WALPOLE — As Shea Kelleher made the lengthy march to Turco Memorial Stadium Saturday, she and her Silver Lake teammates had been donning wristbands labeled with one phrase: Redemption.
The recollections of final season’s championship loss had been nonetheless vivid, and the senior had no plans for a repeat efficiency.
Avery DePaul refused to let that change into a actuality. The freshman ahead sniped the game-winning aim within the 62nd minute as No. 10 Silver Lake capped a miraculous playoff run by capturing the Div. 2 women soccer championship for the primary time with a 1-0 upset of top-seeded Oliver Ames.
After faltering to Patriot League rival Whitman-Hanson within the Div. 2 ultimate in 2021, Silver Lake (12-3-8) suffered a number of important losses to commencement, however Kelleher’s return performed a key function in serving to the Lakers earn a match berth. The workforce caught hearth, and launched into a Cinderella run to succeed in the title recreation for a second straight 12 months, with wins over second-seeded Masconomet (3-1) and No. 3 Minnechaug (1-0) alongside the trail.
“We lost some talented players, but we had a core we could work with,” mentioned Silver Lake coach Scott Williams. “Believe it or not, we had five freshmen four years ago when we lost to Holliston, who went on to win the state title that year. So I knew that group was a special group. You fast-forward those four years to where we are now, they’ve created great leadership.”
A scoreless battle lasted properly into the second half.
With 18:10 left in regulation, Cassidy Conroy slid a move to DePaul within the field. The freshman gathered the ball, deked her well beyond the diving goalkeeper, then chipped a shot into the online to supply Oliver Ames a 1-0 lead. Just like her tally within the Lakers’ Final Four victory over Minnechaug, DePaul’s aim stood because the distinction.
“All these thoughts ran through (my head),” DePaul recounted. “Like, maybe that could be the end of the game. It was just a great feeling. I just couldn’t get up for a second, was just overwhelmed by everything.”
The state title was the primary for the varsity in 34 years. Silver Lake will now graduate 9 seniors, together with Kelleher. The Sacred Heart commit will always remember the legacy she and her squad left behind.
“Honestly, I knew from the start of the season that if we put all of our time and effort into this (year), we could do anything we wanted,” Kelleher mentioned afterward. “We went into this game not even thinking that they were the ‘one’ seed. We thought: ‘OK, we have to win this game, and it’s going to start from the keeper, to the (defense), to the mid, to the forwards, and it’s going to come in every individual effort. Everyone’s got to put in 100 percent, and we will be successful.’ It doesn’t matter what seed someone is if we wanted it as much as we did, and we did.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com