A deadlock for Westwood and Framingham
Down a player because of a yellow card infraction with 34 seconds left, the Westwood girls' lacrosse team didn't allow the game to slip away.
Goalkeeper Abbie Brown had an enormous save in the final seconds as Westwood and Framingham played to a 15-15 tie in Westwood yesterday.
It was the first meeting between the teams since last spring, when Framingham defeated Westwood for the Division 1 EMass final.
"I'm really excited," Framingham assistant coach Gretchen Biggins said. "Being down by five goals against a team like this, it's tough to come back from that and I think they really just persevered and they knew what they needed to do."
Top-ranked Westwood (7-0-1) dominated the majority of the first half. In the last 14 minutes, senior captains Erin Massimi (4 goals, 2 assists) and Alex Frank (6 goals) gave Westwood a 9-6 lead at the break.
"I felt the intensity of my team overall wasn't sustained," Westwood coach Leslie Frank said. "I felt they played very well in different moments, but I felt like they cruised for many minutes defensively in the midfield and you can't do that.
"I don't think they discount the level of competition more, it's just that the kids are in vacation mode and it happens every single year where they love to play, but there's still some on the couch a little bit."
Third-ranked Framingham (8-1-1) took advantage and chipped away, tying the score in the final eight minutes. Sophomore Moira Barry netted three of her four goals in the half, which included the tying goal at 3:42, and senior Melanie Baskind scored five of her six.
Baseball
Hockomock: Mike Arthur pitched a shutout and fanned 17 in Franklin's 5-0 victory against Canton.
Merrimack Valley: Scott Oberg pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 9, and Justin Torname hit a three-run homer to lead No. 1 Tewksbury over Haverhill, 7-0 . . . Jimmy Cody tossed a three-hitter and went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs as Methuen beat Chelmsford, 10-3.
Northeastern: Harry Noone (7 innings, 1 ER, 5 Ks) hit a two-run double in the eighth to give Salem an extra-inning win over Beverly, 4-2.
Softball
Middlesex: No. 13 Lexington (9-0) rode the efforts of junior pitcher Kiki Saveriano in a 4-1 victory over host Stoneham.
Saveriano struck out 16 and allowed three hits and one walk. She also hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.
"I expect her to throw strikes and she has very good command of her pitches, but it's not just her, it's the whole [team]," Lexington coach Frank Pagliuca said.
Lexington also got big contributions from catcher Alyssa Zahka, who had a two-run double in the third inning.
Nonleague: Erin Wade picked up her sixth win and 50th of her career - a school record - in Taunton's 12-1 victory over Durfee.
Boys' lacrosse
Nonleague: Brendan Grant (4 assists), Chris Rigoli (1 assist), and Robbie Stack (1 assist) each had three goals in No. 2 Xaverian's 18-5 win against 10th-ranked Scituate.
Notes
Despite a tough spill in the third leg, the Lincoln-Sudbury girls' 4 x 800 relay team - Emily Mepham, Molly Binder, Claire Arthur, Eli Hylton - finished 11th (9:10) against teams from the US and Jamaica at the Penn Relay finals yesterday. The Warriors finished third (9:06) in the semifinals Wednesday.
Standings calls for the spring season begin tomorrow. League representatives can call between 1 and 6 p.m. at 617-929-3235, 2860, 2861, or 2862. Our toll-free number is 800-232-2860. Standings can be faxed to 617-929-2670 or e-mailed to HSsports@Globe.com. Please confirm fax and e-mail transmissions.
Globe correspondent Chris Estrada contributed to this report.
