Undefeated Cohasset High field hockey embracing life on the road with win over Scituate

SCITUATE – The Cohasset High field hockey team may be called the Skippers, but so far they’ve been road warriors.

With their home field being redone, Cohasset has been practicing and playing every game on the road. Despite the inconvenience, Monday's 2-1 win against Scituate means the Skippers are still undefeated at 4-0 and looking far ahead.

“Every win is big anyway, but we’re always preparing for the postseason,” said Cohasset head coach Laura Giuliano. “So each game that we play we’re looking to see if they’re progressing and trying to learn during practice.”

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Much of the game was even, and it was 1-1 going into the fourth quarter. That’s when senior Catherine Brisbane hit a nice slap shot from a few yards out that took a weird bounce and ended up being the winning score with 2:30 left in regulation. Senior Ainsley Allen had the assist.

“My stick actually broke,” said Brisbane. “So I originally wasn’t going to take that (shot); it was going to be a give-and-go. Ainsley gave it to me, but it wasn’t fast enough. So I just tried to pop it over.”

Before this game, the Skippers were actually practicing on this same field. According to Brisbane, Cohasset also has been at different sports complexes early in the morning making it work.

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“It’s pretty frustrating that we don’t have any home games yet,” said Brisbane. “It’s been pretty tough and frustrating, to be honest. We should have our own field, but I can’t really control that. But we’ve been really flexible.”

Brisbane cited junior Eveline Ronzoni, Sarah Chennette and sophomore Caroline Struzziero as standouts so far this season. Sophomore Reese Hansen, who plays midfield alongside Catherine Brisbane and her twin sister Francis, also has played well.

“Really, they’re all doing an amazing job,” said Catherine Brisbane. “Really all the other kids are stepping up. They cycle in with the starts and they know they earned a spot to be on the field."

Cohasset has outscored its first four opponents 19-2 as the Skippers look to build on last year's run to the Division 4 state quarterfinals. Cohasset lost to eventual state champ Uxbridge.

“We had some moments of falling apart (against Scituate) but more of doing the right thing,” Giuliano. “And Scituate is always great competition, they’re our next-door neighbors so we love to have good competition nearby.”

As for Scituate, Ava Von Freymann netted the Sailors' lone goal in the second quarter. Freymann got the first point on the board with 11:23 left after a close-range shot took a tough bounce past the goalie. The Skippers tied the score up a few minutes later.

“Cohasset is a very good team and good program,” said Scituate head coach Andrew Barlow. “Tied 1-1 and they snuck a goal. We had our opportunity at the end there with 26 seconds left, but the pass didn’t make it out.”

Barlow, a Milford High graduate, said he was proud of his team for their tough effort despite dropping to 2-2-3.

“The tied games were just one shot or one weird bounce (away from) winning those games,” said Barlow. “We’re going to keep working hard, running to the ball, and that’s all I can ask them to do.”

Despite the loss, Barlow is pleased with what he’s seen from his eight seniors – midfielders Sarah Spires and Anna Kruggel, backs Tristan Rothwell and Freja Haley, and forwards Megan Nelson, Lucy Finkle, Anna Feeney and Isabella Dwyer.

“They’ve been awesome just with them being with us for four years,” said Barlow. “Their dedication coming every day, working every day, practicing hard and showing the underclassmen what to do. I couldn’t ask for more.”

As far as young players go, Barlow mentioned a junior who’s been protecting the net for Scituate.

“Beth MacCune is a junior and she’s been great,” said the eighth-year coach. “She works hard and her sister was our goalie a while ago.”

Looking forward, the Sailors will have to forget about this loss quickly in order to get their record back to .500.

“Right now the next game is going to be a must-win,” said Barlow. “We have to bounce back from a loss – we have Marshfield on Wednesday. We’re home again Wednesday so hopefully we can bounce back.”

As for the Cohasset Road Warr… Skippers, they’ll look to keep their undefeated streak alive against the Mashpee Falcons Wednesday on the road in a South Shore division game.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Cohasset High field hockey team defeats Scituate