Telegraph photo by TOM KING Merrimack's Chloe Kapsambelis and Nashua South's Liz DeRusha go for the ball during the Tomahawks' 3-0 Division I play-in win Monday at Stellos Stadium. The Tomahawks will now face Bishop Guertin on Wednesday.

NASHUA – The Merrimack High School field hockey team was just happy to get back on the field on Monday.

The fact that it was for a 3-0 Division I tournament play-in win over Nashua South at Stellos Stadium was a bonus.

“This was a really good game, I was really pleased with the girls,” Tomahawks coach Ann MacLean said. “There’s some things we need to work on, but there’s only so many things you can do. I was pleased, it was good to get out here.”

The Tomahawks will now return to Stellos on Wednesday to face Bishop Guertin in the prelims. They had missed some games due to virus concerns a couple of weeks ago and last week due to concerns in Nashua, their last game having been on Oct. 8. This was just their fourth game of the season (3-0-1), compared to the ninth for South (3-5-1).

But yesterday they got two goals from Paige Rivet, and a third goal from Samantha Cota, two of those goals coming in the final 1:49. They were able to dominate time of possession, and it also helped that the Panthers were without their top scorer, Kaitlyn West. West had a family member test positive for COVID-19 and was in quarantine, but the other Panthers were deemed to have not been exposed.

“We missed her, obviously,” South coach Ciki McIntire. “I think a lot of them tried to fill the void left by not having her today. I’m really proud of them for the growth over the season.”

Rivet’s first goal came at with 5:45 left in the first quarter. She didn’t score again until 1:49 left in the game on a blistering shot from the outside that beat Panthers goalie Courtney Tello (14 saves).

Cota scored a minute later, tapping in an easy one on an empty net with Tello way out and the South defenders cheating up for offense. Merrimack goalie Natalia Gonzalez had one kick save, that coming late in the contest.

“We’re still trying to work on positioning,” MacLean said. “We do have the kids to get the job done. … You can definitely tell we’d been idle for so long.”

“We were so excited to get to play,” Tomahawks defender Gillian Waller said. “Especially our senior year, we just want to play. We’ve been practicing hard, putting in the work, and I think it showed in this game.”

Tello will play next year at Lasell University in Auburndale, Mass., just committing recently. The Panthers made the most of their time this season.

“We’re happy for every game we got to play,” McIntire said. “It’s over quickly in a regular season, never mind a COVID season.

MILFORD FALLS

The Spartans saw their season come to an end in a Division II play-in, falling 3-0 to Derryfield.

Seniors Erin Jasper, Ariana Ercoline, and Hallie Gagnon played well, setting the tone for the younger players – including freshman midfielder Addyson provided leadership for this young team through the end of the game. Midfielder Addyson Pare, who played well both offensively and defensively.

Spartans coach Katy Kolasinski had the same feeling as the other coaches – it was great to play a season.

“The fact that this young team was able to play through the season without issue,” she said, “is a win in itself.”

Newsletter