Randolph's GU19 team journeyed to Amherst for the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions on the weekend of June 22-24.
Their age group was broken into two 5-team divisions. The top two teams would advance to the State semi-finals on
Sunday morning. Randolph's division included Auburn, defending champion Burlington, Salem and PKH, which it is believed
is Plympton, Halifax and Kingston joined into one team.
Randolph drew defending, and eventual, champion Burlington in their first game. Randolph started off quickly. On the attack
in the Burlington zone, Cara Doherty made a pass to the front of the net from just outside the left of the penalty area. Catherine
Morrill cut through the middle, shielding the ball from the defender and knocked in Randolph's first and only goal of the game. The
lead held up for the half despite heavy pressure from Burlington.
The play of the game came approximately ten minutes into the second half. Just outside the top of the box, a Burlington attacker
controlled the ball. She quickly turned and drilled a shot off the face of center defender Leanne Rizzitano. After striking her face,
it deflected off her hand. The ref ruled this a hand ball and awarded Burlington a penalty shot, tieing the game at 1-1. The teams
battled back and forth until with just 2 minutes remaining, a Burlington player took the ball to the end line and, as she drew the defense,
centered a pass to a cutting Burlington player for another goal and the game. Burlington 2 Randolph 1.
The following morning Randolph played Salem at 9:00. Something was missing, as Salem struck for 2 first half goals while Randolph struggled to
mount any attack. The second half showed improvement, but little results. Randolph missed on multiple scoring opportunities while
shutting out Salem for the second half. Finally, as the game entered its last minute, Pamela Butz broke free down the middle of the field
and put a high, well placed shot past the Salem goalie. Salem 2 Randolph 1.
Lauren Mahoney gives Randolph the lead versus PKH
The 1:30 game saw Randolph taking on PKH. Amazingly, Randolph was still alive with 2 losses. Since PKH came into the game at 2-1-0, a wins against
PKH and Auburn would send Randoph to the semi-finals. They'd both be 2-2-0 and the tie breaker would be head to head. The closely played game
went to halftime with a 0-0 score. Halfway through the second half, Lauren Mahoney worked the ball through the PKH defense and shot from 16 yards
out into the left side of the net, giving Randolph the lead. As the closing moments wound down, PKH gained possession off a Randolph throw in,
worked the ball across the field and down the left sideline. The PKH attacker shook her defenders cutting back to the center and let go a bullet
under the cross bar that goalie Vickie Fernandes had no chance on. Ten seconds remained in the game. PKH 1 Randolph 1.
The final game at 5:30 featured 2 teams eliminated from moving on. Randolph came out aggressively in the opening moments, resulting in Kayla Whynot
scoring the only goal of the game about two minutes in. From there, two sun burned, tired teams finished out their trip to MTOC. Randolph 1 Auburn 0.
Randolph's 1-2-1 record is misleading, as they were competitive in every game. Champion Burlington defeated their other opponents 4-1, 4-0, 4-0, 7-0(semifinals)
and 2-1(finals). They didn't secure their 2-1 victory against Randolph until the final 2 minutes. Randolph was within seconds of defeating PKH and advancing to
the semifinals. They finished their 2007 season with a combined record of 7-2-3.
Congratulations to Pamela Butz, Kayla Creech, Cara Doherty, Victoria Fernandes, Maureen Gallant, Shannon Hogan, Allison Levesque, Lauren Mahoney, Catherine Morrill,
Jenna Mumme, Casey Rhinehart, Shannon Rhinehart, Leanne Rizzitano, Bonetta Shaw, and Kayla Whynot on a great season.
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