Season Snapshot: Wakefield Field Hockey Looking for Winning Combination

The Wakefield High field hockey team is a notoriously slow starter as of late.

Forced to play its way out of hole last season, the Lady Warriors began the 2010 term with a six-game losing streak before a 1-0 win against Middlesex League foe Burlington on Sept. 22, 2010 stopped the slide and set Wakefield back on the winning track. The victory would, however, be one of a relatively small number, as the Lady Warriors would ultimately wind up the year at 3-9-5, missing out on the postseason in the process.

This year, with a squad composed exclusively of juniors and seniors, Wakefield again sputtered out of the gate, dropping its first four contests of the 2011 season—a span that saw the Lady Warriors score only a single goal—before a 3-0 win over neighboring Melrose finally put Wakefield into the win column. In their latest outing, a 1-0 win over Burlington on Sept. 22, the Lady Raiders held off a a young, hungry Red Devils team, and now have a genuine winning streak on their hands.

But such sentiments are perhaps a bit premature, as Wakefield head coach Mary Mullen, after watching her team drop its first four contests by a combined 15-1 goal differential, has had her hands full trying to find the right lineup combination to bring the Lady Warriors success this year.

“I’m looking to jell the team together,” said Mullen. “I’m looking to find the best combo on the field all the time.”

The one area that pops right out at you, just from looking at the numbers, is the lack of offensive production over the first four. Against Melrose and Burlington, however, Wakefield potted four goals in two games, and, especially against the Red Devils, created a sizable number of quality scoring chances, and have, perhaps, hit upon the cure for what ails their attack.

“It was a close one,” said Mullen, speaking about Wakefield’s win over Burlington on Sept. 22. “It was a close score, but I think we outplayed them ... We had some nice shots, some nice setups. They were perfect setups, you know, that’s all you can ask for. That’s what you want.”

Refining the attack is perhaps the most important area to improve for Wakefield, but it isn’t the only one, as coach Mullen points out.

“We’ve been working to set up those goals with the shots coming across, and we’ve been better the last two games, but (against Burlington) we just missed. But I think we’ve go that going now, and I want to sure up the middle of the field.”

Mullen added that she wants her team to work on both middle defense and middle offense going forward.

Another strong point from the Burlington game was the stellar outing from junior Bailey Finocchio, who recorded 8 saves in goal for Wakefield while recording the shutout, after only recently assuming the goalkeeping duties over the past few games.

According to Mullen, she has been happy with the play of the defense in general, despite the one-sided nature of many early results, so the position of goalie was something that needed to be stabilized in order to keep the Lady Warriors competitive. Finocchio seems to be the answer as far as that’s concerned.

“We just switched Bailey (Finocchio), we just put her in goal the past few games,” Mullen said. “She did a great job for us (against Burlington). So that’s something that has paid off.”

Junior Cali Russo netted the first goal of the year for Wakefield during the season opener on Sept. 9 against Arlington, and since then, senior captain Erin Riley—who potted the winner against the Red Devils—has been at the forefront of the Lady Warriors attack. Riley, along with seniors Sam Morris, Patty Malone and Maria Gordon, all figured in the scoring against Melrose on Sept. 21 as Wakefield picked up its first win of the year. Mullen refers to those players as her team’s “core,” and their continued good form is something the Lady Warriors will need to rely on in order to continue winning games.

Wakefield returns to the field on Sept. 27, against Wilmington, and the on Oct. 1 against Stoneham, and will certainly face an uphill climb to contend for the ML Small title, especially given the teams they are up against, but Mullen remains cautiously optimistic.

“Watertown’s in our league,” she said, referencing the Lady Raiders’ 5-0 start, when asked if her squad can win the ML Small. “That always gives me green weenies, but you know what? I always believe we can beat everybody.”