WENHAM — It was Hamilton-Wenham’s eighth corner kick of the match, and even though the Generals played it a little bit differently it was a sequence that they’d practiced time and time again in the days leading up to Wednesday’s Division 4 second round playoff game.
Rather than sending a deep cross into traffic, Georgia Wilson played it short for senior captain, and Cape Ann League Baker Player of the Year, Lily Mark. With a quick hesitation and shift to her right, Mark uncorked a wicked shot that hit the top opposite corner for a key insurance goal as the unbeaten Generals topped Monument Mountain, 3-0, at Gordon College’s Brigham Athletic Complex.
“Georgia and I have practiced that all season. We never got it quite right until today,” said Mark, who had two goals to send her Generals to the Elite Eight round for a third straight season.
“The toughest part is laying off the shot long enough to get away from the defender, but not too long that you don’t get your hips turned and get the shot on frame. It’s kind of muscle memory because we’ve done it so many times in practice.”
Hamilton-Wenham (15-0-3) scored all three of its goals in the second half to overcome No. 12 Monument Mountain (14-6) on a chilly night. As the No. 5 seed, they’ll travel to No. 4 Lynnfield (16-2-2) for a clash between CAL divisional champions and a spot in the Final Four. H-W won the regular season meeting between the two squads, 2-0.
“We go in with some confidence, but we know it’ll be a big test and should be a great game,” said H-W coach Nancy Waddell. “It’s a great thing for the CAL and I’m definitely glad we go to Lynnfield instead of out West someplace.”
Controlling play throughout all 80 minutes, the Generals couldn’t put one by Monument keeper Alex Tenney (17 saves) in the first half. The Spartan keeper made a number of outstanding stops in that first half, but H-W put an emphasis on not getting frustrated.
“Teams know we have a lot of firepower, so they pack the box. It takes a while to break through,” said Waddell. “We did well with that. We had some great opportunities in that first half, some real quality shots.”
At the 50 minute mark, Tessa Hunt sent Mark in for a run along the left side and she buried the shot for the game’s initial goal. The two tallies pushed her to a dozen goals and over 20 points on the season.
“It’s always great for us when Lily finished,” Waddell said. “She did a great job of setting people up tonight. That’s her natural position and instinct, so when she scores it makes us even more dangerous.”
The way the Generals were possession the ball, seldom passing midfield and with keeper Stewart Bernard getting more touches from defenders playing it back then off Monument shots, that was all they needed.
“For some reason it takes us a little while to find the back of the net,” said Mark, “but once we do, we get confidence and they tend to come in bunches.”
In the 68th minute, Mark buried the corner kick try to double the lead. Two minutes late, Hunt (who was celebrating her birthday), hopped on Savannah Gauron’s rebound and finished for a 3-0 edge.
“Tessa had a fantastic game,” Waddell said. “It’s a hard night since your foot is cold and the ball is cold and we generated a lot of good shots.”
Defensively, Leah Coffey and Annie Moynihan played huge roles in limiting Monument Mountain to just one shot on goal. Bernard collected her third consecutive shutout and 14th of the season.