Second Round Not Magic For Girls and Boys Lax

Boys Lacrosse Can't Top the Champs

After an exhilarating 10-9 (overtime) win over Wayland in the Preliminary Round of the Division 2 East tournament, Marblehead found themselves outmatched by the fifth seed Walpole Rebels, last year's State Champions.

Walpole, who plays in the competitive Bay State League, controlled the game from the first whistle and defeated the Magicians 15 to 4. The Rebels will face the four-seed Reading Hornets on Tuesday.

Marblehead, who finished the regular season in second place in the NEC, ends 2010 with a respectable 14-6 record.

The Headers, whose conduct on the field earned them the Team Sportsmanship Award, had five players selected to the NEC-Large All-Star Team: Midfielders Jess Lipkind and Ellory Smith, Defensemen Alex Haigis and Matt Evans and Attackman Patrick Grady. Haigis was also honored as the NEC-Large Defensive Player of the Year.

Though the team graduates 17 seniors this year, their hopes remain high for continued success as they plan to integrate members of their undefeated Junior Varsity squad into the Varsity level.

The Marblehead Girls lacrosse team had a spectacular season, finishing second in the NEC-North and earning the sixth seed in the MIAA Division 2 North Tournament

 The team had six girls selected to the NEC-North All-Stars: Olivia Raisner, Katie Corbett, Stephanie Castoldi, Hayley Braun, Sarah Noyes and Michailah Adee.

Corbett, Raisner, Maika Strogoff and Kiley Fischer finished as the top four scorers in their conference, while Adee captured NEC-North MVP honors. Coach Carolyn Coyle was honored as well, winning NEC-North Coach of the Year for the third season in a row.

All of that being said, a familiar foe ended the girls postseason run on Saturday afternoon.

After defeating the Arlington Catholic Cougars in a hard-fought 10-9 victory in which Marblehead's Courtney Maag scored the winning goal on June 1,  the Headers next opponent was none other than the Weston Wildcats. The Wildcats ended the girls' seasons in both the 2006 and 2007 tournaments in the semi-finals.

Weston was once again too much for the Magicians to handle, this time in the quarterfinals, as they came out with the victory, besting Marblehead 15-6, in a game that was stopped with 10 minutes left because of lightning.

Fischer had two goals, while Raisner, Corbett, Adee and Clio Kammerer each had one goal. Noyes had nine saves in net. Backup goalie Kelly Collins had just gone into the game minutes before it was called.

Weston advances to play Danvers on Tuesday in the semifinal round.