From an article on the Boston.com website...Norwell is ranked 3rd this year in girls' high school lacrosse! Go Norwell!
Seeds of change arrive
New tourney rules spicing up season
Globe Correspondent / April 10, 2010
Thanks to a change in the tournament seeding format, the girls’ lacrosse scene in Massachusetts is about to get even more exciting.
Top 20
1. Westwood
2. Framingham
3. Norwell
4. Wellesley
5. Winchester
6. Needham
7. Lincoln-Sudbury
8. North Andover
9. Concord-Carlisle
10. Duxbury<
11. Andover
12. Hopkinton
13. Sandwich
14. Reading
15. Westford
16. Weston
17. Hingham
18. Notre Dame (H)
19. Lexington
20. King Philip
The girls will use the same formula for awarding postseason positioning as the boys, with teams being rewarded for a strong schedule. As a result, top teams have scheduled stronger competition, creating some big games. For example, Winchester, a Division 2 school, will take on Division 1 powers Needham, Framingham, and Westwood.
“We’re constantly challenging ourselves,’’ said Winchester coach Sue Ontso. “We can’t get too high after a win or too low after a loss because we have another tough opponent coming up. Dealing with that kind of pressure prepares you for the state tournament.’’
In Division 1, the discussion must start with Westwood. The Wolverines have won two straight championships and three of the last five. They return All-Scholastic senior midfielder Kelly Rich, who put up 105 goals and 172 points last season. Rich and teammates Sarah Biron and Kerri Harrington will attend Northwestern next fall.
One of the teams vying to knock off Westwood is Division 1 North champion Framingham. Last season, the Flyers lost to Westwood in the EMass final, and are the only team other than the Wolverines since 2004 to be crowned state champions, winning in 2006 and 2007. The Flyers return seven seniors, including All-Scholastic Moira Barry (Boston College-bound) and Tanner Guarino (UMass), and Kelly Cohen (Tufts).
“We’ve won six North sectionals in a row and we’re very eager to get back into a competitive schedule,’’ coach Stacey Freda said. “We have a versatile group of captains who cover all parts of the field.’’ Framingham and Westwood usually duel for the right to participate in the state championship game, but Freda doesn’t want her team getting ahead of itself. “We’re looking at our first game [a 16-3 victory over Newton North],’’ she said. “We’ve got a long road until we get to that point.’’
Several other schools figure to be in the mix. Longmeadow has played in the state championship the past seven seasons, winning in 2004. Wellesley, which has lost in the Division 1 South tournament to Westwood the past two years, returns All-Scholastic Blake Dietrick. As a sophomore last season Dietrick scored 91 goals and tallied 141 points.
In Division 2, Norwell has been the top dog. The Clippers have played in four of the previous five state championship games, winning three times. Returning is the scoring duo of Kate MacDonald (93 goals, 30 assists), and All-Scholastic Kara O’Connell (63 goals, 35 assists). “They’ve held their whole team together,’’ said Duxbury coach Sue Paull. “They’ve got a good youth program. They are always competitive.’’
Paull and the Green Dragons are familiar with Norwell. The teams have met in the Division 2 South semifinals or final the past three years, Norwell winning twice. “Last year we beat Norwell in the regular season, 18-13, but lost in the semifinals, 18-16,’’ Paull said. “We go back and forth with Norwell. That game is kind of the deciding factor for who will play in the state championship.’’
Whoever wins that matchup traditionally has to go through Winchester to claim the state title. From 2005-2008 Winchester represented the North in the state championship game. The Sachems return leading scorer Lauren Sullivan, who will head to Notre Dame next fall, but Ontso will look for other options. “You can get by in this game with one or two threats,’’ she said. “We’re looking to have five or six scoring threats on the field at a time.’’
North Andover should be competitive again as it attempts to defend its North title. Another team that could make some noise is Sandwich, which moves down to Division 2. The Blue Knights lost to Westwood in the Division 1 South quarterfinals last season.
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