This fall’s Belmont High School field hockey team had all the ingredients for a long Division 1 tournament run. A strong returning crew with playoff bona fides, developing complementary pieces, and promising newcomers led to members of the program believing in the potential to eclipse last year’s Elite Eight run.
But for the second straight year, that’s where the Marauders finished.
“We’re cursed with the elite eight,” said junior defender Elsie Lakin-Schultz, who also plays on Belmont’s ice hockey team, referencing their same fate last winter. “We can’t get past it for the life of us. It’s a little bit disappointing because I know we can go further.”
The number-six Marauders fell on the road to number-three Wellesley 3-2 on Friday afternoon after taking care of business in the first two rounds of the MIAA Division 1 tournament at home on Harris Field.
Belmont finished with a 17-4 overall record and outscored opponents 88-20. On paper, the record and margin look fantastic. In reality, the Marauders wanted more. Belmont topped Newton North 5-1 and Wachusett 4-0 to begin the postseason.
“It didn’t go the way we wanted to as we would’ve liked to go further,” said senior defender Niamh Lesnik, “but instead of dwelling on that… we [know we] had a successful season and that we did really well.”
The Marauders fell on a crisp fall afternoon as Wellesley won its 20th straight game before its home crowd. After a 1-1 deadlock early, Belmont fell into a 3-1 hole going into the fourth quarter. The Marauders charged late when freshman Amelia Long found the back of the cage with 9:12 to play in the fourth quarter, but the Raiders held on. They’ll face the winner of Monday’s matchup between Franklin and Hopkinton.
Belmont coach Jess Smith said, “Wellesley played better” than the Marauders, who struggled to make the passes they usually do and faced pressure on key players.
“It made it hard to generate the flow that we had in other games,” Smith said.
Senior captain Mackenzie Clarke capped her outstanding career as the program’s all-time leading scorer and winner of four team MVP awards. The UConn-bound midfielder scored her final high school tally to tie the game at one in the waning moments of the first half. Her Belmont High School athletics career will continue on the ice with the Marauders ice hockey team. Likewise, for numerous Marauders – such as Lesnik, a Division I lacrosse commit to Fairfield – who participate in sports year-round.
Clarke, Lesnik, defender Caroline French, and Kate Killeen all graduate this year.
“Mackenzie’s obviously a huge loss,” Smith said, “but so are the others who are steady, athletic kids who we relied on the competitive nature that they brought will be missed.”
Belmont won 13 of its first 14 games. They lost two of three to close the regular season before winning the first two tournament games in convincing fashion.
“We definitely had our ups and downs,” Lakin-Schultz said. “In the last bit of the regular season, we were in a bit of a rut, but got over that by going into the playoffs and really playing team field hockey.”