High School Soccer Tourney
Bourque scores twice
Rachel Bourque picked the right time to heat up offensively.
She scored twice to lead No. 7 Central Catholic to a 2-0 victory over No. 10 Lowell in the first round of the Division 1 North tournament.
Bourque's two goals were her first two of the season after she netted six last year. She did miss a month this season with shin splints.
"Normally she's a more prolific goal scorer," Central coach Anne Marinaro said. "She's been scoreless all year for us which is not the norm. ... I'm really happy for her and the bench exploded when she scored her first."
Bourque fired a shot into the low corner of the net with about 4 minutes left in the first to put her team ahead 1-0. She scored the second goal off a rebound in the second half.
Central's defense held Lowell to four shots.
Central plays a quarterfinal game against No. 2 Winchester at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
Pentucket's season ends in OT
No. 6 Belmont scored on a corner kick with less than one minute left in overtime to beat No. 11 Pentucket 2-1 in the first round of the Division 2 North tournament.
Pentucket finished with an 8-6-5 record.
"Every coach wants to win but I couldn't ask more from the girls," coach Greg Scruton said. "We moved the ball well, communicated well, and had great team defense. This was the best we played all year."
Abby Torrisi scored Pentucket's lone goal.
North Reading loses in shootout
No. 4 North Reading lost in a PK situation as No. 13 Bishop Fenwick earned an upset victory in this Division 2 North first-round tournament game, which remained tied 2-2 after two overtimes.
Bishop Fenwick outshot the Hornets 14-11.
Jessie Valenti and Mary Batalis each scored for North Reading, which finished with an 11-5-3 record.
Jen Shields made 12 saves.
North Andover struggle in midfield
No. 11 North Andover was held to just three shots in a 2-0 loss to No. 6 Lincoln-Sudbury in the first round of the Division 1 North girls tournament.
"We knew they were coming from a strong league with a good record and they basically out-muscled us," North Andover coach Kevin McCarthy said. "They had good size and won a lot of balls in the air. They controlled the middle of the field against us. We had a hard time cracking the middle of the field."
North Andover fell behind 1-0 in the first 10 minutes of the game and 2-0 in the first 7 minutes of the second half.
Andover can't muster any offense
No. 18 Andover was unable to stop Kayla Austin and the talented offense of No. 2 Winchester, which rolled 3-0 in the first round of the Division 1 North tournament.
"Their front runners were tremendous and they knew how to finish," Andover coach Meghan Matson said. "They're the No. 2 seed for a reason. They moved the ball really well. They won the 50-50. They attack in numbers."
Andover finished with a 6-6-9 record. Scoring was an issue at times this fall for the Golden Warriors, who tallied three or more goals in a game only three times and were shutout five times.
Whittier boys struggle on offense
No. 12 Whittier took just four shots on goal in a 4-0 loss to No. 5 Lynnfield in the first round of the Division 3 North tournament.
Whittier finished 6-10-3.
Whittier, which was behind 2-0 at halftime, was making its first tournament appearance since 2005 when it went 11-6-3 and also lost in the Division 3 North first round.
High School Field Hockey Tourney
Oteri shoots Andover into semis
Sarah Oteri scored three goals and added two assists to lead No. 2 Andover past No. 7 Westford Academy 5-1 in the quarterfinals of the Division 1 North tournament.
"Offensively, she's just explosive," Andover coach Maureen Noone said about Oteri. "Her ice hockey skills translate to the field. She's scoring on slap shots and scoring from places most kids can't score from. She had a couple goals on the upper part of the cage."
Oteri, a tri-captain, was this year's co-MVP of the MVC.
Andover plays defending champion and No. 3 Weston at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Andover in a semifinal game.
Weston beat Andover 2-0 in last year's championship game.
"I think we're motivated where we lost to them in the finals," Noone said.
North Andover advances to semis
No. 4 North Andover outshot No. 12 Brookline 29-6 on its way to a 4-1 quarterfinal victory in the Division 1 North tournament.
Meg Twomey and Michelle Martin each scored in the final five minutes of the first half to give the Scarlet Knights a 2-0 halftime lead.
"It was a big thing that we scored when we scored," coach Courtney Breen said. "It took us a while to get started. ... We definitely dominated. We thought were the better team."
North Andover took a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
The defense did a nice job covering Brookline's male foreign exchange student from Italy. He scored one goal but Breen said she was fine with that after she had watched him score two quick goals to beat Beverly.
"Sometimes you get boys who are big and strong and not good but this kid was really good," Breen said.
North Andover plays a semifinal game against No. 1 Acton-Boxborough at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Andover.
