Walpole edges Concord-Carlisle for D1 East girls’ lacrosse title

Caroline Whelan put the Rebels back ahead with 5:18 left, only for Gabrielle Mirak to tie it again 52 seconds later.

But Sydney Scales delivered what stood as the game-winner with her team-high third goal with 2:20 left, followed by the dagger from Whelan again with 38 seconds left.

More photos from Walpole’s win:

Division 1 South final

Notre Dame-Hingham 13, Westwood 8 — The seniors on the Notre Dame-Hingham girls’ lacrosse team had waited four years to celebrate a sectional title.

After pulling away from top-seeded Westwood in the Division 1 South championship at Hingham, the second-seeded Cougars (21-3) finally got to do so.

“We’ve been so close every year, and it just feels so much better to finally hold that trophy,” senior captain Julia Greene said.

Junior midfielder Cara Charette led NDA with four goals, and Greene, senior captain Madison Ahern, and junior midfielder Maggie Coughlin added three apiece.

NDA bolted out to a 5-0 lead with 8:55 left in the first half, and Ahern and Charette delivered late to give the Cougars a 9-3 lead at the break. Sophomore Ashley Mackin, who paced Westwood (22-2) with three goals, scored early in the second half, helping the Wolverines slice the deficit to 11-7 with under 11 minutes remaining.

The Cougars never let it get closer.

For the NDA seniors, who had lost in the semifinals in 2016 and the finals in 2017 and 2018, reaching this point was a huge motivator the entire season. It’s the program’s first sectional title since 2013, and the Cougars will face Walpole, the No. 1 seed from the East, in the state semifinals.

“We’ve been in [Westwood’s] position for a number of years,” NDA coach Meredith Frank said. “For us to earn a couple extra possessions, and get up over this hurdle, I’m just tremendously proud of my team.”

Division 1 North final

Chelmsford 16, Marblehead 9 — The second-seeded Lions used a 5-0 start to cruise over the fourth-seeded Magicians in Chelmsford.

“We knew we had to come out and attack right away,” Chelmsford coach Ashley Rokas said. “The sun on this field is always bad. They took the sun first so we knew we had to put the ball in the back of the net right away and use that to our advantage.”

Sophomore Kate Krueger tallied two of her game-high six goals during that opening run, helping the Lions (20-4) out to an 11-4 lead at halftime.

With just under 10 minutes to play, senior Lydia Bongiorno (four goals) scored twice in 50 seconds for Marblehead (16-6) to trim its deficit to 13-9. But Krueger responded with three more goals down the stretch to clinch a second-straight sectional title for Chelmsford.

“No one expected us to do it,” Rokas said. “We came out with short numbers this year, some injuries early, but they pulled it together as a team and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Division 2 East final

Foxborough 11, Medway 9 — Sophia DiCenso scored six goals, including the winner with 2:58 left in regulation, to boost the fourth-seeded Warriors over the third-seeded Mustangs in Walpole, giving them their first sectional title in program history.

DiCenso, who recently made the United States 19-and-under women’s lacrosse team, scored four of her six goals in the second half for Foxborough. Down, 9-8, with 7:12 left, DiCenso tacked on each of the next two goals to give the lead back to the Warriors — just as she’d done in the first half with Foxborough trailing, 2-1, the only other juncture of the game it fell behind.

“I think our morale got low when they got up by one late,” DiCenso said. “We came together in a huddle and just said, ‘we need to put two in.’ I got two great feeds from Julia Kelley and Jaime Notarangelo, and they went in.”

Division 2 South final

Cohasset 19, Hanover 6 — Senior captain Jane Hansen scored six goals and dished out six assists, lifting the third-seeded Skippers past the fourth-seeded Indians at Hingham.

Hansen racked up four goals and four assists in the first half alone, helping Cohasset (18-6) take a 13-4 lead into the break and cruise to its second Division 2 South title in the last three seasons.

“We had to play smart and play our game, and take control early, and we did that,” Hansen said.

Freshman midfielder Molly Stephens, sophomore attacker Kate Cunning, and junior midfielder Molly Greer added three goals apiece for the Skippers, who will face the winner of the Foxborough-Medway game in the state semifinal.

Senior Clare Connolly and sophomore Sydney Weber paced Hanover (17-5) with two goals each. The Indians kept it closer than they did in the teams’ first meeting, a 20-3 Cohasset win, but Hansen and Co. were ultimately too much.

“She can take over when she sets her mind to it, but she doesn’t,” Cohasset coach Kully Reardon said. “She allows other people to play, which is why we’re a really well-balanced attacking team. We just told her to take a little bit more control and have a day, and she did.”

Division 2 North final

Manchester-Essex 7, Newburyport 6 — Senior attackers Abigail Lantz and Emma Cochand each recorded hat tricks for the Hornets, who got past Clippers to take the sectional crown in Newburyport.

Senior goalkeeper Isabella Pomeroy saved 10 shots for the Hornets (16-5), including three free shots to anchor the suffocating defensive effort.

First-year Hornets coach Nan Gorton gave Pomeroy high praise after her strong outing.

“In my opinion, she is an All-American goalie,” Gorton said. “She makes some unbelievable saves, she is not afraid to go out of the net, she is aggressive and smart.”

The Clippers (15-5) had a difficult time establishing offensive momentum in the second half, despite a five-goal performance from senior midfielder Katelyn Hadden.

Trevor Hass reported from Hingham, Riley Overend from Chelmsford, and John Simmons from Newburyport.