Sports

Clippers No. 4 seed in tourney

By Dan Guttenplan
SPORTS EDITOR
Published: October 28, 2008

No field hockey team in the Cape Ann League has avoided a loss longer than Newburyport.

Since losing to Lynnfield on Sept. 22, the Clippers completed the regular season by going 9-0-3 in their last 12 games. It was the longest undefeated stretch for the Newburyport program this decade.

The Clippers (12-2-5) learned yesterday that the reward is a No. 4 seed in the EMass. Division 2 state tournament. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association released its pairings, and two of the three teams seeded above Newburyport are CAL rivals. Behind No. 1 Watertown (13-0-5) is No. 2 Manchester Essex (14-2-3) and No. 3 Lynnfield (14-3-2).

Newburyport will host No. 13 Tewksbury (8-8-2) tomorrow afternoon (2:30 p.m., Fuller Field). The Clippers are returning to the state tournament for the first time since 2004, when they advanced to the Division 2 North semifinal. None of the players on the current roster have postseason experience.

Lauren Hefferan took over as coach prior to the start of last season and led the team to a 5-10-4 record. After posting seven more victories this season, she was recently named CAL Division 1 Coach of the Year.

Despite her squad's recent undefeated stretch, the second-year coach is concerned with the way her team completed its regular season — with ties against North Andover and Amesbury.

"We're happy with the seed, but we need to get mentally back on our game," Hefferan said. "In the last couple of ties, we looked tired. We need to get fired up and find a way to overcome the fatigue. Our goal is to reach the semifinals."

Since the Clippers concluded their regular season on Thursday, Hefferan has provided a crash course on state tournament play.

"We had a scrimmage (yesterday)," Hefferan said. "We tried some 7-on-7 drills because that's the way we'll have to play if it goes into sudden death. We did some penalty strokes, which is the last part of overtime in the tournament. It's the first time these girls ever experienced anything like this, so they're excited."

Hefferan has yet to receive a scouting report on Tewksbury — a Merrimack Valley Conference representative.

"All of the tournament games will be very high caliber," Hefferan said. "We're not used to playing here, so we have to be ready regardless of who we're playing against."

Georgetown (9-8-2) earned the No. 11 seed in Division 2 North. The Royals will face No. 6 Winchester tomorrow afternoon (3:30 p.m.) at Woburn High. They closed the regular season with a 3-0 victory over North Reading on Thursday. Second-year Georgetown coach Nicole Turcotte earned CAL Division 2 Coach of the Year after leading her team to its first state tournament berth since 2006.

"Whenever you can finish the season on a successful note, you feel good about the tournament," Turcotte said. "I'm really happy we don't have our first game against a (CAL) opponent. We have a tough league with a lot of strong teams. I think that will show in the tournament."

Cape Ann League Field Hockey Honors

Division 1 Coach of the Year: Newburyport's Lauren Hefferan

Division 2 Coach of the Year: Georgetown's Nicole Turcotte

All-League: Newburyport senior Callie Hefferan

All-League: Georgetown senior Kelly Burke

All-Star: Newburyport senior Najah Ali

All-Star: Newburyport senior Nicole Thurlow

All-Star: Newburyport senior Ashley Karelis

All-Star: Amesbury senior Catherine Fortuna

All-Star: Pentucket senior Shannon Brind'Amour

All-Star: Triton junior Mac Scanlon

All-Star: Triton junior Jenna Newcombe

All-Star: Georgetown senior Emily Messalaires

All-Star: Georgetown senior Karen O'Hare