Bromfield, seeded seventh in the MIAA Division 2 Central/West playoffs, defeated Chicopee, seeded ninth, 16–0, on Tuesday, May 30, at Harvard Park.
Bromfield opened the game with four quick goals, three from senior captain Meghan Parlee and one from eighth-grader Izzy Planchet.
Izzy Planchet gets a shot past the goalie for a score. In her first goal of the game, Planchet met the 100-goal mark. The only other Bromfield eighth-grader to do that was 2016 Bromfield graduate Sophie Turchetta. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
On the next draw, Parlee flipped the ball in the air, and junior Chandler Farley caught it, bringing the ball in the vicinity of the net. Bromfield attempted a shot but was blocked. The Chicopee goalie passed the ball out, but Bromfield intercepted and both teams collided in the circle of the net, leading a Bromfield player to fall and freshman Julia Hawes to get an 8-meter shot. She curled around the net and scored, bringing the game to 5–0.
Chicopee called a timeout. On return, Bromfield immediately regained possession. Sophomore Brianna Carlisle found an opening for an 8-meter shot and scored.
A Bromfield player fell over on the next draw, and Chicopee took advantage to try to rush the ball down the field. But Planchet’s defense allowed Bromfield to recover the ball and pass it back up the field into the goal circle. After five missed shots, two that went out of bounds and one that hit the goal post, Farley charged through rows of Chicopee defenders and fired a scoring shot past the goalie.
Chandler Farley charges in for a shot on goal.
Bromfield went on to score twice more, with goals from sophomore Courtney Route and senior captain Kaeli Armstrong, before Chicopee crossed the restraining line into Bromfield defensive territory for the first time in the game. However, Bromfield recovered the ball and Planchet scored.
Bromfield ended the half with one more goal from Parlee to make it 11–0.
In the second half, Bromfield began to run new plays, experimenting to determine what worked and what didn’t. Although Chicopee had some attempts at goals, Bromfield generally recovered the shots.
Goalie Emily Podgorni prepares to block one of the few shots on goal in Bromfield’s 16–0 shutout of Chicopee, May 30.
Chicopee’s best chance to score came after a Bromfield goal by Carlisle. Chicopee won the draw and passed back down the field, placing the ball in the net. However, the referee ruled the shot illegal, and Chicopee had to attempt the shot again from the 8-meter line. This time, junior goalie Emily Podgorni saved the ball and sprinted outside the safety of the goal circle into the field, nearing the restraining line before she turned around and passed the ball back to one of her teammates. Bromfield used this opportunity to take the ball up the field, letting Armstrong score.
Bromfield ended the second half with three more goals, one from eighth-grader Izzy Katter and two from Route, for a final score of 16-0.
Planchet reached a milestone in this game, scoring her hundredth point.
Bromfield will go on to face the winner of the game between Grafton, seeded second, and Assabet, seeded 15th, at a to-be-determined time.
Kate Selig is a Bromfield sophomore.
