Tag Archives: Kat Hassapis

March 2, 2017 · 11:53 pm

Second half surge gets tourney win for Amesbury 48-34 over North Reading

Abbie Sartori (17 points) fires from the corner

Maddie Napoli (13 ponts) floats in the lane

(Amesbury MA) Amesbury was in trouble.

Tied with North Reading (27-27) 2 ½ minutes into the second half, and having top scorer Flannery O’Connor and starter Julia LaMontagne benched with foul trouble, the #1 seeded Indians appeared headed for a short post-season.

But Amesbury recovered and put together an impressive 19-1 segment over the next 10+ minutes of playing time and went from there to win, 48-34, on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Division 3 North tournament.

The Indians (20-1) will play the winner of tomorrow night’s matchup between Green Academy and St. Mary’s.

#8 seed North Reading got off to a rough start as senior Maddie Napoli (13 points) hit two three’s in the first 4 ½ minutes and the Indians led, 13-1.

Kat Hassapis (16 points) finds space in the lane

But the Hornets came all the way back riding the terrific play of senior Kat Hassapis. Kat’s three, halfway through the 2^nd period, put the visitors in front, 18-17.

The Indians finished the half on a 7-2 run, helped by two technical foul shots, to lead at intermission, 27-22.

As I referenced before, Amesbury got into foul trouble early in the second half. Losing Flannery O’Connor was serious since the sophomore had twenty-three points in the last NR/AHS meeting and only had four points so far in this one.

After the Hornets (11-12) knotted things at 27, the Indians took the game over for the next 10+ minutes of playing time. Ali Napoli and Chelsea Lynch replaced their foul-prone teammates and before long Amesbury was going one way and North Reading was going the other.

In the 19-1 breakaway time, senior Abbie Sartori hit three jump shots and one triple while freshman Ali Napoli made a neat move in the lane to get a layup and assisted on three of the AHS baskets.

On the NR side, scoring was a big-time struggle. The Hornets missed five-of-six free throws and had seven turnovers.

Mia DeNofrio

When North Reading finally made a field goal (Mia DeNorfio) with two minutes left, the visitors were down, 46-28, and the game had gotten away from them.

Mikayla Porcaro had a 3-pointer and a successful jump shot during Amesbury’s winning run.

Abbie Sartori led all scorers with seventeen points.

NR used a box-and-one to try to keep Flannery O’Connor from getting the ball. Worked quite well although Flannery found some room inside late in the game.

The Indians defeated North Reading, 72-57, on January 6^th. The Hornets made eight three’s in the first half of that game. Amesbury’s 1-3-1 zone defense worked well this time around, however, by limiting NR to only three long ones in this tourney win.

North Reading was called for a technical foul after a player entered the game and their name was not in the official scorebook.

Good crowd on hand.

Box for North Reading

Box for Amesbury

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

Lauren Sullivan blocks from behind

Flannery O’Connor draws a crowd

Loose ball

Kat Hassapis defended by the Napoli sisters

Noel Riley

Amesbury cheerleaders show how it’s done

Mikayla Porcaro and Victoria Grasso

Flannery O’Connor with Abbie Sartori

Maddie Napoli

Abbie Sartori

Kat Hassapis and Ali Napoli (Two pretty good goalies in another season)

Casey McAuliffe (#10) had two three’s

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Filed under Amesbury, North Reading

Tagged as Abbie Sartori, Ali Napoli, Flannery O'Connor, Kat Hassapis, Maddie Napoli

December 20, 2016 · 11:13 pm

Strong second half gets Pentucket girls past North Reading 50-35

Pentucket trap

(West Newbury MA) Pentucket had a rousing second half and defeated North Reading, 50-35, in Cape Ann League action on Tuesday night.

These teams shared the league title last year and split their games with each other during the season.

Graduation had put a serious dent into both teams and I was curious to see what they would be like this season.

The defenses on both sides were impressive. There were very few direct routes to the basket.

One of the glaring stats in this game was the high number of turnovers. By my count, each team committed twenty-five of them. The traveling violations by both squads almost reached the epidemic level. But that is what happens when defenses play well.

Taylor Moore (33) and Emily Riley (31) eye one of the many rebounds off of free throws.

The other glaring stat was the free throw shooting. It was atrocious. The Sachems (3-0) missed twenty-three times while the Hornets (2-1) missed ten.

The visitors broke away from a 6-6 tie (2:41 of the first) and had a ten-point lead (22-12) with 2:12 to go in the second quarter. The key to the NR breakaway was made 3’s by Taylor Moore, Victoria Grasso, and Ali Grasso.

Meanwhile, Pentucket struggled to make any kind of shot.

The second half was an entirely different story. Pentucket put in two freshmen (Angelina Yacubacci and Casey Hunt) to start and off the Sachems went. The home team made shots and that allowed their press to get set up. NR did not react well and had eleven of their TO’s in the third quarter alone.

Angelina Yacubacci had nine points in Pentucket’s third quarter

Angelina Yacubacci led the Sachems with nine points and all of them came in the terrific Pentucket third quarter.

Pentucket put a 15-1 run together to get ahead for good, 27-23 with an Alyssa Demeule layup assisted by Bella Doyle at 2:30 of the 3^rd quarter being the final points.

By the end of the 3^rd, the Sachems led, 34-27, and looked to be pulling away for good. Suddenly, however, in two straight possessions in the final quarter, the Hornets (Casey McAuliffe, Lauren Sullivan) drained 3-pointers. Now within a point (34-33) with 6 ½ minutes left, it was once again anyone’s game.

That Pentucket defense that had been good turned to very good over the final 6 ½ minutes. NR was limited to two points by a defense that would not allow penetration. There was plenty of side-to-side stuff going on but getting to the basket ended for North Reading.

In the same final minutes, Pentucket started with nine unanswered points. They had two layups (Liv Cross, Emily Riley) on assists by freshman Casey Hunt. An NR turnover led to a layup (Emily Riley) and then senior Colleen Jameson added a dagger-three to drive the Pentucket lead to ten (43-33) and this game was history.

Sophomore Casey McAuliffe led all scorers with ten points.

Casey Hunt (20) and Ali Grasso (3)

Key matchup, with plenty of future potential, was between freshman point guards Casey Hunt and Ali Grasso.

NR’s 6-5 Jess Lezon is now at Yale. Jess had seventeen points and twenty rebounds in the Hornets win last February at Pentucket.

NR’s Kat Hassapis will be playing soccer at Bentley in the fall of 2017.

John McNamara’s coaching record at Pentucket is now at 217-35. This year’s team is young but the defense is very good. The offense? They have size but taking advantage of it versus NR led to many turnovers. I’m guessing that the foul shooting will become less “foul” as the season goes on.

The biggest surprise for me was the temperature in the gym. What happened to the heat? Anyone who has been there in the past knows how tropical it was. Maybe a window was open?

North Reading was 20-3 last year and reached the D3 North finals. Pentucket was 16-6 and lost in the first round to Triton.

Pentucket box

North Reading box

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

Casey Hunt breaks away

Bella Doyle (14) dribbles in traffic

Colleen Jameson made two 3’s for Pentucket

Second half starters for Pentucket

loose ball

Lauren Sullivan drives

Liv Cross (32) makes a layup

Kat Hassapis fouls out

Lauren Sullivan sets to shoot with Alyssa Demeule defending

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Filed under North Reading, Pentucket

Tagged as Ali Grasso, Angelina Yacubacci, Casey Hunt, Casey McAuliffe, Colleen Jameson, Kat Hassapis

November 12, 2016 · 11:52 pm

Newburyport gets it done with PK’s to take D3 North title

Newburyport captains Jen Stuart, Amelia Kroschwitz, Sami Kelleher, and Margaret Cote pose with the D3 North championship trophy

Audra Greenblott’s PK is past disappointed NR goalie Kat Hassapis

(Lynn MA) The Newburyport Clippers advance to the state D3 semifinals after defeating the North Reading Hornets on penalty kicks on Saturday afternoon/evening at Manning Field in Lynn.

The Clippers will now face Medway (18-1-2) on Tuesday night (7PM) at Westwood High School.

Newburyport (17-1-3) came away with the “W” but were outplayed and outshot for most of regulation and two overtimes.

The Clippers scored early (34:48) when Margaret Cote cashed a wonderful feed from Julia Groth in the middle.

Juliette Nadeau (2) sent in by Karlie Vesey gets a clean look.

The Hornets (15-5-1) had the answer less than five minutes later (30:17) when Karlie Vesey sent Juliette Nadeau in clean on NBPT goalie Jen Stuart.

The Newburyport coaching staff immediately called a timeout to settle things down. They probably would have called quite a few more timeouts the rest of the way if they’d had them because the Clippers were a step slow most of the time.

On this night, North Reading could not apply the finishing touch. Trust me, it wasn’t because of lack of setups.

Credit Clippers goalie Jen Stuart for handling the shots she could reach. NR went over the net and just wide a number of times.

This was the kind of pressure Clippers GK Jen Stuart faced frequently

NR keeper Kat Hassapis had shots to deal with but none of the doorstep variety.

Kat Hassapis dives for Margaret Cote’s successful PK

That’s why the penalty-kick segment was just what Newburyport needed to take the Division 3 North title.

In the penalty kick part, there are five rounds unless a team builds up an insurmountable lead. North Reading lost the toss and Newburyport opted to shoot first.

Margaret Cote and Kat Hassapis both connected in round one.

Karlie Vesey (16) and Margaret Cote (11)

Amelia Kroschwitz and Karlie Vesey (wide right) both were unsuccessful in the second round.

In the third round, Krysta Padellaro put Newburyport up 2-1 while Marissa Zarella’s attempt hit the crossbar.

In round four, Kat Hassapis made a diving stop of Colleen Bryon’s try while Clippers GK Jen Stuart slid to her left to block Jessica Muise’s attempt.

In the fifth round, Audra Greenblott found the left corner and for the second straight game gave the Clippers an insurmountable lead and the victory.

This was the third time these two rivals met this season. There was a win, a loss, and a tie for both of them.

I was at Manning Field last year when North Reading defeated Bishop Fenwick, 2-1, on a Haley Nathan goal to win the D3 North.

Krysta Padellaro (19) and Rachel Hill (12)

Newburyport has only allowed seven goals this season, not counting the penalty kicks of tournament play.

North Reading certainly played well enough to win. Just couldn’t take advantage of their numerous chances.

Impressed with defender Jessica Muise. Her strong foot made every corner kick a scoring opportunity.

Good crowd at an excellent facility for tournament soccer.

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

2016 Division Three North champs

North Reading team captains – Marissa Zarella, Kat Hassapis, and Kristina Copelas

Clippers celebrate first goal

Jen Stuart corrals a shot

Sami Kelleher (8) and Kirsten Bradley (20)

North Reading threatens (Rachel Hill on the left)

header

Marissa Zarella (14) gets a head on a corner kick

Ball in the middle

Audra Greenblott

There was some contact

Kaitlyn Shevlin (6) and Colleen Byron (18)

Haley Nathan (11) traps a ball

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Filed under Newburyport, North Reading

Tagged as Amelia Kroschwitz, Audra Greenblott, Jen Stuart, Jessica Muise, Juliette Nadeau, Kat Hassapis, Margaret Cote

October 17, 2016 · 9:17 pm

Girls Soccer: Newburyport and North Reading in scoreless tie

Action off a corner kick in front of the North Reading goal

Pressure on Newburyport goalie Jen Stuart

(Newburyport MA) Shutouts are not unusual for either team.

North Reading entered today’s game with nine shutouts while Newburyport hit the turf field with eleven.

Therefore, the 0-0 final score between two of the Cape Ann League’s best girls’ soccer teams was no real surprise on this warm Monday afternoon.

However, the outcome was important to both teams. Why? In North Reading’s last game (Thursday) they had lost 2-0 to Masconomet. That was the second loss to the Chieftains this season. There was a need to tighten up the defense which, led by Kirsten Bradley and Kat Hassapis, was accomplished versus Newburyport.

For Newburyport this game put to rest the memory of a disturbing 3-0 loss the Clippers suffered on September 13^th at North Reading. I did not see that game but over the twelve games since then Newburyport has only allowed one goal. That’s what you call tightening up your defense!

Newburyport (10-1-3) needed that solid defense today as North Reading (10-3-1) had the better of the scoring chances in my opinion.

NR’s Meredith Griffin came the closest to scoring as her shot at 14:50 of the first half caromed off the crossbar. Here is the sequence of that action involving Meredith (green), Cricket Good (4), Krysta Padellaro, and goalie Jen Stuart:

In the second half (15:10), Haley Nathan had Clippers GK Jen Stuart defending her on the left but Haley passed instead of shooting. Haley’s pass across the goal put Jen out of position and had “open net” written all over it. Fortunately, for Newburyport there were no Hornets breaking in from the right and the ball rolled harmlessly across the endline. This is what that sequence looked like. Haley Nathan is #11:

Kat Hassapis about to make a save

The Clippers held their own on the defensive end and in midfield. They frequently put two or three passes together. However, the Hornets did not allow open looks. Kirsten Bradley was especially good at getting the ball away from Newburyport attackers. On the rare occasions that the ball got closer, there was the 2015 Cape Ann League Player-of-the-Year (Kat Hassapis) in net for North Reading.

Impressed with the play of Newburyport’s Krysta Padellaro and Margaret Cote. Both of them displayed the fearlessness that had them winning more than a few 50-50 balls.

Newburyport goalie Jen Stuart is unscored on in nine straight games. Next game for the Clippers is hosting Triton Wednesday (6:30PM).

Kirsten Bradley (20) and Sami Kelleher (8)

Next for North Reading is hosting Pentucket on Wednesday at 4:30PM.

The weather was amazing. Temperatures in the 70’s this late in October?

The last time I saw North Reading girls’ soccer was last November at Fraser Field in Lynn when they defeated Bishop Fenwick 2-1 to take the D3 North. I got a pretty good shot of Haley Nathan driving home the game-winner.

Unusual call (to me) in this game was against North Reading for having too many players on the field. I also saw an NR player sent to the sidelines by a referee for unsportsmanlike conduct.

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

Rachel Hill (12) and Margaret Cote (11)

Olivia Sullivan (20) and Kaitlyn Shevlin (6)

Chasing the ball

Kirsten Bradley

Cricket Good (4) collides with Meredith Griffin

Ball in the middle

Action around Kat Hassapis (19)

Jess Muise (9)

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Filed under Newburyport, North Reading

Tagged as Haley Nathan, Jen Stuart, Kat Hassapis, Krysta Padellaro, Margaret Cote, Meredith Griffin

November 15, 2015 · 11:29 pm

North Reading girls soccer wins D3 North 2-1 over Bishop Fenwick

2015 Division 3 North Champions (North Reading)

North Reading starts to celebrate

(Lynn MA) Sophomore Rachel Hill scored a goal in the first half and assisted on the game-winner in the second half as North Reading defeated #2 Bishop Fenwick, 2-1, to win the Division 3 North title on Sunday afternoon at Manning Field in Lynn.

The #5 Hornets (17-3-2) will face D3 South winner Medway (17-1-3) on Wednesday night (5PM) in the D3 state semi-finals at Manning Field. Medway was the #1 seed in the South.

The NR win avenges a 1-0 loss they suffered against the team from Peabody in late October.

Rachel Hill (#12 on the ground) sends a grounder past GK Merry Harrington into the net

Rachel Hill’s goal came very late in the first half. After getting a pass from Marissa Zarella, Rachel dribbled across the middle of the box from right to left. GK Merry Harrington moved over to cover and Rachel, as she was going down, hit a grounder past her. Rachel’s roller reached the far corner of the goal with less than two minutes to play in the half.

Bishop Fenwick mobs Colleen Corcoran after her game-tying goal

At 31:04 of the second half the Crusaders evened things. Seniors Colleen Corcoran and Danielle DelTorto combined nicely on the score. Danielle carried down the left side and sent Colleen a delicious cross into the box. Colleen got a straight-on blast off the sailed over GK Kat Hassapis’ head.

The Corcoran/DelTorto connection tallied the only goal in the Fenwick win over North Reading in the regular season.

Sixteen minutes later (15:36) North Reading put in the goal that keeps their season going. Rachel Hill sent junior Haley Nathan ahead along the left side. Haley had defender Emily Charette to her right. GK Merry Harrington moved over and out to protect the net. Haley was able to get off a shot that went by Merry and rolled into the goal.

Katie Welch and Colleen Corcoran

Both of the NR goals were on the ground with a lot less than lightning speed on the shots. It isn’t always the hardest hit shot that gets the job done, at least not in this game.

Colleen Corcoran hit a crossbar in the first half. Katie Welch had a near-miss for the Hornets from long range in the second half.

Beautiful day for mid-November in these parts……50’s and sunny.

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