Sports
Winchester Lacrosse Advances to the State Finals
The Sachems dominated the second half, defeating Ipswich, 16-6.
The team may have graduated nine starters from last year — including the program's all-time leading scorer — but thethird-seeded Sachems are back in the state final.
Winchester (18-2-2) defeated No. 1 Ipswich 16-6 Friday to win the MIAA Division 2 North sectional title. The Sachems will face Hopkinton (17-5), the South division champion, Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Wellesley College for the Division 2 state championship.
The Sachems were only up 7-5 at halftime against Ipswich but made a defensive change, putting Michaela Chiuccariello on Ipswich's top player and shutting her down. Erin Maki was huge in net, stopping eight shots, and the Sachems went on to score nine unanswered goals.
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"In the beginning we were a little nervous but we settled in to begin the second half," coach Suzanne Ontso said. "There was a big defensive stand to end the first half and it gave us a little momentum."
Kate Wendell scored five goals, Megan Hennessey had three goals and two assists and McKenzie Tucci had two goals and two assists to lead the Sachems offense.
Despite completely overhauling its roster, Winchester is now in its seventh state title game since 2001.
Find out what's happening in Winchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"Most of my team were sitting in the bleachers watching the finals last year," Ontso said. "For us it's been a year a lot of teaching, a lot of figuring stuff out. But different players stepped up in different times and the girls have just been working so hard, and I think losing so many players made us more balanced."
