By Nick Curcuru
ANDOVER - They're back.
After defeating Belmont 1-0 in the Division 2 North semifinals yesterday afernoon at Andover High School, the Hornets are back in the North final for the third straight year where they will face a familiar opponent in Watertown (18-0-2) on Saturday (11 a.m., North Andover High School).
The Hornets (20-0-1) season has ended in the North final each of the past two seasons and both times in overtime.
Last year, Watertown knocked off the Hornets 2-1 in double overtime. In 2007 Winchester outlasted Manchester Essex 3-2 in double overtime.
"Our goal this season was to get back to the finals," Hornets tri-captain Amelia Burke said. "We are all really excited right now, especially for the chance to get revenge against Watertown. Belmont fought us very hard but we were able to hold them off in the end.
Now we just need to continue to do what we have been doing. We need to play composed, play strong defense and connect on our passes, just like we did tonight."
Junior Hannah Daley scored the game's lone goal with under two minutes to play in the first half.
Daley took a pass from junior Kyle Marsh on a re-start and shot it towards the front of the Belmont net. The junior forward did not get much on the shot but it somehow found it's way through both the Marauders defense and goalkeeper Leah Blenkhorn to give Manchester a 1-0 lead and what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Belmont turned up the pressure in the second half and nearly tied up the score with 9:30 remaining when Marauders forward Catherine Moore hit the post.
Fortunately for the Hornets, senior defenseman Caroline Moore swept the ball out of the danger zone and ended the threat.
It turned out Moore's clear ended the scoring threat for good, as the Hornets possessed the ball for the remainder of the game and did not allow Belmont to get anywhere close to goalie Vicky Grimes.
"They really gave us a run for our money," Hornets head coach Pam Grant said. "They came out flying in the second half and nearly tied the game up. Caroline (Moore) came up with a big play for us and we were able to bleed the clock in the end."
Moore's younger sister, sophomore defender Melissa Moore, also came away with a big defensive stop as she deflected a shot from Marauders forward Abby Ananian that just missed the net wide.
Before Daley's goal, the first half was very evenly played. The Hornets came out fast and held the ball in the offensive zone for the first half of the frame before Belmont went on a flurry midway through the half.
"We came out a little more fresh than they did" Grant said. "We started to get a little tired in the middle of each half but we fought through it."
While the game was a back and forth evenly played game for the most part, Burke pointed out the difference: Depth.
According to the senior tri-captain the Hornets had a huge advantage in the depth department and they used it as the Hornets emptied their bench.
As it turned out they needed all the depth they has as the team has been stricken by the flu in recent weeks.
"Getting fresh legs out there was huge for us," Burke said. "They were a very strong team but we had a big advantage in our depth. Everybody got in and everybody contributed, it was one of the deciding factors."
