On Tuesday, November 7th, the Hingham High Varsity Field Hockey team hosted Milton in the Round of 16 Playoff Game. Hingham, the 4th seed in the D2 competition, had the home field advantage over the 20 seed, Milton. Prior to the match, both teams won in close games during the first round of playoffs. Hingham defeated Silver Lake 2-0, while Milton won over Scituate 3-2 in OT.
At 4 o’clock on Tuesday, the game began. Hingham, who started with possession, got off to a very fast start. Four minutes into the game, Sophomore Forward Ella O’Neill put the ball in the net to start the scoring for Hingham. The offense proved electric in the first half, with Sophomore Sammy Price scoring from the top of the circle before halftime.
Another sophomore, this time veteran midfield Ryan Hallisey, contributed two goals for Hingham. Ryan, a former Athlete of the Week, was nominated for a League All-Star for the second year in a row and will be performing in the All-Star game on 11/12 along with four other teammates. Ryan, when asked about the performance in the Milton game, said, “I think that this game, we all had a lot more confidence compared to our Silver Lake game. We came out strong and stayed that way the entire game.”
However, field hockey is a large group effort and the Harborwomen have been putting in the work and effort every day this year. Throughout the season, they let up very few goals but managed to score nearly 100 cumulative goals against opponents. With two losses and one tie going into playoffs, Head Coach Susan Petrie is hopeful for this year’s postseason performance. The players’ passion for the sport and love for the program makes this team a very special one.
Throughout Tuesday’s game, Hingham held possession, but the defense played a key role in the decisive win. Led by Captains Anna Keirnan and Lily Samoska, the defense held Milton scoreless throughout the entire game.
Lily Samoska, a senior captain and All Star on the team helps quarterback the defense alongside Junior Goalkeeper Becca Kardoos. Samoska says that “The game against Milton was the type of playoff game that every team wants to play because we maintained the control and momentum throughout the whole game. It’s definitely a testament to our midfielders and forwards who had possession of the ball for the majority of the game and never let up even when we were up. It’s also even more fun when we have fans and we can feed off of their energy like we had the other night!”
The Hingham Harborwomen advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in the programs history and fans can be sure to keep an eye on them for the next week.
