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MHS Field Hockey team ends Cinderella season
Massapequa’s 7-1 loss to Lakeland in the statesemi finals at Alliance Bank Stadium turf in Syracuse ended a magical run, which saw Chiefs rebound from early season heartbreak leaving them with at 1-5 record to win eight of 10 games, including a dramatic come-from behind 3-2 overtime win over a 19-1 Smithtown East squad in the Long Island championship at Hofstra University’s Shuart Stadium. The Chiefs clinched their first Nassau County Class A title since 2000 with a 2-0 win over Baldwin and also defeated East Meadow 5-1 in their playoff run which raised their overall season record to 9- 8-2 for the year. “The girls just dug in and made a decision that they wanted to go to states and they did it,” said Massapequa head coach Tisha Werner. “They never gave up.” Massapequa’s success continued last week at the Nassau County Field Hockey Coaches Awards Din- ner when a dozen Chiefs were given accolades, including one of only 10 All- State honors that went to senior Megan McGuire for the second straight year. McGuire who began her Massapequa High School field hockey career when she made the team in 8th grade, is also solid in the classroom ranking fourth in her class, which earned her the top scholar athlete award at the dinner. “ W e started off [the season] slow, but everything came together really well,” said McGuire, who is being recruited to play field hockey at some top notch Ivy League and Division III liberal arts colleges including Yale, Williams, Tufts and Amherst. “To go out this way was just amazing.” Coach Werner said during the Chief’s 1-5 start, all losses with the exception of one game, came by one goal so her team never lost confidence despite the record. If she had to pinpoint a turning point in the season, it was Massapequa’s surprising upset of state power Friends Academy, which gave the Chiefs momentum heading into the playoffs as a number two seed in Class A with a 6-7 record. “We were the underdogs and we liked that role,” said Werner. Senior Alex Hein, who along with McGuire earned All County accolades, said the Chief’s success in 2006 can be directly attributed to the great chemistry of the team, on and off the field. “If there was a joke going on everyone was laughing,” said Hein who has been offered a scholarship to continue her field hockey career at Fairfield University. “Everyone was so comfortable.” McGuire’s stellar senior campaign in which she scored 17 goals came despite having to miss three games with a stress fracture. She was relieved that the injury wasn’t worse so that she would not have to miss her final games as a high school player. “They thought I was done for the year”, said McGuire. The Chiefs graduate four seniors from the 2006 magical season including McGuire, Hein, Chelsea Kaufman and Maria Varricchio. Kaufman ended her career by earning All Conference honors while Varricchio was given the Unsung Hero award at the Nassau County awards dinner. Despite these losses next year, Werner returns a plethora of talent for 2007, including sophomore Sam Wong who scored 10 goals including the game winner against Smithtown East in the Long Island title game to help her earn All League accolades. Werner hopes that just falling in the state semi-finals will give her squad motivation next year to not only repeat as Long Island champions but also win the states. However she won’t soon forget the Cinderella run her 2006 team went on after the season looked bleak early on. “They never gave up,” said Werner. “They were an inspiration.”
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