Girls Soccer Ousted by Dracut in Playoff Opener

capped his first season at the helm with a playoff berth but the Redmen were quickly shown the exit in the first round with a 1-0 loss at Dracut, 1-0, Sunday.

The Middies took advantage of a slow Tewksbury start and put the pressure on early in the opening half.

“We definitely got our feet underneath us a few minutes into the game,” Keefe said of the slow start by the visitors. “You always want to start off right from the first whistle.”

Dracut struck first in the eighth minute, when senior captain Brittany Silva headed home a beautifully placed corner kick from fellow senior captain Chelsea Mahoney. The Middies defended the 1-0 lead for the remainder of the contest.

“Sometimes it’s just a matter of who gets that one finish and that’s just the tipping point of the game,” Keefe said.

Dracut brought the physical edge to the midfield. The Middies used their size advantage to keep the pressure on the Tewksbury defensive half for the majority of the first. Sophomore Kelly Quigley and senior captain Jordan Leblanc stood tall on defense in the first half turning away the pressing Dracut advance.

Tewksbury’s first big chance came in the 17^th minute of the first, when junior captain Nicole Chaet took a free kick just outside the box. Dracut managed to block the initial shot with its wall, but Chaet followed up and the second shot was deflected forcing Dracut goalie, Rachel Ledbetter, to make a diving stop.

With about five minutes remaining in the half, Tewksbury had one of their biggest chances. The ball volleyed its way into the Dracut penalty box and a fortunate bounce landed it right between Chaet and the goal, but the moment was all too fast and Chaet couldn’t get her foot on the ball in time.

“Those are the opportunities you want. You just hope to see more of those,” said Keefe.

The Redmen were able to turn away three more big chances from Dacut to close out the half with a little more momentum on their side.

Tewksbury continued its momentum swing in the second half, stifling the Dracut offensive attack. In the fourth minute of the second frame, senior Nicole McColgan hit a pretty, left-footed cross to sophomore Kashka Gammon. Gammon’s first chance was blocked by Ledbetter, and then Gammon hit the rebound just wide to the far post.

Gammon sent McColgan off to the races five minutes later on a beauty of a lead pass through the stalwart Dracut defense, which caught up to McColgan, however, right before she could get a clean shot off.

“I thought we did well when we put three up top,” Chaet said of the Redmen attack. “[Dracut] got confused and that gave us more opportunities up top. They’re very physical team and I thought we played a good game, but sometimes things don’t go your way.”

After slowing down the Dracut offense, the Redmen ran into offensive trouble of their own and the game turned into a stalemate at midfield with chances here and there from both teams.

To the delight of the healthy crowd gathered around the field, Tewksbury battled to the end with late chances on the Middie goal, but none fell in.

Dracut advances with the win, while Tewksbury is eliminated from the state playoffs.

Keefe said it was an up and down season, and knows where Tewksbury needs work.

“All in all we got a group of positive girls that like to come out and play soccer,” he said.

Keefe went on to add that, being a first year coach, he regrets not getting to have all four years with the seniors on the team.

The Redmen graduate just six seniors and will return two captains and a goalie to the young squad.

“Its going to be most of the same returning players,” Chaet said. “I think next year we’ll come out strong with the same people.”