sides in the final minutes of the half, neither team could break through and the score remained 1-0 at the break.
In the second half, it was Tewksbury that struck first. Just over 12 minutes in, Hannah Knoops took control of the ball near midfield and raced up the right side. She then sent a perfect crossing pass into the circle, where Ryan Quinn was crashing the net. Quinn quickly set up and smacked a one-timer into the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1.
But the score didn’t stay there for very long. Just 45 seconds later, Fenwick regained its lead when O’Hare crashed the net to knock home a rebound, making it 2-1 Crusaders.
Despite a number of quality scoring chances for Tewksbury over the final 20 minutes, the Fenwick defense stood tall and didn’t let anything into the net the rest of the way. Then, with just under six minutes remaining in the game, Isabella Modica scored on an assist from Nicole Modica to seal the 3-1 victory for Fenwick.
Next up for the Crusaders (9-8-2) will likely be the toughest test of the season, as Fenwick will travel to Victory Field for a showdown against undefeated No. 1 Watertown (16-0-1). While Mahoney knows the Crusaders will enter the game as big underdogs, she also knows that in order to be the best, one must beat the best.
“It’s going to be tough, but we just have to keep playing as a team like we have been,” said Mahoney. “If we can keep up this level of team play and get some offense going, who knows what can happen?”
Fenwick and Watertown will face off Friday afternoon (2:30).
