For the third year in a row, the Georgetown girls soccer program is one of the final eight teams remaining in Division 5.
Talk about consistently great.
The Royals are seeded No. 4 in this year’s tournament, and gave an electric home crowd quite the show in some “Friday Night Lights” Round of 16 soccer action over the weekend. Senior captain Shannon Gibbs scored twice, and both Jenna Johnson and Kat Greenblatt each had goals to lift the Royals past No. 20 Granby, 4-0, and back into the Div. 5 quarterfinals.
“It was a fantastic effort from the girls tonight,” said Georgetown coach Kevin Fair. “We are peaking at the right time, and are playing our best soccer when it matters most.”
Yeah, when you win your first two playoff games by a combined score of 12-0, that sounds about right.
And it all happened early on Friday night.
Just two minutes into the game, Johnson had already ripped a pair of shots that hit the crossbar and the far post before bouncing away. But soon after, Georgetown (11-6-3) drew a corner and delivered the game’s first goal. Gibbs flew in to put the Royals up 1-0 with a header, and all coming off a beautiful entry sent in by Johnson for her team-high 21st assist of the season. Sophomore Kat Greenblatt then scored her 14th goal of the year off a feed from Reese Martin, and Johnson’s 16th strike of the year gave the Royals a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Gibbs would then make it 4-0 early in the second half when she drilled a free kick from 30 yards out.
“Shannon Gibbs continues to dominate for us and is playing the best soccer of her career,” said Fair. “Then Ella Thompson was everywhere all night long, and her along with Reese Martin and Penny Church controlled the back.”
And that was no easy task.
Despite the final score, Granby (9-11-0) came into the game with plenty of firepower. Mainly in the form of Kalli White, a talented striker who had 23 goals this season and 61 for her career, and who scored both of her team’s goals in its 2-0 first round win over Quaboag.
But Church, still only a sophomore, held her in check all game.
“Penny has already established herself as one of the best defenders in the area and in the CAL,” said Fair.
So now, Georgetown will host No. 5 Maynard in the Division 5 Elite Eight on Wednesday night (5:30 p.m.). The Royals are trying to break a “quarterfinal curse” that has seen them fall to Monson and Tahanto in this same round over the past two years.
Newburyport falls at Danvers
Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap to a league MVP and Division I collegiate player getting the best of you.
On Friday night, the Newburyport girls soccer team met Georgia Prouty …
And the result was the end of the Clippers’ season.
A Boston University commit and two-time Northeast Conference Player of the Year, Prouty scored three goals during the game’s opening 17 minutes to lift No. 7 Danvers past No. 10 Newburyport, 3-1, in the Division 3 Round of 16. The midfielder now has 28 goals — including five hat-tricks — with 14 assists on the year, and her 144 career points currently ranks second all-time in Falcons’ history.
For Newburyport (13-4-3) it was difficult finding an answer.
The Clippers fought hard, but ultimately couldn’t dig themselves out of the early hole they were in. Senior midfielders Alexis Greenblatt (a Marist commit) and Natalie DeGraves had tremendous careers, and fellow senior defenders Caitlin Downey and Grace Chandler will be missed as well.
But the Clippers won’t be going anywhere in 2025.
Chloe Raby is in line to return for her third year as the team’s starting goalie, and Skylar Ikemoto, Sasha Berlind, Sienna Leclair, Elise Kennedy and Delaney Duncan will lead a high-end defense. Sevilla Coffin and Phoebe Whitcomb will be pieces to build around in the midfield, and the Clippers will still have an elite striker in Aoife Tykulsky.