WORCESTER — If saving the best for last were an Olympic sport, Masconomet girls soccer senior captain Amanda Schneider would’ve scored a perfect 10 on Saturday morning.
By netting just the sixth hat trick in the history of the state finals, Schneider sparked the unbeaten Chieftains to a 5-0 dismantling of second seeded Duxbury in the Division 2 championship game at Worcester State’s Coughlin Field.
“It feels a little weird knowing it’s my last game for Masco … but knowing that we finally won it all? That feels awesome,” said Schneider. “This team is amazing; I could never perform the way I did without all of them.”
How dominant was Masconomet (22-0-1) in completing the first unbeaten season in program history and winning the state title for the first time since 1989?
This was only the fourth time in 45 years that a girls soccer state final was decided by five goals. The Chieftains went wire-to-wire atop the state’s Division 2 power rankings and scored 101 times while allowing only six. That margin (plus-95) gives them a case not only as the best high school team in Massachusetts but perhaps in all of New England.
“There really aren’t words,” said Chieftains head coach Alison Lecesse. “I’m so proud of these girls. They work so hard, in season and out of season, and this is a culmination of all of that.”
Masconomet overwhelmed Duxbury (20-2-1) with the quickness and precision of its touches all over the field despite the rainy and chilly conditions. Just over 12 minutes in sophomore twins Lily and Maggie Blosser connected to open the scoring, with a long shot by Lily dinging the far post. The rebound scooted over to Maggie, who booted it home for a 1-0 lead.
“This was surreal,” said Maggie Blosser, who isn’t even a natural striker but moved to the position this fall and had a North Shore best 34 goals and 46 points. “Coach Alison and coach Dan (Bisceglia) do so much film work, and that was super helpful for me in assessing where to be and learning a new position. I was happy to take on the role and they really helped me figure it out.”
With the one-goal lead, Schneider went to work. Just six minutes after the initial goal, she played herself open at the top of the box and unleashed a beautiful shot to the upper 90 for a 2-0 edge. Coming through some heavy traffic, it wasn’t the most wide open shot Schneider ever had … but it was right one at the right time.
“I looked up and just saw open net,” said Schneider. “We’d talked a lot about not waiting for the perfect shot. All our goals today came when we didn’t stop and think … we just shot.”
The Chieftains continued to carry play, with Schneider hitting a post. But when Duxbury star forward Meg Carney also hit a post it was apparent how quickly the Dragons could claw back into the game.
Maggie Blosser made sure that wasn’t going to happen, sending a through-ball that sprung Schneider for a breakaway goal and a 3-0 lead in the 39th minute.
“It was definitely great to finish off the half like that,” said Blosser, “but at the same time, we knew we couldn’t let up at all against that team.”
Keeper Evy Mills (3 saves) recorded her 19th shutout of the season. Senior captains Riley Bovardi and Teagan Skulley played arguably their best games in Masconomet uniforms, bottling up the dangerous and speedy Lauren Sutliffe along the sideline whenever the Dragons pressed the attack.
“She was probably faster than me, so I knew I had to play hard and stay conservative. I couldn’t step too early and I had to read her body,” said Bovardi, who never allowed a cross while marking the All-State forward on Saturday. The combination defense she played with Skulley, who helped bottle up a skillful striker in Carney, was Masco’s secret weapon.
“Teagan and I are friends outside soccer and talk so much that when we’re on the field, we can talk to reach other really quick, almost in shorthand,” Bovardi said. “We always know what each other are doing.”
Lecesse had coached Sutliffe in the Eastern Mass. all-star game last November, so she knew just how potent the Duxbury forward could be. The Dragons deployed her away from Masconomet’s All-State outside back Nicole Schneider (who also played extremely well Saturday), but Bovardi was more than up to the task.
“I never felt comfortable because Duxbury is so good and so physical,” said Lecesse. “We debated moving Nicole to Sutliffe’s side, but Riley is such a solid defender. We had a really good plan, the girls trusted it, and it worked.”
Just seven minutes into the second half, Lily Blosser took a free kick that Cate Shaffer (“A game changer, box to box,” Lecesse lauded) touched over for another finish by Amanda Schneider and a 4-0 lead.
“To have a hat trick, as a senior, in the state championship? Wow,” said Lecesse.
Maggie Blosser’s second goal, assisted by Violet Malinowski, rounded out the scoring with 21 minutes to go.
The Chieftains got every player in the game over the last stretch, and fittingly defensive mids Lily Blosser and Skulley were the only two to play all 80 minutes.
“We’ve wanted this for so long, with two other undefeated seasons,” said Bovardi, whose senior class didn’t lose a regular season game in their last three varsity years but came up short in the playoffs in 2022 and ’23. “We had to finish this one.”
Whether it was unsung seniors like Taylor Blanchette or talented youngsters like Brooke Hagerty, Ava Wexler and Sadie Morris, the Chieftains all bought in. The cohesiveness with which they ping-ponged the ball all over the pitch was a credit to a team-first culture overseen by the seniors, Lecesse said.
“To be successful, girls teams need to have that bond off the field,” she admitted. “We had role players that would start on just about any other team and no one was selfish; everyone believed. Our seniors did a phenomenal job holding this team together.”
The Chieftains had a 14-3 edge in shots on goal; all told they outscored their five playoff opponents 20-1. It took all 11 players, plus the subs, to blank a Duxbury team that was averaging over five goals per game in its previous four tourney triumphs.
“We’re all really supportive of one another,” said Amanda Schneider. “We wanted this so badly, for so long. It was like we needed it — and I’m so excited that we did it.”