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AUBURN, Mass. – One team has a shutout on senior night, another squad loses for the first time since 2010 and another scores a miraculous last-second tie. It’s just another typical fall night at Auburn High School.
Field Hockey Records 13th Shutout
The Rockets improved to 13-0-2 on the season with another impressive performance on senior night.
Auburn beat Shepherd Hill, 3-0, as the Rockets earned their 13th shutout of the season. Junior Jaime McNamara scored two goals and sophomore Jordan Lavallee tallied another in the win. Junior Paige LaPearl dished out an assist and senior goalkeeper Sarah Palace did not allow a goal for the 13th time this year.
“Last time we played them, we tied them and we weren’t satisfied with a tie,” Palace said. “We knew coming into this that we weren’t coming off the field without a win.”
But Palace said it was “bittersweet” that it was their senior night game.
“It came up too fast,” she said. “We’ve always seen the past seniors on their senior nights, and always said, ‘We have another year, another year.’ But now that it’s here, it’s bittersweet.”
Seniors Samantha Allison and Rita Bahnan also felt those mixed emotions on senior night, recording another strong win but playing their last home game under the lights.
Girls Soccer Lose First Game in Almost Two Years
The team’s impressive streak of not losing a game came to a close on senior night, falling to Shepherd Hill, 1-0. The last time the Rockets lost was in the state championship game in November 2010.
“It’s a lesson learned,” said head coach Larry Midura. “That streak was not going to last forever. And sometimes you take a loss and it’s a blessing in disguise. They’ll definitely bounce back. We got the team to do it.”
The loss dropped the squad’s record to 9-1-4.
Boys Soccer Game Has Most Dramatic Sequence of Night
With only 15 seconds remaining in extra time, the boys team was staring at its fifth straight defeat and no postseason bid. But the team got it together in the nick of time, scoring a goal with only seconds left to tie the game against Shepherd Hill, 1-1.
Senior Rob Anderson sent a free kick from 30 yards out to the right goal post. After Shepherd Hill was unable to clear it, senior Kelvin Okyere rocketed a shot home to give the Rockets a tie, moving them to 4-7-4 on the season.
“The kids stayed with it. They didn’t give up,” said head coach Christopher Bailey. “They’re pleased we came back. That keeps us in it with three games left.” The Rockets need three wins to make the playoffs.
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