Fishermen field hockey drops 2 of 3 games

It’s been a difficult stretch for the Fishermen in their last three matchups, dropping close matchups to the Beverly Panthers and Malden Catholic Lancers. Gloucester started their week with a 6-2 win over Marblehead but dropped their next two games to the Panthers (4-0) and Lancers (1-0).

Four different Fishermen scored in the Fishermen’s 6th win of the season. Julia Palk and Maddie Jewell scored two each while Olivia Madruga and Kaya Collins scored one. 

The game was back and forth throughout the first quarter until Palk capitalized on a Madruga penalty corner rebound. Madruga collected her second assist of the day on Collins’s goal. The freshman struck the ball hard to the corner of the net for her first varsity goal. 

The Fishermen would score their next 4 goals in the second half, with Palk scoring her second goal off of a corner in the opening 5 minutes. Jewell scored a minute later with a strong wrist shot around the goalie. Madruga and Jewell scored at the start of the fourth quarter at 13:21 and 11:46 minutes left, respectively. Goalie Keagan Jewell allowed 2 goals on 16 shots.

The matchup with the Panthers didn’t end the way the Fishermen planned, but coach Lauren Riley-Gove called it “one of [their] strongest games.”

Neither team had clear control of the ball during the first quarter with both forward lines getting shots at goal. It wasn’t until the start of the second quarter that Beverly put their first point on the board thanks to Fiona Bazin. The Panthers would score two more goals in the second, including one shot that scored at the buzzer. 

Bazin would score again in the third quarter as the strong Beverly defense thwarted multiple Gloucester offensive attempts. The Fishermen struggled while in the circle, only shooting a total of 5 times. K.Jewell, on the other hand, saved a plethora of Beverly shots (29 shots). Despite a strong start, Beverly easily overpowered the young Fishermen lineup.

The Fishermen and Lancers battled throughout a 1-0 matchup in which Malden Catholic scored within the first 5 minutes. A Lancer midfielder drove the ball to one of the forwards, who collected and scored off a rebound from a Gloucester defender. The game remained neutral in chances after that. Although, the Lancers were able to facilitate their passes and shots more consistently than the Fishermen. K.Jewell saved over 20 shots as Gloucester struggled with multiple warnings in an arguably strict refereeing manner. 

“The girls are playing hard and improving every game,” Riley-Gove said. “It would have been nice to put one in the net today but we didn’t have the momentum. However, we played a really solid game. [Our] defense was all over the place and the forwards were working hard. We really need to focus on our passing game and capitalizing on opportunities in an offensive zone.”