Last week the girls varsity soccer team finished their regular season and started their first post season run in five years. The regular season ended with a 3-1 win against non-league opponent, Brookline, and a team record of 14-2-2. The girls then closed out the week with the first round of the state tournament on Saturday, on their home turf against Marblehead, winning 2-1.

The Warriors played Brookline on Monday. In the 5th minute, freshman Sarah Nuss scored for the Warriors when sophomore Maeve Moynihan crossed the ball from the right and Nuss finished it with a touch into net.

Just a few minutes after the first goal, captain Mel Sperling scored when Moynihan again crossed from the right, and Sperling turned to net and shot into the low left corner. Later in the half, Moynihan received the ball and beat her defenders for a break away on net where she scored, giving Wayland a 3-0 lead.

But with minutes left in the half, Brookline offense pressured Wayland and created a scramble in the 18 where they scored. The half ended at 3-1, and neither team was able to score in the second half making the game Wayland’s 14th and final win of the regular season.

Saturday was the girls’ first tournament game. The Warriors were awarded a home game because they were seeded at number three in the division, and they played the number fourteen seed Marblehead.

The game started quickly, and Marblehead pressured the ball hard. In the eleventh minute, Marblehead got an opportunity on the Wayland end. The ball got put onto the top of the 18, where a Marblehead forward beat the Wayland defense for a breakaway, and scored, giving the opposition a 1-0 lead.

A few minutes later, on a Wayland throw in, junior Julia Shively changed the dynamic of the game with a goal to tie up the score at 1-1.

With 9 minutes remaining in the half, captain Lindsay Shelton passed to Sperling through the middle, where Sperling beat her defender and turned for a shot from twenty yards out, placing the ball into the top far corner.

“I think we were in the right mind set. We knew what we needed to do and what is at stake [in tournament,” said Wayland coach, Guy Enoch.

The half finished with Wayland winning 2-1. In the second half Wayland beat Marblehead in shots, but could not finish, leaving the game with a score of 2-1, allowing Wayland to enter the next round of tournament. Captain Liz Doyon had 7 saves for the Warriors.

“I think we played an amazing game on Saturday night. We fought hard against Marblehead and thankfully came up with a win,” said Shelton. “I can’t believe how many fans came to support us, it was so great to see the stands filled, and hopefully there will be more games that people can come [on Tuesday].”

This girls will play their second tournament game, against Belmont, on their home turf at 4PM today.

Said Enoch, “I think that we are up to the challenge. Now that we know who we are playing next, we will prepare for them so that we are more than capable to do well in the next round because we know that Belmont is a good team.”

Shelton agreed: “Belmont is a good team and it [will] be a tough game but I know we are ready!”