Can a Belmont High School fall sports team win a state championship this year?
Marauders field hockey, girls volleyball and boys and girls soccer teams all hope so, earning spots in the MIAA Division 1 State Tournament, which kicks off this week.
Seeded No. 5, Belmont field hockey (16-2) closed the regular season with 14 straight victories after starting out .500 over the first four games of the season. Despite graduating six starters from last year’s team, the Marauders won an extra regular season game from a year ago to finish as Middlesex League champions. The Marauders host No. 28 Barnstable (3-12-3) in the Round of 32 on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Junior midfielder Mackenzie Clarke boasts 36 goals and 17 assists. The University of Connecticut commit asserted herself as one of the region’s top talents this fall regardless of class. Sophomore Gigi Mastrangelo (11 goals, 3 assists), senior Ryan Brodigan (8 goals, 4 assists) and freshman Mia Smith (2 goals, 8 assists) lead a deep team that features 13 different goal scorers. Freshman goaltender Zoe Bruce stepped up to provide a veteran-like presence in the cage.
The Marauders only two losses came to the reigning Division 2 and 3 state champions, Reading and Watertown, respectively. MAX Field Hockey ranks Belmont 14th in New England among both public and private schools. They’ve outperformed coach Jess Smith’s preseason expectation of a roughly .500 record.
“I have a very athletic group of students who worked really hard and wanted to get better,” Smith said. “They went into every game expecting to win.”
Volleyball
A midseason eight-match win streak helped propel girls volleyball (12-8) to the tournament. Seeded No. 25, the Marauders will travel to No. 8 Bishop Feehan (15-5) for the Round of 32 on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Senior Wenxi Wang, junior Wuyee Ke and sophomore Yekaterina Polina all collected more than 100 kills throughout the regular season. Polina and junior Sadie Boas each blocked over 10 shots. Ke, the team’s leading scorer, also tops the team in service receptions.
Junior Sophia Qin’s nearly 500 assists rank amongst the top in the state, and coach Jen Couture credits the setter as the offensive hub.
“She has worked so hard every season and keeps improving her skills,” Couture said. “Her serving is incredibly consistent and aggressive.”
Boys Soccer
Backed by standout senior goalkeeper Thomas Borkowski who coach Chris Camille joked has “one million saves,” Marauders boys soccer (11-3-4) finds out who they play on Halloween. Senior attacker Daniel Lu leads the team with 14 goals and junior Daniel Chang owns six assists. Per Camille, seniors Owen Filler and Andrew Schreiner “both bring an intensity, competitiveness and focus that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet but is obvious when you watch the match just how important they are to the group” and sophomore Yassin Abdelazim improved throughout the regular season into a key starter.
Led offensively by senior Lily Hovsepian’s nine goals and six assists, girls soccer (10-1-7) had yet to lose this fall until the final game of the regular season, a 2-0 defeat against Westford. The Marauders tied the three prior games and are looking for their first win in more than two weeks to start tournament play.
The soccer teams find out their seeding, playoff opponents and logistics on Friday.