Winchester Falls To Danvers In North Soccer Final

The Sachems best season in years wasn't supposed to end on a cold, rainy night in Lynn. But after getting within two wins of a eighth state title, Winchester fell, 1-0, to Danvers Monday night in the Division 2 North final at Manning Field.

Danvers junior Riley Baker scored with 20:12 to play in the second half and the Falcons (18-2-1) withstood an aggressive Winchester (17-2-2) attack in the final minutes to hold on. The girls' soccer team suffered the same fate their field hockey counterparts did Saturday, a loss in the North title game.

"It was an incredible effort, never giving up. These are quality athletes, all the way across," said coach Rick Emanuel. "We had a great season, they have no reason to hang their heads. I thought they played a phenomenal game. I thought Danvers certainly played a great game. It's what a semifinal match is supposed to look like."

The start wasn't pretty for Winchester as Danvers dominated the first 10 minutes and the Sachems rarely pushed the ball across midfield. Danvers had five corners before Winchester had their first and Sachems' goalie Silvia Dowdell was tested early.

"Hats off to the skill of Danvers," said Emanuel. "We didn't come out as sharp as we should have but we bent, but didn't break. After the first 15 minutes where they had six corner kicks and didn't come away with a goal, I think we took some confidence from that and I think the rest of the half was pretty even."

The remainder of the first half and much of the second was evenly played, with Danvers have the better scoring opportunities, only to be thwarted by Dowdell. On Baker's goal, Dowdell made a great stop on a Danvers shot in close but the ball deflected to Baker and she was able to knock it home.

Winchester took a timeout with 15:20 to play and when play resumed the Sachems were the aggressor. Kate Ryan, Ally Murphy, Anna Madden, and Delaney Markham kept the pressure on but were unable to get the tying goal past Falcons' senior Mackenzie Gilmore.

"We called the timeout and switched our system up a little bit, to put a little more pressure on them," said Emanuel. "It worked but we just couldn't find that go-ahead. Came real close, but just couldn't quite find that go-ahead."

Photo by Bob Holmes