THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, November 10, 2023 Page 19 Malden High School field hockey team wins Greater Boston League Championship Freshman Anthony Ford leads way in two wins over Everett By Steve Freker T he good times just kept coming for the Malden High School varsity coed field hockey team over the last two weeks of the season. The Golden Tornado squad won three of four games to close out the regular season, including two victories over Greater Boston League (GBL) archrival Everett. For the season, Malden finished a perfect 4-0 in the GBL slate, registering dual wins over fellow GBL field hockey teams Everett and Revere. Malden, led by Head Coach Samantha Souza, completed a winning regular season at 7-6-2 overall. In addition to the GBL wins over Everett and Revere, Malden also had non-league victories over Northeast (back-to-back, 6-0 shutouts) and a pair of ties with Peabody (2-2 and 1-1). Freshman newcomer Anthony Ford played a key role in all of the success over the final several weeks. In a night game at Macdonald Stadium, Ford scored two goals in a 3-0 shutout win over Everett, on Senior Night, where the veterans of the team were honored. Senior captain Dan O’Toole also played a major role in that stretch and other wins along the way with motivational leadership. Senior goaltender Marianne Rivadeneira registered the shutout in net that evening. **** Team honored at Macdonald Stadium on Senior Night Led by O’Toole, the senior members of the team were honored the same evening on Senior Night. In an online story from the Malden High Blue & Gold, Head Coach Samantha Souza highlighted captain Daniel O’Toole, stating, “Danny is just incrediAnthony Ford, who is just a freshman, has been red hot in scoring for Malden High field hockey, scoring two goals in a GBL title-clinching win for Malden over Everett and then scoring two more goals in the State Tournament opener over Milford. (Advocate Photo) ble. I will definitely miss his energy. He’s like an extension of the coaching staff.” LET’S GO MALDEN! Malden High senior Dan O’Toole’s “Let’s Go Malden!” gets the team fired up in a big win against Everett! (Advocate Photo) Senior Zachary Nedell, who has missed some time due to injury, had his first start back out on the field during this game and said, “It felt so good to get out there: to be hungry, to stop the ball, and to shut down my side of the field on defense.” Like us on Facebook advocate newspaper Facebook.com/Advocate.news.ma Mystic Valley Picks Up 5-2 Win over Quaboag in playoffs F our first-half goals lifted the Mystic Valley boys’ soccer team to a 5-2 home win over Quaboag Regional High School Monday evening at Eastern Avenue. Christian Saad gave the EaHAVING A BLAST ON SENIOR NIGHT: Malden High senior goaltender Marianne Rivadeneira (center) with teammates, family and friends, including MHS Band instructor Ms. Foley (right) on Senior Night. (Advocate Photo) gles an early advantage in the first five minutes of play, firing a shot that flew past the Quaboag goalkeeper. The Eagles scored again in the 9th minute when Yafet Dawit battled through a pair of Quaboag defenders to knock in a goal. Quaboag attempted to score moments later, but defender Stevie Carter kicked the ball away before it could cross the line for a goal. Ayoub Lamaalem stretched the lead to 3-0 in favor of Mystic Valley, collecting a pass from Dawit and burying the ball into the goal. It didn’t take long for Mystic Valley to break through the defense again. In the 16th minute, Lamaalem and Dawit played the ball to one another on a give-and-go. Lamaalem dribbled up the left sideline and served the ball into the box, where it found Sebastian Saad. Saad knocked it just inside the post from about 12 yards out for another Eagle goal. The Cougars soon found their rhythm and started putting pressure on the Mystic Valley defense. In the 21st minute, Quaboag evaded multiple Mystic Valley defenders before striking the ball to the left of goalkeeper Cam Martins and into the back of the net. As the game progressed, both teams became more competitive, attacking each other zones. Martins continued to make remarkable saves and the game remained in favor of the Eagles going into the break. Only 1 minute into the second half, Adam Elbadaoui was able to break through with a goal off assists from Saad and Lamaalem. Martins saved the first shot on a Cougar rush, but they were able to swoop in and score on the rebound in the 59th minute. The Eagle's defense stopped any chances of a Cougar comeback from there, giving Mystic Valley a 5-2 win. Eagles Downed in Four Sets by Blackstone-Millville in the Div. 5 state tournament M ystic Valley volleyball hoped to advance into a third round of state tournament play with a win over Blackstone-Millville on Friday night, but the Chargers (15-5) prevailed over the Eagles (8-12). The standout statistic of the match was aces, with senior captain Lexi Beacom-Domotor posting 5 and Senior Ashley Cohen posting three. Senior Melody Sullivan added three more to Mystic Valleys total, while 8th grader Maeve Collins and senior Mary Tayag notched two apiece. In addition to the three aces, Sullivan recorded 4 kills. Fransabelle DaSilva also heavily contributed on offense with 6 kills and 2 digs. The Eagles started off hot early, with the first point of the day going to Collins off a rally-stopping kill. The Chargers were forced to take an early timeout after Mystic Valley's first 3-0 run, and shortly afterward climbed their way back up top with a score of 13-3. Stellar serving from the Chargers triggered a 5-0 run that brought Blackstone-Millville to a lead of 19-4. After a subsequent drawn-out battle, it was Blackstone-Millville that came out on top, 25-5, to take Set One. Mystic Valley’s offense came to life in the second set, keeping just ahead of the Chargers both early and late thanks to one kill apiece from Collins, Tayag and Beacom-Domotor. The visitors took the lead on two separate occasions, triggering another Chargers timeout. This time, it was Mystic Valley's turn to come out on top. Two kills from Sullivan and one more error from the Chargers clinched the set for the away team, 29-27. Although the Eagles scored first in the third off a block from Collins, Blackstone-Millville quickly found itself up by nine points and managed to keep the Maroon & Gold strongly at bay with a decisive 25-4 set win. Mystic Valley found a spark in the fourth set thanks to DaSilva, who entered the game with her and posted three quick kills, but the Chargers were able to stay ahead of a late comeback effort to take Set Four, 25-7, and the match.
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