Dover-Sherborn topples powerhouse Bromfield for first-ever girls lacrosse state title

LITTLETON — Throughout the entire season, Kate Mastrobuono and her teammates were in pursuit of a historic, yet seemingly unattainable goal — delivering Dover-Sherborn its first-ever girls lacrosse title.

With the perfect combination of senior leadership and young talent, however, the Raiders felt their 2021 squad presented the best opportunity to accomplish the feat, and they would succeed by knocking off a juggernaut Friday.

Mastrobuono finished with six goals to go with two assists, as Dover-Sherborn clinched its inaugural Div. 2 championship with a 12-10 victory over perennial powerhouse Bromfield at Littleton Middle School.

“It feels amazing,” Mastrobuono said afterward. “We’ve been waiting for this moment since the start of high school, but also especially from the start of this season. We knew we had a special team here. With Bromfield, we also knew the whole season that we were likely going to end up (facing them). They were great competitors, but it feels amazing that we were able to finish it.”

For the first five minutes of the Div. 2 title game, however, it didn’t look like the Raiders (19-1) were going to attain their aspirations.

Bromfield, which had outscored opponents at a 67-12 clip during the course of the state playoffs entering Friday, certainly looked like the program everyone had propped them up to be early. The Trojans quickly seized a 4-1 advantage with 7:16 remaining in the opening quarter behind a pair of goals by Olivia Kehoe.

However, that was precisely when Mastrobuono decided to kick it into another gear.

During the rest of the first half, the Raiders held Bromfield to just one goal, while Mastrobuono scored four herself. She also added two assists, as Dover-Sherborn took a 9-5 advantage into intermission.

“We knew (Bromfield) was going to be very strong,” Mastrobuono said. “We knew they were going to score goals, but we couldn’t let that shut us down. I think we were just really good with our possessions, and we didn’t force shots. We made sure we got really good shot selections. I think that’s how we stayed in it, and the defense was lockdown.”

Mastrobuono added two more goals in the third quarter, while Ameilia Novitch notched her second goal of the game to give Dover-Sherborn a 12-6 lead entering the final stanza.

All game long, the Raiders made it a point of emphasis to take away Bromfield star Izzy Planchet. While the Virginia Tech commit caught fire in the fourth quarter by scoring a pair of goals, there was simply too little time for the senior to will the Trojans back into the game.

In eerily similar fashion, Bromfield would ultimately fall to an upstart program in the state final, with an identical score as its last appearance (a 12-10 loss to Norwell in 2018).

On top of Mastrobuono’s heroics, Coco Hauck registered two goals for Dover-Sherborn.

Kehoe finished with a hat trick for Bromfield.

“It feels incredible,” said Raiders coach Erin Massimi. “Again, it’s all (about) the girls. I’m here to help them along the way, but it’s their heart, their hustle that’s brought us to this point, and I could not be more proud of this group, and what they accomplished.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3Axe7n9