‘Cats Top Brookline with Late Strike in Field Hockey Opener

Brookline High junior field hockey goalie Meghan Zak kicked them out left and right, held the short side and dove to make another standout stop in a furious second half against visiting Milton at Larz Anderson Park last night.

But the Wildcats finally got the best of the deal when Isabel Andrews beat Zak to the low right on a feed from Bridget Renehan with just 44 ticks left, as the Wildcats beat the Warriors, 2-1, in the season opener for both teams. The finish put a damper on an otherwise brilliant performance by Zak, as the Warriors began their quest to defend the Bay State Conference Carey Division crown. 

"She's an incredible goalie," Brookline head coach Kate Coleman said of Zak. "She stands on her toes. She knows where to be. She can move around, and she knows how to communicate with her teammates, which is very important in this game."

With the score tied at 1-1, Zak made a diving stick save to her left on a solid Milton rush early in the second half. She came up big again with a kick save in front midway through the frame. And she thwarted another threat by holding the short side on a shot that was painted for just inside the right post.

But Zak's finest moment came when she challenged Milton star Olivia Walsh by coming out of the net to make two terrific kick-out stops on consecutive shots with just over six minutes left.

Coleman also praised center midfielder and senior captain Aliza Miller, who played a terrific game in front of Zak. Miller was at her best when she fended off a shot headed for the left corner of the goal to begin the first half.

"[She plays] a key position. She really knows how to control the ball, and has a lot of athletic ability and awareness," Coleman said.

It all helped the Warriors stay in the game, which they led, 1-0, when junior Erin Bridge took a cross feed from Maria Orsalti and beat Milton goalie Monica Riordan to the low left at 19:20 of the first half. Bridge's first varsity goal comes after she poured in a team-high 16 for the junior varsity squad last season.

The Wildcats scored the equalizer at 7:15 on an unassisted strike by Emily McClellan.

The teams played to a pretty even first frame, though Milton amassed a 3-0 edge in penalty corners. That margin grew to 8-1 total as the Wildcats controlled most of the second half.

 "I thought we played well. We used the spacing well and did well on back passes," Milton coach Jamie Donovan said. "We graduated 10 seniors last year, so we're rebuilding, and I thought we did very well."

The Wildcats advanced to the Division 1 South semifinals last fall. Brookline, meanwhile, made it to the Division 1 North quarterfinals. Coleman said her group lost 11 seniors to graduation.

"The team as a whole is a young team. Not many were on varsity before, but they have a lot of potential," she said. "This is the closest we've been against Milton in the last couple of years."