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Gloucester outmatched by talented Lincoln-Sudbury

Thursday, November, 01 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

The Gloucester field hockey team knew that it would have trouble with the turf surface at Lincoln-Sudbury High School yesterday.

While it didn't take too long for the 12th-seeded Fishermen to adapt to the faster surface, they could not provide an answer for a relentless offensive attack by fifth-seeded Lincoln Sudbury, as Gloucester fell 6-0 in the first round of the Division 2 North state tournament.

The loss brings an end to a season in which the Fishermen (11-6-1) experienced a number of emotional highs and lows. Gloucester earned a share of the Northeastern Conference title, but also had to deal with the death of assistant coach Jane Ziergiebel, who passed away in a car accident on October 20.

"We played pretty well in the first half, battling hard to keep it a 1-0 game," said Gloucester head coach Kim Patience. "It was tough getting used to the turf at first because it is a completely different game, but we did a pretty good job feeling out the turf surface early on. They just had some great scorers and some good stick work which was tough to handle."

Lincoln Sudbury got on the board two minutes into the game when forward Alex Sliwkowski put one past Gloucester goaltender Alicia Unis for a 1-0 Warriors lead.

Unis, however, thwarted numerous scoring opportunities by Lincoln Sudbury to keep the score at 1-0 at halftime.

Lincoln Sudbury (13-1-3) poured it on in the second half with five more goals. Senior captain Amanda McGavick made it 2-0 with a goal 10 minutes into the second half. Then 10 minutes later, the Warriors would erupt with three goals in five minutes, two from Anna Forman and one from Hannah Gerry. McGavick would add another goal on a penalty shot with under two minutes to play to make it 6-0.

The Warriors defense was equally as good as the offense, holding the Fishermen to just five shots on goal.

Patience and Lincoln Subdury head coach Vicky Caburian lauded Unis for her gutsy play in net. McGavick also drew praise from both coaches for setting the tempo offensively for Lincoln Sudbury.

"I'm proud of our effort," Caburian said. "We have a lot of senior leadership and it really showed tonight. We got off to a great start with the early goal and our offense kept it up the rest up the way. Unis did a fantastic job stopping some tough shots but our passing and stick handling was great and kept giving us some good opportunities."

Despite the loss, Patience is still happy with the season and the effort that her players gave. With nine newcomers, the Fishermen were not expected to make a big splash in the NEC, let alone win it. The future looks bright for the Fishermen, as 12 players will be returning in 2008 including captain and NEC All-Star Kat LaCroix and defense specialist Olivia Brown.

"I'm very proud of the team and how quickly they learned," Patience said. "We had nine newcomers that grew up very fast and learned how to play high-caliber field hockey. These girls have a lot to be proud of."