Opening Week of Playoffs for Fall Teams

It was an eventful week of sports at Old Rochester, as field hockey, football, boys’ soccer, and girls’ soccer all played in their first MIAA state tournament games, while cross country competed in their conference championships.  Here is a look at the ninth week of results for ORR athletics.

Cross Country: The boys and girls competed at the annual SCC Championship Meet at Washburn Park in Marion last Monday, where the girls closed out their dominant season by capturing the championship. The girls swept places 2-5 in the meet to easily defeat runner-up Fairhaven High School. Although Fairhaven’s Bay Gammans took the top spot, ORR’s Sammie Barrett (2nd, 20:29), Emily Josephson (3rd, 20:41), Rachel Scheub (4th, 21:12), and Paige Santos (5th, 21:22) all ran great times to grab the team’s third consecutive conference championship. On the boys’ side, Mike Wyman easily won the race in a course record time of 15:46 to outpace Dighton-Rehoboth’s Ty Enos. The boys’ team placed third behind Seekonk and DR. Both the boys and girls compete in their postseason races on Saturday, November 10, at the Wrentham Development Center.

Football: The undefeated Bulldogs, sporting a perfect 8-0 record, were awarded the top seed in the Division 5 South this past week, granting the home-field advantage in their quarterfinal matchup against eighth-seeded Seekonk. The boys went on to win their first playoff game with a score of 32-15 and advance to the semifinals. Quarterback Nolan Bergeron threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score. Bergeron connected with junior Alex Aruri early in the first quarter for a 22-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, Aruri injured his knee later in the game, and will likely be out for next week’s semifinal matchup. This could be dangerous for the Bulldogs, as Aruri has been playing well and has become a valuable asset to the team. Luckily, the Bulldogs have depth, evident in rushing touchdowns from Darien Dumond and Richie Phillips. The ORR defense, led by Frank Hopkins and Kyle Henry, has also been playing well. The Bulldogs look to move on in the state tournament on Friday, November 9, in a home game against East Bridgewater at 7:00 pm.

Boys’ Soccer: The boys’ soccer team played their first and last tournament game this week, as the boys lost to Scituate High School 2-0 in the Division 3 South tournament. The Bulldogs, who were seeded ninth, were shut out in an away game against eighth-seeded Scituate, and will therefore not advance to the quarterfinal round. Melvin Vincent, the sophomore Goalie, played excellently in the loss for the Bulldogs. The boys, who failed to make the tournament last year, had an excellent rebound from a dismal 0-2-1 start of the season, and they end their season with a 10-5-4 record.

Girls’ Soccer: The girls’ soccer team provided the most thrilling playoff game for ORR, as they narrowly defeated Coyle-Cassidy in penalty kicks. The eighth-seeded Lady Bulldogs played 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime before the game went to PKs. After 5 blocked penalty kicks, senior Michaela Bouvette confidently scored the game-winning goal to launch the girls to the Division 3 South quarterfinals. Goalie Mikayla Demanche provided key stops in net during the PKs, as well as 7 saves during regulation. Demanche’s biggest save was a diving stop on the fifth Coyle-Cassidy penalty kick to allow Bouvette to net the game winner. Captain Bailey Truesdale scored the only regulation goal for the Bulldogs in the second half. The final score of the game was 2-1.

Field Hockey: The girls had an up-and-down tournament run. Earlier this week, they were given the fifth seed in the Division 2 South tournament, and faced off against Pembroke High School in the first round. Thanks to a first-half goal by junior Darby Nolet, the girls defeated Pembroke with a score of 1-0. Assisted by junior forward Ashley Pacheco, Nolet scored her tenth goal of the season and advanced the girls to the semifinals against fourth-seeded Cohasset High School.  There, the Lady Bulldogs lost in a double overtime heartbreaker. After a scoreless regulation and first overtime, Cohasset was able to score and end ORR’s tournament run with a 1-0 score. Goalie Mya Lunn made 6 stops in net, and the girls took 3 shots over the entire course of the game.

Below are the overall team records, followed by the conference records in wins, losses, and ties as of November 3.

Football: (8-0-0) (6-0-0); Field Hockey: (12-4-2) (11-2-1); Girls’ Soccer: (10-5-5) (8-3-5); Boys’ Soccer: (10-5-4) (9-3-4); Golf: (l0-6-0) (10-6-0); Volleyball: (1-17-0) (1-15-0); Boys’ Cross Country: (4-2-0) (4-2-0); Girls’ Cross Country: (6-0-0) (6-0-0)

By Michael Kassabian

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