Here is a look at the tenth week of results in scheduled games for all ORR athletic teams.
Football: The Bulldogs had a strong week, as they managed to snap a two-game losing streak by defeating Archbishop Williams 32-27. The game was a close one, as with only 2:30 left in the game, the score was 27-26, with Archbishop Williams ahead. However, the Bulldogs managed to put together a 65-yard drive on only five plays to score with a little more than a minute remaining. Ethan Lizotte continued his excellent season by scoring twice on the night to lead ORR to their fifth victory of the season.
Field Hockey: After a strong playoff performance against Monomy in which they won 1-0, the Lady Bulldogs hoped to keep their momentum going into the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, the girls’ season ended abruptly with a tough 4-0 loss to second-seeded Dover-Sherborn. Dover-Sherborn, which incidentally has four players going to Division 1 colleges next year for field hockey, was too offensively dominant for the Lady Bulldogs to get any chance of making progress on their side of the field. The ORR defense played extremely well, but it was nearly impossible to pin down the fluid Dover-Sherborn offense. Though their season is over, the Lady Bulldogs finished with a 14-5-1 record, including a runner-up status in the SCC.
Boys’ Soccer: The Bulldogs, who were seeded fifth in the Division 3 South tournament, had a strong first-round win over league-rival Fairhaven. The boys defeated the Blue Devils in a 3-0 shutout thanks to stellar defense from ORR’s backfield, including Goalie Melvin Vincent, who made six saves on the night. Sophomores Alex Sousa and Mason DaSilva each scored a goal for the Bulldogs, and junior Kyle Medeiros scored the game’s final goal with just 15 seconds remaining to advance the Bulldogs to the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, there ORR lost to fourth-seeded Martha’s Vineyard, 4-1. Evan Santos managed to keep the Bulldogs temporarily in it, scoring a goal before halftime to make the game 3-1, but the Bulldogs were unable to make any offensive opportunities count in the second half. The Bulldogs finish with an overall record of 12-4-2.
Girls’ Soccer: The girls’ soccer team suffered the most heartbreaking loss of the week in the Division 3 South quarterfinals. The third-seeded Lady Bulldogs began their playoff run with a nice 1-0 win over Hanover, with Amy Bichajian scoring the lone goal of the game. In the quarterfinals, a tense game ensued with sixth-seeded Bishop Stang. At the end of regular time, the score was 1-1, and thus the game went to overtime. As the end of a second-overtime period approached, it looked as if the game would go to penalty kicks, but with just five seconds remaining, Bishop Stang’s Addison Landry rolled one by the ORR defense to give Bishop Stang a 2-1 edge and consequently clinch the victory for the Spartans. Kaleigh Goulart scored the goal for ORR in the season-ending loss.
Girls’ Cross Country: The highlight of this week was the Lady Bulldog cross country team, who made history by placing second in the Division 5 state meet to qualify for the MIAA All-State Finals. In the team’s history, the ORR girls have never placed higher than seventh as a team, but thanks to a strong group of performances, the girls managed to score 102 points to come second to division championship Hamilton-Wenham (49 points). Nina Bourgeois placed fifteenth overall to lead the Lady Bulldogs, and was also the first ORR runner to break the 20-minute barrier this year, running the 5K course in a speedy 19:46. Freshman Madisen Martin just missed the barrier, placing seventeenth in a 20:01, with Avery Nugent right on her tail in 20:17. Riley Shaugnessy, Sam Ball, Rachel Scheub, and Emily Josephson closed out the top seven. The girls will compete at the MIAA All-State Finals on Saturday, November 15 at Franklin Park in Boston.
Boys’ Cross: Country: The boys’ team also competed in the Division 5 race with some great performances. The Bulldogs scored 291 points to place ninth in a competitive field. Michael Kassabian qualified for the All-State meet as an individual, running a 17:02 for eighteenth place. Senior Mitch Midwood closed out his high-school cross country career with a fifty-first place finish in 17:56. James Goulart, Patrick Briand, and Drew Robert also ran well, recording times of 18:07, 18:21, and 18:47, respectively.
Below are the overall team records, followed by the conference records in wins, losses, and ties as of November 9.
Football: (5-4-0) (4-4-0); Field Hockey: (14-5-1) (12-1-1); Girls’ Soccer: (14-4-2) (12-3-1); Boys’ Soccer: (12-4-2) (11-3-2); Golf: (15-1-0) (15-1-0); Volleyball: (7-12-0) (7-10-0); Boys’ Cross Country: (5-1-0) (5-1-0); Girls’ Cross Country: (6-0-0) (6-0-0).
By Michael Kassabian
