WA Girls’ Field Hockey defeated Tewksbury Memorial High School 2-1 on Sept. 17, marking their second victory of the season and raising their season record to 2-4.
WA and Tewksbury were evenly matched in talent, spending almost the same time in possession of the ball throughout the game. WA’s offense performed at a high level with senior captain Audrey Smagula, junior midfielder Nina Pierson, and junior forward Lia Arevalo carrying the attack on Tewksbury’s goal. The defense also played hard, only letting one goal through the entire game.
During the first quarter, WA stayed strong on offense, but was pushed back by Tewksbury soon into the game. With several close calls and heated fights for possession, the first quarter ended with the score at 0-0.
After a struggle from both teams and two invalidated goals from the Ghosts, sophomore forward Alita Gulizia scored a goal in the second quarter. This gave WA a one point lead on Tewksbury heading into the third quarter, which was quickly covered up when Tewksbury scored a few minutes later.
As the game progressed into the fourth quarter, Gulizia scored her second goal of the game, allowing WA to regain their lead. WA kept up a strong defense in the final few minutes, eventually taking the win with a final score of 2-1.
“I thought we did well,” head coach Cheri Fisher said. “I thought we had more offensive pressure than we had the last couple of games, and [that] our middies were doing a great job keeping the ball up and away from the defense.”
Despite their win, the Ghosts believe that there is always room to improve.
“I definitely think the game could’ve gone better,” Gulizia said. “But overall, I think we did pretty good.”
WA Girls’ Field Hockey’s next game will be away against Wayland High School on Monday, September 23.
