Falcons Knock Off Redmen, Next Up Generals

The Danvers lady Falcons' soccer team took it to the Tewksbury Redmen from the opening whistle to the final tick of the clock. For the entire 80 minutes the Falcons dominated their opponents in every facet of the game. Coach Jimmy Hinchion commented after the game that the girls had been focused all week in a way he had never seen before.

"All week the girls knew what they had to do and were very well prepared from the outset," Hinchion said.

Led by senior Brittany Russo and junior Cory Persson, the girls applied tremendous pressure to the visiting Redmen. The entire first half the action was almost exclusively in the Tewsbury end of the field.

Danvers peppered Tewksbury goalie Rebecca Davies with shots, but she was able to turn all of them away. So good was Davies' play, Hinchion singled her out for praise after the game.

"If it wasn't for the incredible play of their goalie (Davies), it might have been a very different story in the first half."

Equally impressive was the Danvers defense. Jackie Morse and Delaney Zecha, each turned back Tewksbury charges before they could get anywhere near the goal. Senior captain Gabby Vega, who although fighting an upper leg injury, made several outstanding plays in the game.

"What can I say about Gabby," Hinchion said. "She is always tough, smart and a real leader on the field. Banged up or not, I can always count on her to do the right thing. What you saw tonight is what she has done all year."

Despite the effort and an 11-3 shot advantage, the score was tied at half time. Coach Hinchion instructed the girls to not get frustrated and just keep the pressure on.

"A few inches left or right and a couple of those shots would have been goals. I told them to make sure they didn't let up. When you get in the playoff, any team can do anything. Coming out of the half they had a great attitude and I was confident that things would go our way."

The lady Falcons wasted little time carrying out his prediction. Just 2:07 into the second half their hard work and persistence paid off when freshman Kylie Plaza took a pass from Alex Strangie and deposited it in the Tewksbury net for the first goal of the contest.

Danvers continued to attack the Redmen relentlessly. Again, Davies held the Danvers offensive in check, turning back shot after shot. In one 30-second period, Davies was challenged by shots from Stephanie Kowalski, Brittany Russo and Cory Persson. All to no avail.

Eventually, the Danvers attack proved too much for Davies. With a little over six minutes to play, Russo made a great steal at mid-field. After dribbling past several Tewksbury defenders, she made a pass to Persson, who wasted little time shooting it past the outstretched arms of Davies. Three minutes later, Plaza returned the favor to Russo, who goal-capped the scoring at 3-0. Danvers continued to control the ball and played out the clock to secure their second post-season victory.

 After the game Hinchion collected a few blades of grass for good luck.

"It something I have done over the last couple of year during our last home game of the season," he said. "Hopefully, it will bring us luck in the next game."

"We have a nice combination of youth and veterans that have played well together all year. They didn't let all the work of the first have discourage them, even though they hadn't scored. I hope it continues in the next game," he said.

The Falcons now play Thursday night against the Hamilton-Wenham Generals on Manning Field in Lynn in a semi-final match in the North Division II tournament at 6:30 p.m.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correctly identify the Tewksbury goalie - sophomore Rebecca Davies. We regret the error.