Category Archives: Belmont

March 5, 2016 · 11:28 pm

Emily Pettigrew (22 points) reaches 1000 but Newburyport falls 49-47 to Belmont

The Belmont Marauders gather for a picture after their win over Newburyport

Emily Pettigrew spins in for her 1000th point

(Newburyport MA) Senior Emily Pettigrew (22 points) reached 1000 points but it wasn’t enough as Belmont eliminated Newburyport, 49-47, in the D2 North quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.

This game was foul-infested from the get-go as both teams applied pressure wherever they could and contact was frequent.

Whistles blew and players were helped up. Coaches questioned every call and fans from both sides offered regular evaluations of the three officials. Smooth it wasn’t!

This game came down to the final minute with a win still within reach of either squad. Emily Pettigrew had given the Clippers (17-4) a one-point lead (47-46) with 1:15 left.

That would be the last productive possession for Newburyport. Their final three, point-producing opportunities ended with a block by Jess Giorgio, a turnover, and another block by Jess Giorgio.

Go-ahead free throw by Irini Nikolaidis (#15)

In Belmont’s last two possessions they were at the foul line both times. Senior Irini Nikolaidis (11 points) completed a 5-for-5 quarter sinking two attempts and freshman Megan Tan made one of her two tries.

Making those three free throws gave Belmont the points they needed to earn the right to face the winner of the Arlington Catholic/Melrose game on Tuesday in the D2 North semi-finals.

The Marauders reached the D2 North semi-finals last season but lost to Watertown.

Anyone in attendance who is reading so far is surely wondering what has taken me so long to get to the real reason Newburyport is not still alive in the tournament: free throw shooting.

When one team misses fourteen free throws you can easily imagine that they would be in trouble. Not in this game. Those fourteen misses belonged to Belmont (18-for-32) and they won by two points.

Tight Newburyport defense

Newburyport? Good news? They made 8-of-9 in the final quarter. Bad news? 10-for-32 in the other three quarters. Worse news? 5-for-19 in the second quarter.

The total missed free throws by the Clippers was twenty-three and think of the “Could have been’s” they’ll think about for a while over that.

I know I’m beating this free throw thing to death but in the last 1 ½ minutes of the 2^nd quarter Newburyport missed seven straight foul shots. That they only trailed by three (21-18) at the half is indicative of the type of defense they were playing.

Belmont (from the Middlesex League) rode two three’s by sophomore Jenny Call to an 8-1 lead. NBPT finished the quarter on a 6-1 run including a steal and layin by freshman Katie Hadden.

The Clippers tied the score (16-16) on a driving layup by freshman Anna Hickman (14 points) with 3 ½ to go in the second period.

Krysta Padellaro tries to draw a foul on Jenny Call

The Marauders took the lead right back and extended it to 32-23 in the third quarter with a 10-2 run. Layups by Greta Propp (10 points) and Samari Winklaar, as well as a three by Carly Christofori (9 points), keyed that surge.

In the midst of it Emily Pettigrew took a pass in the lower key and spun left to register her 1000^th point.

Appearing to be down and out (32-23) with 3:40 to go in the third quarter, the Clippers put twelve unanswered points together over the next six minutes of playing time to take the lead, 35-32, 2+ minutes into the final quarter. During that stretch, Belmont turned ice cold from everywhere, including the foul line, where they missed all five FT attempts.

Anna Hickman had a 3-pointer and a layup, while Emily Pettigrew added two layups in the rush to the lead.

In the final five minutes of this game there were four ties and five lead changes. It was clearly anyone’s game.

But in the final minute, Belmont made enough free throws and enough stops on defense to get the job done.

first block by Jess Giorgio

second block by Jess Giorgio

Defensive hero in the last minute? Freshman Jess Giorgio. Twice the 6-1 center blocked shot attempts in close by Anna Hickman without fouling.

Belmont had to shoot second-half free throws in the NBPT student second end of the gymnasium. Not an easy thing to do but somehow Irini Nikolaidis managed to can four straight in the last two minutes.

Awesome rendition of the National Anthem by the Clippers’ Paige Gouldthorpe.

Krysta Padellaro in the open floor

Impressed by the point-guard play of Newburyport’s Krysta Padellaro and Belmont’s Carly Christofori. The two of them also played terrific defense. Both are only sophomores.

Tough 24 hours for the Newburyport basketball teams as both the boys’ and the girls’ teams were eliminated from tournament play during that time.

Newburyport boxscore

Belmont boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Irini Nikolaidis (clutch free throws)

Anna Hickman and Carly Christofori

Emily Pettigrew and Samari Winklaar

crowd under the basket

Emily Pettigrew and Jess Giorgio

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Emily Pettigrew puts Newburyport ahead

Anna Hickman (14 points) gets around Jess Giorgio

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Filed under Belmont, Newburyport

Tagged as Anna Hickman, Carly Christofori, Emily Pettigrew, Irini Nikolaidis, Jess Giorgio, Krysta Padellaro

March 6, 2014 · 1:52 am

Devan Harris (35 points) leads Danvers past Belmont 62-59 in D2 North semi-finals

Devan Harris (35 points) made shots in close all night long.

Devan Harris draws contact in the lane

(Beverly MA) Danvers made only one shot from the outside, missed ten free throws, and didn’t take good care of the ball (eighteen turnovers) but they still found a way to win.

How? The Falcons (20-3) totally dominated on the inside. Control of the interior enabled Danvers to edge Belmont, 62-59, on Tuesday night to reach the Division 2 North finals on Saturday at the Tsongas Arena (3:45PM).

Junior Devan Harris (35 points) was unstoppable inside gathering rebounds and converting seven caroms into put-back baskets.

Peter Merry (6-8) had six blocks (by my count) and discouraged the Marauders a number of times from even taking shots close to the basket.

This was a game in which leads were short-lived. There were eighteen lead changes and the final one came with twenty-three seconds left.

Keith Burns lines up a shot

#6 Belmont (18-7) jumped ahead, 59-58, on a three by senior Keith Burns assisted by Matt Kerans with fifty seconds left in the game.

After a Belmont timeout, Devan Harris tried an outside shot and missed but Kieran Beck came up with the offensive rebound and was fouled.

Kieran connected on both pressure shots giving the Falcons the lead, 60-59, with twenty-three seconds remaining.

Matt Kerans tried a 3-pointer from straight away which rimmed out. Devan Harris rebounded and was fouled.

Devan made one of two giving Danvers a 61-59, edge with twelve seconds left.

Matt Kerans went for another three, with Kieran Beck defending, and missed again with 1.4 seconds to go. Freshman Devon Allen got this rebound, was fouled, and made one of two attempts.

Matt Kerans fires a three in the closing seconds

Belmont ended up with less than a second to try for a three. Kieran Beck intercepted the pass in and the celebrating began.

Belmont was clearly at a size disadvantage from the get-go. Adam Kleckner (6-4) was their tallest player and he fouled out at the end of the third quarter. Adam had a quiet six points in this game. In the Belmont win over Salem in the D2 North quarterfinals, Adam had twenty-one points. Earlier in the season, in a win over Lexington, the Belmont junior put up thirty-six points and collected fifteen rebounds. No question the Marauders missed Adam at both ends of the court in the final quarter.

Kieran Beck looks to pass

It’s hard for me to imagine a team winning a game in which all their field goals (twenty), but one (Kieran Beck three), are scored in the paint.

Belmont connected seven times from long range. They came very close twice to an eighth 3-pointer in final twenty seconds that could have given them the victory.

The Marauders trailed 12-10 in the first quarter before running off eight straight points. The points came from Adam Kleckner with four and Justin Wagner and Jalyn Hinton two each.

Trailing, 18-12, it was #2 Danvers’ turn to run consecutive points. The Falcons put together a steak of nine unanswered. It was Devan Harris scoring on his own miss and following that up with a layup on a nice pass from Mark McCarthy. Kieran Beck did the rest with the lone Danvers outside score and two free throws.

Peter Merry gets a rebound

Belmont hit two 3’s late in the second quarter (Keith Burns and Matt Kerans) to erase a Danvers five-point lead. Danvers led, 29-28, at halftime.

Devan Harris erased a four-point Belmont lead (39-35) in the third quarter with two layups and two free throws.

The Marauders broke a 43-43 tie with a seven-point run stretching into the final quarter. A layup and two free throws by Matt Kerans were followed by a long one from Keith Burns.

The resulting 50-43 spread with 7 1/2 minutes left looked like the beginning of the end for the Falcons but they came back with three inside scores (layups Devan Harris and Rashad Francois plus a converted rebound by Devan) and cut the Belmont lead to one (50-49) six minutes left.

There were five lead changes the rest of the way and plenty to cheer about for both fan bases.

Adam Kleckner saves a ball going out of bounds

Former Falcon point guard Eric Martin was in the house. No question Coach John Walsh would have found a spot for him on the floor especially in the second half when Danvers had thirteen turnovers.

But despite the deficiencies the Falcons found a way to win and extend their improbably season. No one imagined such a successful season for a team losing four starters and Vinny Clifford.

Kieran Beck and Peter Merry each had ten points for Danvers.

Ben Lazenby (16) and Keith Burns (14) had double figures for Belmont.

Belmont is out of the Middlesex League while Danvers plays in the Northeast Conference.

There was certainly a good crowd on hand but the noise and numbers hardly compared to the reported 3,500 in attendance for the St. John’s/Central Catholic game the night before.

Danvers box

Belmont box

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Adam Kleckner defends Mark McCarthy

Kieran Beck gets a late-game offensive rebound

Ben Lazenby, Peter Merry, Justin Wagner

Falcons celebrate

Devan Harris shoots over Justin Wagner

Aaron Croce goes for the block

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Filed under Belmont, Danvers

Tagged as Adam Kleckner, Ben Lazenby, Devan Harris, Keith Burns, Kieran Beck, Matt Kerans, Peter Merry

November 10, 2012 · 8:03 pm

Belmont defeats Newburyport in overtime 1-0 to gain Division 2 North girls soccer finals

Julia Russo lines up this overtime corner kick that led to the game winner

The collision in front that produced the game winner by Olivia Lyons

(Lynn) It was sweet revenge for the Belmont Marauders girls soccer team.

Just over a year ago, Belmont was knocked out in the Division 2 North quarterfinals by Newburyport at Newburyport.

This time it was the Marauders getting a 1-0 overtime win over the Clippers to move on to the D2 North finals on Monday afternoon (3PM) back at Manning Field in Lynn.

Senior Olivia Lyons kicked in the winner late in the first overtime off of a well-placed corner kick by Julia Russo. Julia’s corner kick and about seven or eight players ended up at the same spot at the same time. The heavy traffic gave Clipper goalie Lilly Donovan no chance to get to the ball.

Katie Gorenflo (24) goes over Marauder goalie Maria-Alice Menatas

The Saturday morning game featured sunny skies and quite a few chances for either team to score. Sometimes in games where goals aren’t scored for all of regulation, the play is in the middle of the field. Not this one. There were frequent “ooh’s” and “ah’s” as either great last-ditch defense or a late misconnection kept both nets clean through 80+ minutes.

#8 seed Belmont (13-3-3) has now won six straight.

#4 seed Newburyport (15-3-2) will lose two seniors, Katie Gorenflo and Jackie Krusemark. Both girls were 2012 Cape Ann League All-Stars. However, there is plenty of Clipper talent coming back, including Carly Brand. Carly was injured in the off-season and didn’t play all season. She was one of the top players in the CAL as a sophomore in 2011.

Belmont senior Olivia Lyons scored the winning goal in overtime

One thing I have noticed about tournament play is that by-and-large the referees allow more physical contact. That seemed to help Belmont. They were much more aggressive.

The key player in the Belmont win was Julia Russo. The senior midfielder was very much the dominating player in the middle of the field. Her main contribution, however, was on direct kicks and corner kicks. Julia often kicked the ball with force and put it in an area where scoring chances might evolve. That was indeed what happened in the overtime goal.

The Clippers could only wish that midfielder Hannah Martin hadn’t graduated in June. Hannah had the same knack, as Julia, to make every direct kick dangerous. Hannah, in fact, scored on a direct kick in the Clippers 2-1 win over Belmont on November 8th of 2011 in the quarterfinals game.

Gabby Joyal picked up a yellow card in overtime.

Aly Leahy went out with an injury with nine minutes left in regulation but returned five minutes later after getting her ankle wrapped.

The 10AM start didn’t discourage the public address announcer from reminding us that pizza and nachos were available at the concession stand. Doughnuts and coffee might have had a better chance!

I did appreciate the PA announcer telling who the goal scorer was in overtime. With the number of players milling around in front it would have been anyone’s guess otherwise.

(The pictures above and below enlarge if you click on them.)

Jaycie Triandafilou (19) with Olivia Lyons in pursuit.

Delaney Bartol (20) and Gabby Joyal (10)

Jaycie Triandafilou looks for a shot in front

traffic in the Newburyport end

Jackie Krusemark

Belmont celebration

Olivia Lyons (22) and Maryam Moshrefi (21) eye the ball

Alexandra Cellucci (15) and Amy Sullivan close on a ball

Julia Russo

BHS goalie Maria-Alice Menatas makes a save in traffic

Clipper bench wear

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Filed under Belmont, Newburyport

Tagged as Jackie Drusemark, Jaycie Triandafilou, Julia Russo, Katie Gorenflo, Maria-Alice Menatas, Olivia Lyons

November 8, 2011 · 10:23 pm

Newburyport Survives Belmont Rally in Girls Soccer 1-0 to Reach D2 North Semis

NHS goalie Lilly Donovan chases ball to her right that would go off the goal post in the last minute of regulation.

Kerry Johnson (4) heads in the game winner as Liza Twomey gets tangled up with BHS goalie Nina Perrotta.

(Newburyport) A year ago the Belmont Marauders girls soccer team defeated the Newburyport Clippers, 1-0, in the Division 2 North quarter finals at Belmont.

This time around, with a change of locations, it was the Clippers besting the Marauders, 2-1, at Cherry Hill Field in Newburyport on sunny Tuesday afternoon.

The victory gets Newburyport to the D2 North semifinals with Gloucester on Thursday (7:30PM) at Woburn High School.

The Clippers (15-2-3) picked up their two goals in the first half and had to hold on for dear life in the second half as Belmont (10-7-2) came incredibly close to getting all the way back.

The constant pressure Newburyport attackers put on defenders paid off big-time in the last ten minutes of the first half as two direct kicks (by Hannah Martin) turned into goals.

Hannah Martin direct kick bounces over goalie for first Clipper goal.

Maryam Moshrefi drew the penalty that led to Hannah Martin’s direct-kick goal at 30:43. BHS goalie Nina Perrotta had Clippers coming at her as Hannah’s kick took an astro-turf bounce into the net.

Later, Liza Twomey was taken down by Belmont’s Izzy Goldstein for another goal-resulting direct kick by Hannah Martin. This time the BHS goalie got tangled up (What is goalie interference?) with Clipper Liza Twomey and a rebound was left that Kerry Johnson put home at 38:00.

That lead looked safe for the longest time in the second half. Things seemed to change, however, when Maryam Moshrefi inadvertently kicked the BHS goalie in the head. Belmont coach Paul Graham, who had been riding the far side official a good part of the game, was infuriated by the lack of a call. His persistence earned him a yellow card at 25:51 of the forty minute second half.

Three minutes later it was the Marauders’ persistence in the offensive end that turned up something good for them – Aly Leahy got called for a hand ball in the box.

Izzy Goldstein (6) finds the right corner with her second half penalty kick.

Izzy Goldstein took the resulting penalty kick and beat NHS goalie Lilly Donovan with a shot just inside the right goalpost.
So with 11 ½ minutes left, Belmont only trailed, 2-1, and they pressed in with numbers every time they had the ball in the Newburyport end.

The, “Remember when,” sequence from this game was in the last minute of regulation as Belmont attacked from the right side. I was too far away to name one of the Marauder players involved but I did see Emma Teach rip a direct kick toward the Newburyport goal. A rebound resulted close to the goal, and a second shot from in close went past Lilly Donovan off the far goal post and off to the left with twenty-four seconds left. I saw the final BHS shooter afterwards with her hands on her head in amazement/disappointment that the shot hadn’t gone in. But it hadn’t and time ran out for Belmont.

Carly Brand heads out a Marauder shot in the first half.

Carly Brand headed out a near-goal in the first half.

Belmont wore shirts with numbers on both sides and their names on the back of the shirt…..a photographer’s delight. Then there was Pentucket, two days ago, with numbers only on the back.

Ideal weather conditions for November 8th……..temps in the 60’s with hardly a breeze.

(I take my own pictures and write my own commentary. I own any mistake.) All the pictures will enlarge if you click on them.