Sports
MHS Girls Lax Earns 6th Seed In MIAA State Tournament
The MHS Girls Lacrosse team earned the 6th seed, as well as home field advatage, when they play the Cougars of Arlington Catholic High School on June 1st at 4 p.m.
The Marblehead girls lacrosse team had a rough finish to an otherwise spectacular season, losing 3 of their last 5 games, preparing them for the fierce competition that lies ahead in the upcoming state tournament.
Before the season ended, Coach Carolyn Coyle spoke about her team's challenging schedule.
"We had a stronger schedule this year," she said. "We've been playing some stronger teams, so hopefully that will help in the tournament. In previous years, we've played mostly in our conference, with only one or two out of conference games, and then in the tournament you face those other teams and it can be like night and day."
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It definitely did help her team when it came to seeding, as the Magicians (14-6) earned the 6th seed in the MIAA Division 2 State Tournament. They will face-off against 11th seeded Arlington Catholic (15-3) at Marblehead High School on June 1, at 4 p.m.
Marblehead earned a higher seed than A.C., despite a poorer record, due to the power ranking system that not only evaluates wins and losses but takes into account goals for and against, as well as a team's strength of schedule.
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Coyle, a first grade teacher at Glover Elementary, was named NEC-North Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season, after coaching her team into the state tournament in all of her 5 years with the team. A graduate of Endicott College, Coyle studied Elementary Education while playing A-Wing and D-Wing for the Lady Power Gulls.
The Magicians haven't faired as well as they would have liked in their previous trips to the tournament, but they hope this is the year to change all that. In the past five tournaments, Marblehead has yet to make it past the semifinal round.
In 2006 and 2007 they lost to the Wildcats of Weston, who compete in the Dual County League; the scores to those games were 16-8 and 15-10 respectively. In 2008, the girls defeated Belmont 11-9, and then were ousted from the tourney with a 20-8 loss at the hands of the Winchester Sachems. Belmont gained redemption against Marblehead during last year's tournament, knocking the Magicians out in the first round in a very close 10-9 contest.
Controlling the play for the Magicians is senior-defender Michailah Adee, who was recently named NEC-North Most Valuable Player, and junior-goalie Sarah Noyes, a NEC All-Star who was last year's league MVP.
They will have to focus on Arlington Catholic's Julie Caccavaro, who finished 4th in Catholic Central league scoring with 81 points (74 goals, 7 assists).
Marblehead's offense could prove unstoppable, as they boast the top four scorers in their conference. They are led by All-Stars junior-attack Olivia Raisner, who ranked second in the NEC and 20th in the MIAA with 81 points (62 goals, 19 assists) and Bentley University bound senior-defender Katie Corbett, who ranked #1 in the NEC and #19 in the MIAA with 84 points (36 goals, 48 assists).
Freshman Kiley Fisher was third in NEC scoring with 57 points (29 goals, 28 assists), while junior Maika Strogoff was fourth totaling 33 points (28 goals, 5 assists). Senior-defender Stephanie Castoldi and junior-midfielder Hayley Braun were also named to the NEC All-Stars and will have an impact on the team's success.
Should Marblehead defeat Arlington Catholic, they could be facing a familiar foe. Their nemesis Weston, who is the #3 seed, is paired off against #14 seed Swampscott. The winner of that match-up will play the winner of the Marblehead/Arlington Catholic game on June 3rd in the quarterfinal round.
