Bowers Sisters, Hesse Deliver To Lift Monomoy Girls Soccer In Tournament Win

HARWICH – All season, Monomoy girls soccer coach Jennifer Peterson spoke about the team’s desire to host a home state tournament game. 

On Monday night, the Sharks seized their moment. 

Junior Riley Hesse recorded two goals and an assist, classmate Mackenzie Bowers netted a pair of goals, and seniors Lucy Bates and Paige Nash and freshman Delaney Bowers tallied a goal each to help lift No. 26 Monomoy to a lopsided 7-0 victory over No. 39 Cathedral in the preliminary round of the Division 4 state tournament. 

With the win, Monomoy (10-8-1) will travel to No. 7 South Hadley (12-4-2) for a Round of 32 matchup at 5 p.m. Wednesday. 

“I always think getting these preliminary games at home is better than waiting a couple more days to play because we’ve already waited a week, and it gives them another home game under the lights,” Peterson said. “We always get up for them, and it’s always good to send them out on a positive note on our home turf. This was good for them and a great win.”

The Sharks wasted no time before taking control of the game, as they created early scoring chances before Mackenzie Bowers opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Approximately 10 minutes later, Hesse made it 2-0 before the younger Bowers pushed the team’s lead to 3-0 with the first goal of her career. 

“I’m so happy,” Mackenzie Bowers said about her younger sister’s goal. “It was like the best thing ever to see her score. Even though I wasn’t on the field with her, I’ve been wanting her to get one all season. So, it was like the best thing ever, especially in the last home game.”

Although the elder Bowers, Hesse and sophomore Rylie Gillis were critical to the team’s offensive success, Peterson said it was great to see five girls score goals in the win.

“I think it’s good for their confidence,” the coach said. “We have the front line that scores a lot with Riley, Rylie and Mackenzie, so getting other people the confidence that they can shoot from the outside is really important.”

For the players, it was a thrill to defend their home turf with one final victory in Harwich. 

 “I was really pumped up,” said Mackenzie Bowers, a Chatham resident. “It’s really nice to have a home game under the lights, even if it’s a preliminary game. It’s really nice to have that strong push going into the state tournament.”

 It won’t get any easier for the Sharks on Wednesday, when the team will travel approximately 170 miles to take on an unfamiliar South Hadley squad. 

 Although Peterson admitted the team doesn’t know too much about their next opponent, she said “it’s always kind of fun” to face the challenge of playing a new team.

 “I feel like the last few years we’ve gone to Littleton and played such good games,” Peterson said. “We’ve always gone and given them a heck of a fight, so I feel like we have that confidence from years past that we can go in and play anyone.”

The second-seeded Monomoy field hockey team cruised to a 9-0 victory over Smith Academy in a Division 4 first-round game Friday in Harwich. 

 Emery Cappallo tallied three goals and an assist, Sam Clarke notched a hat-trick, Emily Layton netted two goals and assisted on another, and Sophie Laviree also scored for the Sharks (17-0-2), who hosted No. 15 Northbridge in a second-round matchup Tuesday after The Chronicle’s deadline.

 The 17th-seeded Monomoy boys soccer team traveled to Chelsea on Tuesday after press time to open its postseason with a Division 4 first-round tilt against No. 16 Excel Academy Charter School.