WESTON — Evie Bernard was the best lacrosse player on the field Saturday afternoon.
The Hamilton-Wenham girls lacrosse sophomore superstar scored eight goals, dished out an assist, captured 14 draw controls and was a constant threat with the ball in her stick despite being face guarded by a Weston defender (sometimes two) the entire game.
Weston didn’t have anyone as dominant as Bernard in this Division 4 state quarterfinal game, but the top seeded home team did have plenty of offensive balance. Trailing by one heading into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats scored four unanswered goals to end Hamilton-Wenham’s season courtesy of a 15-12 win.
“We were here last year in this exact same game, so we were pretty familiar with Weston’s game. We weren’t really surprised by what they did,” said second-year coach Emily Land, whose Generals finished their season at 12-7. “We played our game; we just got outplayed in the end.”
Bernard, the Cape Ann League Baker division’s Player of the Year who finished the season with 94 goals and 112 points, has already scored a whopping 214 goals in two varsity seasons with Hamilton-Wenham. In three playoff games this spring, she had 17 goals, eight assists and 25 points.
Saturday, she was followed wherever she went into the offensive zone whether she had the ball or not. She still managed to slip free and collect passes, drive the net and score to keep the Generals in the game. Her fourth goal, coming with one second left in the first half, cut her team’s deficit to 8-7.
She then scored four times in the third quarter, including back-to-back tallies in the final minute, as Hamilton-Wenham reclaimed the lead (12-11) for the first time since midway through the first quarter.
“That’s Evie,” said Leland. “Even when she’s face guarded like that, she stays calm and is still very effective.”
Stewart Bernard, a senior captain, added two goals for Hamilton-Wenham, which got single scores from Maisie Leland and Lauren Sabo as well. Grace Glidden, Avery Nistl and Hannah Ciriello each had one assist. Maddie Graber caused a pair of turnovers as well.
“I loved to see the scoring spread around, where everyone on attack and the midfield scored,” said coach Leland.
Goaltender Ava Vautour, a senior captain, finished with seven saves, two with Wildcats right on her doorstep. Fellow senior captains Lucy Ayers and Ava Shultz, had strong games in front of their keeper.
Olivia Scully Power (2 goals, 2 assists) tied the game for Weston early in the fourth quarter before teammate Lily Kacyvvenski (4 goals, assist) broke the tie for good with 7:29 to play. The Wildcats (now 17-4) got insurance tallies from Neta Leschly (3 goals, assist) and Coco Curran (3 goals) to ice it.
“Some of our connections (offensively) didn’t work out, but I liked everything that we were trying. I don’t think we made any grave mistakes,” said Leland, whose team will graduate nine seniors.
“I feel like a lot of the sad faces that you see isn’t so much because of the loss, but more because the season we’ve had is over and the camaraderie they’ve built. It’s been a lot of fun.”