Lightning Fit to be Tied All Weekend in BAYS 2012 Finales

U11 Lightning Finish Season All Tied Up!

                The rain and busy schedules have wreaked havoc on spring sports in 2012, and the Dedham Lightning’s BAYS Girls U11 season was not spared as they closed out the season this past week. Little practice time was compounded with rainouts that forced them to finish up with back to back games last Friday and Saturday, and in some ways fitting, after being tied up in traffic and having schedules all tied up, they would “celebrate” Father’s Day early with a pair of season ending ties.

                First up was a rush hour visit to Natick on Friday. Despite being out muscled and out played for much of the game, the Lightning were able to bend but not break with regards to the scoreboard. Being under attack from Natick’s best player all game, the Lightning used multiple players to “mark” her and keep her from scoring. Molly Egan and Jillian McGahan rose to the occasion to keep her off the score sheet and visibly frustrated her all game. Her frustrations unfortunately took a toll in that Vivian Martin would have her night ended prematurely, but not before she too shut her down and kept the Pandas off the board. Since the offense was stalled for the Lightning it came down to the defense holding fort, and Julia Kent and Maeve Connolly manned the back line beautifully, while Charlene Kelly, Kathryn Hunter, and Brianna Lynch all took turns making great saves in helping post the shutout that gave the girls a well-earned 0-0 tie.

                Less than 18 hours later the girls took the home pitch for their last game against the Arlington Monkeys. An up and down game had both teams with great chances that couldn’t be finished. Jess Shanahan and Lisa Petrie were “dribbling on a string” all day but would be stymied by the Monkey’s goalie, while Lily Pilat showed that she was missed the night before offensively with some great sets and passes to her teammates.  A nicely tucked corner blast by Jackie Fenore gave the Lightning the early lead but the guests would storm back to take the lead late in the game and look to end the season on a downer. Megan Curristin would have none of that, however, as she finished off her spot as team scoring leader with a missile that just caught the bar and got in the net for the score. While not as happy as they could be with the W, the 2-2 tie finished  the most successful season for them in seasons and gave more positive memories for Coaches McGahan and Kelly as the head into a hopefully restful summer!