Warriors Head Into Division 1 Tournament on a Positive Note

By Eliot Schickler

Notice to Division 1 girls' soccer teams. Watch out for Brookline High because it's playing its best soccer, and possibly peaking right now.

Brookline won its third straight game to end the regular season with a resounding 5-0 victory at a strong Danvers High on October 26 to close the regular season at 8-6-3. The Warriors are the
third-seed in the Division 1 soccer tournament where they will host 35th-seeded Brockton High on Tuesday, November 5, at 4 p.m. at Parsons Field. Danvers ended its regular season at 12-3-3 and will be the seventh seed in the Division 3 tournament.

“We played a solid game from the first whistle to the last,” Brookline Coach Ben Peters said. “We scored two early goals to give us some momentum and we just kept on rolling from there.”

Warriors senior quad-captain Makena Hammond was the heroine by netting Brookline’s first two goals, giving it a 2-0 halftime lead.

“I would say the key was timing and patience. It also required good communication with teammates and practice finishing,” Hammond said. “I think scoring early always gives us momentum, and it was a good confidence boost to get us going for the rest of the game.”

Junior Julia Vienello assisted on Hammond’s first goal, and senior quad-captain Sydney Freese set up her second goal. Freese played a role in four of the team’s five goals with two tallies and two helpers.

“I just drove down the left side of the field and as I was curving in to get a better look at the box, she was making a great run in front of the goal,” Freese said. “From there I hit it toward her and she did so well to control and finish it.”

A year earlier, the Danvers Falcons lost 5-1 to the Warriors at Skyline Park on October 29, 2023. Brookline wanted to duplicate its performance from 2023 and it made sure it raised its game a few

levels.

“We scored two early goals, which set the tone for the rest of the game. We continued to press them, not let up defensively, and get to goal. Ultimately, those two early goals inspired confidence within the team and definitely gave us momentum early on,” Warriors senior quad-captain Anna Leschly said. “We wanted to close out our regular season strong, so I think the whole team was motivated to display a dominant performance. We wanted to keep a clean sheet and get some goals, which is exactly what we did.”

Freese said, “We really wanted to get things rolling as early as possible. Scoring just gives you another boost of energy and gets you excited for what's possible in the following minutes.”

Senior Babette Hall led Brookline’s defensive backfield with two great clears. Junior Mirabelle Keselman also executed her tackles well, and her booming free kicks gave the Warriors a chance
in the 18-meter box. Also playing well on defense for Brookline were senior Greta Radtke,
Vienello, juniors Lila Cannon, Amalia Lindgren-Palm, Elin Lindgren-Palm, sophomores Jamie Magee, and Hannah Greer.

Having senior goalie Julia Churwin in the net as the last line of defense also lifted the Warriors. Churwin made a couple of brilliant saves.

Brookline also controlled the midfield with Leschly and senior quad-captain Vilena Tchernychev leading the way. Tchernychev led the charge in winning balls, along with classmates Nora Sheu and Ashley Churwin, and juniors Priscila Hill, Jada Kimbro, Eva Berkson, Elin Lindgren-Palm, and Amalia Lindgren-Palm along with sophomore Paige Hammond, which led to scoring chances for
the forwards, Freese, Makena Hammond, and themselves.

“I owe my play to my brothers, as well as my current and past teammates,” Tchernychev said. “I
have an older and younger brother and when the three of us were younger we spent hours playing on the street outside my house. I think playing on pavement which had potholes and made the ball roll much faster really helped my ball control and first touch. I also have learned a lot from my teammates. Whether it be the seniors my freshman year who were excellent players and leaders or my current teammates who are incredibly hard workers I think they have played a large role in shaping who I am as a player.”

Leschly said, “I have really enjoyed moving back into the midfield and combining with our forwards. Makena and Sydney are really good at being dynamic with their movement relative to each other and also relative to the attacking midfielders. I just love playing with them and being
creative in how we get forward and attack our opponents.”

Paige Hammond and Leschly also attacked the net but were mostly stopped by the Danvers' goalie. The plucky Tchernychev is short, but tough, and absorbed a hit in the second half by a Falcon defender. Following the hit, two of her teammates helped her off the field, but you can’t
keep the feisty captain off the field for too long. Shortly after her brief departure, she triumphantly returned to the applause of the crowd.

“I think the initial shock of the tackle really scared me for a second,” Tchernychev said. “All I thought about was ‘What if I get injured right before playoffs?’ Luckily it only hurt in the moment and a few minutes after and I was fine by the rest of the game. I just want to get back onto the field.”

The Warriors picked up where they left off in the second half. Less than five minutes in, Freese tapped a pass to Leschly, who alluded a couple of Falcon defenders before approaching the net and tucking it past the goalie with 35:35 remaining in the game.

“I noticed that the back line was stepping up, so when Sydney checked in, I made a run from the midfield to behind their back line,” Leschly said. “She slipped me in and then I was one-on-one with the goalie.”

Freese said, “Anna made an effective diagonal run forward which just made it easy for me to pass the ball for her to run on to. She then did such a great job beating the defense and scoring a beautiful goal.”

It took only 90 seconds for Brookline to add another goal when Elin Lindgren-Palm’s throw-in landed on Freese’s toe, who then went to the net and placed it behind the Danvers goalie with 34:05 left to make it 4-0.

“I think the key was just focusing on the opportunities that were there and trying to place the shots,” Freese said. “I got set up really well for both, so again, just focusing on finishing those was important.”

Freese closed the scoring at 13:43, by heading to the net and gently shooting home the ball after receiving a sliding pass from Kimbro. The play began when the Falcons’ goalie cleared it with Keselman intercepting the goal kick barely on Danver’s side of midfield and then crossing it to Kimbro.

“We wanted to close out our regular season strong, so I think the whole team was motivated to display a dominant performance,” Leschly said. “We wanted to keep a clean sheet and get some goals, which is exactly what we did.”

Tchernychev said, “A large part of such a convincing win against Danvers this past weekend was our hunger to end the season on a strong note. We have been through a lot of ups and downs throughout the season but we wanted to end strong going into playoffs.

Freese said, "We were very excited going into our last regular season game. We had a bus ride up that was just full of good energy in anticipation, and everyone was just happy to go out and play on a beautiful fall day'

Peters said, “This gives us great momentum going into playoffs. Being able to score a bunch of goals and rack up a few more wins to end the season will propel us perfectly into the playoffs to make a big run. We put in an all-around solid team performance. Everyone was on top of their game from back to front. To score five goals against a quality opponent and keep a shutout against them is very impressive.”

If the Warriors defeat Brockton, which they are favored to do, they will face the winner of Tuesday’s Belmont High-Braintree High game on a date to be determined.

“It is just comforting knowing that we have ended our regular season in a positive way and in good spirits,” Tchernychev said. “I think it is important that we are able to carry previous games into future ones so we can build on them and winning against Danvers is a stepping stone to the next game.”

Freese said, “We knew we wanted to end the regular season on a good note because we wanted that to lead into playoffs. We just want to carry over as much momentum as possible and keep building on it.”

Hammond said, “We played our game and we knew we had to get the job done to end the season on a strong win heading into playoffs. We were able to secure the three-goal difference, which was great because it meant we did everything we could to help our standings and really left everything out on the field.”

Peters said, “It’s the highest position we’ve ever finished since the power rankings began. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs during this season, but it just proves the quality of our team. We’re up there with the best in the state and we have something to prove this year.”