OA Field Hockey Ends Season With Loss to Powerhouse Walpole

When OA field hockey coach Janice Sundell said the Tigers would have their hands full against No. 1 seed Walpole in the second round of the MIAA state tournament, she wasn't kidding.

With just 30 seconds gone from the clock, Walpole junior Bridget Nicholson put the ball in the goal to give the Porkers a 1-0 lead.

The goal set the tone and the Tigers were never able to recover, eventually losing 7-0 to the perennial power for the second year in a row in the state tournament and ending their season at 8-8-4.

"We did not start out well, giving up that lousy goal in the first 30 seconds," Sundell said. That kind of set us back right off the get-go. The girls played hard. Walpole is a talented team and they never let up."

In addition to Murphy, the Porkers had goals from senior captain Meghan Murphy, sophomore Brooke Matherson and senior Cailey Griffin in the first half, to give themselves a comfortable four-goal lead at halftime.

The Tigers were able to start the second half strong, keeping the ball on Walpole's end.

"We came back and we possessed the ball for about five minutes and had a couple of real good shots on their goalie," Sundell said. "We got a corner and just missed that shot wide."

The momentum shift didn't last long, though. With 15 mins remaining, Walpole's Matherson scored again. Two minutes later, Murphy added her second goal and Matherson added her third goal of the day with just more than 9 minutes left in the game for a 7-0 lead.

While OA's season ended on a low note, Sundell said she was proud of her team, particularly her seniors: Caroline Less, Jackie Freeman, Haley Arnold, Stephanie Watson, Jessica Walsh, Alyssa Perry, Victoria Imbriani and Leah DiMartinis.

The Tigers had their backs against the wall with two games remaining in the regular season, needing a tie and a win to reach the tournament. Not only did OA accomplish that feat, but they recorded a first-round win against Dighton-Rehoboth as well.

"I said the stars were aligned," Sundell said. "It was up to them. We had to get the tie. We had to get the win to get into the tournament and we did. It was awesome, and they played great against Dighton-Rehoboth."

Walpole improves to 19-0-0 and will host Mansfield (10-4-4) Sunday at 2:30 p.m.