Hornets Fall To Dover-Sherborn In Semi-Final Matchup

North Reading lost only their third game of the season this year on Saturday. Unfortunately it cost them a trip to Harvard Stadium to play in the Division 3 East championship game next week.

The Hornets fell, 19-6, to Dover-Sherborn who scored early and often in the semi-final matchup.

“We had a great year. This is only our third loss of the season,” said North Reading head coach Chuck Campobasso. "But at the end of the day I think what caught up to us was our lack of depth.”

That lack of depth was due to some of the Hornet players getting injured and suspended earlier this week.

“It’s been a tough week for us,” Campobasso said. “We had some injuries and we didn’t have the people to replace those injuries.”

Starting defensemen Conor Murnane broke his shoulder in practice on Wednesday.

Campobasso had to shift his lineups to try and make up for the missing players.

“It leads to a domino affect. I’m robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Campobasso said.

Dover-Sherborn's passing and ball handling skills were too much for the Hornets to overcome.

Cody Carbone led the Hornets with three goals and three assists in the game.

“They had a player with over 100 points so we had to be careful with him,” D-S head coach Brian McLaughlin said of Carbone.

Campobasso said that despite the loss the season overall was a success.

“We won our portion of the Cape Ann League. We had a great, fantastic year. We beat, to get to this point, some fantastic programs in Hanover and Hamilton-Wenham," Campobasso said.