NEWBURYPORT — There was a moment, with about six minutes left during Wednesday’s Division 3 Round of 16 game, where the Newburyport coaching staff needed to get a message across.
So coach Shannon Haley called a timeout.
Now, a quick look at the scoreboard during that exact time showed the No. 4 Clippers comfortably leading No. 14 Marlborough, 5-2. The game was certainly well in hand at that point, with the Clippers mere minutes away from clinching their spot in the program’s third straight state quarterfinals.
But after allowing two straight goals, the Clippers needed to regroup.
“I think we needed to just bring the group in, refocus, and they obviously responded,” said Haley. “We went back out and scored two goals with five minutes left, and they came out from that with great energy, which is what we were looking for.”
Newburyport has state championship aspirations, and is now, once again, one of just eight teams remaining in Division 3.
So even at the end of another playoff blowout, no bad habits can start to creep in.
Following the timeout, junior attack Olivia Wilson would complete her hat-trick on the day, and senior captain Ella Loomes would find the back of the cage to cap Newburyport’s Round of 16 victory over Marlborough, 7-2. The Clippers (15-3-2) still await a date and time for their Elite 8 game, but will host No. 6 Dennis-Yarmouth with an opportunity to make their third straight Final 4 appearance.
“This was a great game,” said Wilson, who is also our reigning Daily News Girls Hockey MVP. “We’re working so well as a team, we talk and communicate really well. We’ve worked on that in practice, and we’ve just gotten better and better and improved so much.”
A theme in both Newburyport playoff games so far? Early aggression.
Newburyport jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead against rival Triton in the first round over the weekend, and did the same against Marlborough on Wednesday. The Clippers earned a corner just two minutes into the game, and Olivia Kreuz sent in the entry that was handled by Ciara Geraghty. The senior captain — and Bates commit — then walked into the circle, and unleashed a rocket that didn’t hit anything on its way in before burying itself into the bottom-left corner of the cage. Moments later, Wilson led a 2-on-1 that saw her fire a shot on net that was saved, but the rebound bounced perfectly to Ruby Field for the easy goal.
“I give credit to the kids,” said Haley. “They’ve shown up ready to go, ready to play. I think our ball-movement today was something we’ve really been working on, and we’re really trying to build confidence with our defenders. Everyone did a nice job today stepping to the ball, moving the ball with speed, and it led to us finding the back of the net.”
It was a 2-0 game after the first quarter, and Newburyport would double it heading into halftime. Wilson would send home a rebound for her first goal of the evening, and Geraghty would find her second after converting a penalty stroke. Morgan Felts, Reese Bromby and Riley Lombard had strong games in the midfield, and both Kreuz and Rachel Casson powered the defense in front of goalie Cody Saboliauskas.
Wilson found her second to make it 5-0 after three, before Marlborough (10-7-3) would score on its own penalty stroke to get on the scoreboard early in the fourth. A subsequent goal off a corner minutes later then prompted Haley to take that timeout.
And it worked.
Wilson, the team’s leading scorer on the season, completed the hat-trick, before Loomes added her tally with a minute left.
“I think it’s been spreading out and communicating,” said Wilson, when asked about her goal-scoring success this year.
“Riley’s been doing a great job getting me those passes, so definitely couldn’t do it without her. And Ciara with her passes as well. It’s all just the team working together, starting with the defense bringing it all of the way up.”