Rally caps another crown for Westwood

The comeback kids earned their second consecutive Division 1 state crown last night by defeating Western Mass. champion Longmeadow, 11-10, but not before they erased a 6-1 deficit and thwarted the Lancers' late attempts to ruin the comeback.

The win mirrored the Wolverines' come-from-behind victory in the EMass final Wednesday night, when they scored 11 unanswered goals to defeat Framingham, 15-6, at Wayland High.

"In a lot of the games, we dig a hole for ourselves and we just come back -- I don't know why," said junior midfielder Misha Beatty, who notched six goals against the Flyers and one last night. "But it was really great, everyone stepped up and that's what's been happening in every tournament game because we've usually been down."

With the loss, the Lancers suffered their fifth consecutive defeat in the Division 1 state championship. They took the title in 2004.

"We just had trouble with their pressure," said Longmeadow coach Steven Dudeck, who pointed to Westwood's string of winning draws midway through the second half. "When you have possession, you're going to do good things when you know what to do with it, and Westwood definitely knows what to do with it."

The Lancers started strong, stunning Westwood with four straight goals in the first seven minutes, one from Ciara Dudeck in the opening minute, and subsequent tallies from Sarah Lake, Shea Kusiak, and Paige Cuscovitch.

Westwood junior midfielder Kelly Rich, who finished with four goals and two assists, broke the streak with her goal at 17:26, but Longmeadow extended its advantage to 6-1 with less than six minutes to play in the half, using a smothering defense in front of the net to keep the Wolverines at bay.

Westwood turned its attack up a notch, though, as goals from Sarah Matthews and Beatty cut its deficit to 6-3 at intermission. Rich propelled the second-half comeback with an assist and three goals in the first 11 minutes. Teammate Sarah Biron (three goals) netted the unassisted equalizer at 16:06 before Rich put Westwood ahead with an unassisted goal at 14:40.

"This whole tournament we've come back from behind," said Rich, a captain who has verbally committed to play with Beatty at Northwestern next spring. "We've been down and everyone knows when to step up and what to do, and everyone really played their position today. I couldn't be more proud of the girls."

Westwood held its biggest lead, 11-8, with just more than five minutes remaining. Longmeadow threatened, netting a pair of goals in the final three minutes, but the Wolverine defense held strong.

For Westwood, the win was another example of the team coming together.

"The first half we knew we needed to get our groove on, and the second half we just wanted the ball," said Biron, a sophomore. "We wanted the ball so bad that we would just do anything for it."