'It boosts their energy': Franklin field hockey, volleyball teams shown love in Final Four
EASTON – The door into the Final Two is a tough one to knock down.
Franklin’s field hockey and girls volleyball teams – playing 17 miles apart – found out just how hard it is to gain entry on Wednesday night when the Panthers faced two of the state’s most successful programs in any sport.
The field hockey team faced Walpole, which has won 12 state championships, though none since 2016. On the other side of Interstate 495, the volleyball Panthers took on Barnstable, which has 18 titles, but also hasn’t won since ‘16.
The evening ended in tears for both Franklin teams after a pair of state semifinal games, but not without an appreciation for how far both came and for the support they received.
Franklin volleyball captain Sasha Tracy marveled at the level of support shown by a loud student section at Oliver Ames High School, most wearing black, after the Panthers were swept by third-seeded Barnstable.
Her team’s signature win happened last Thursday when No. 10 Franklin went on the road to win at No. 2 Haverhill, which had lost just once during the regular season.
“The Haverhill game, we probably had 40 people coming to support us from an hour away,” Tracy said. “It makes us want to win even more knowing that our friends and family are here to support us. That’s how we got to where we were in the playoffs.”
Franklin’s field hockey team started on a jittery note at Taunton High, allowing an early goal in an eventual 4-2 loss. The Panthers became the only team to score more than once in a game against the Porkers, who take a 21-1 record into Saturday’s title match.
Franklin reached the Final Four two years ago and reached 20 wins for the second time in three years. A long way from when the team won just nine times in 2017.
“Every year, we try to set the bar higher, higher, higher,” field hockey coach Michelle Hess said. “Every year, they keep coming back. I knew that we could be here. The fact that you can say that you’re on of the top four teams in the state in Division 1? Pretty impressive."
Franklin field hockey falls to top-seeded Walpole
The Porkers (21-1) scored just two minutes and 40 seconds into the game on a penalty corner, one of six Walpole earned.
“They were nervous. They were so tight in the first quarter,” Hess said. “I really tried to work on the whole mental aspect of it, because (the Porkers) are intimidating to play. But I tried to rally them.”
After falling behind by two goals at the half, the Panthers (20-1-1) did indeed rally. After Raena Crandall’s rebound shot in the third quarter following a corner appeared to cross the goal line, the play was ruled “no goal.”
Shortly after, Haley Wernig wristed in a rebound to cut the deficit in half and as the stadium’s lights flashed, the Panthers gained much needed momentum. But Walpole responded just two and a half minutes later for a 3-1 lead.
The Panthers generated 17 corners, but many were kicked away by University of New Hampshire-bound goalie Abby Johnson. Crandall later scored for Franklin, who had the advantage in play for much of the game.
“I’d say we dominated 60% of that game,” Hess said. “We just couldn’t capitalize. We couldn’t finish.”
Franklin volleyball falls to No. 3 Barnstable
This Panther team also had to claw from behind, dropping the first two sets 25-22 and 25-18. But behind the serving of Makayla Kuykendall, Franklin gained an early lead in the third set. The Panthers led 19-16 but the Red Hawks, with a boisterous crowd of their own, came back to tie it at 22-all before an eventual kill on match point by Charlotte Sullivan led to a court-storming by Barnstable.
“They’re a great team, they really are,” said Franklin coach Samantha Redmond. “But the girls worked hard and they never gave up.”
“Although it didn’t end the way we wanted,” Tracy said, “I felt like we fought really hard against a really good team.”
The Panthers lost their starting libero, Leah Cooke, to a season-ending injury in a late-September loss to undefeated Canton. But entered the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak.
The winning ways continued through their run to the Final Four, where the Panthers were showered with support.
“People are starting to love volleyball more because it’s such a fun sport to watch; something’s happening all the time,” Redmond said. “Just seeing the fans come out and having the whole student section was really great. For the girls too, it boosts their energy when they have their peers supporting them.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Franklin field hockey, girls volleyball fall to titans in Final Four
