The 4-0 Falcons traveled to 4-0 Masco Tuesday afternoon for battle for top position in the N.E.C. Dunn Division.  Masco came into the game riding a 48 game, unbeaten streak during the regular season and ranked the #14 Team in New England.  The game went back and forth early on with each Team's defenses standing strong.  Freshman Maddie Hannas did a fantastic job at slowing down Masco's high scoring senior, Amanda Schneider.  The center back duo of freshman Ali Doucette and junior Addi McCarty did well to keep the Danvers defense organized and cleared out any dangerous chances by the Chieftans.

 

"It was nice to have Addi back on the field after almost 2 weeks without her.  She looked good out there and gave us a security in the back.  Maddie Dembowski made some big saves early and her confidence was showing.  I thought overall, we defended very well."

 

Junior Ashley Freitas was a warrior, battling all game long in the middle of the field.  She drew the difficult task of having to mark ultra dangerous sophomore Maggie Blosser and Freitas did a terrific job.  Freitas played physical, smart defense.  Junior DeAnna Figueiredo had a great half in the middle of the field as well.  With 11 minutes remaining in the half and the scored still tied at 0-0, Masco was awarded a free kick from about 20 yards out.  Danvers set up a 5 player wall, but the Masco kick was taken perfectly.  Goalkeeper Dembowski was able to dive and get her finger tips on it, but the hard shot found the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

 

"We played hard the first half but I felt we were letting them win too many 50 / 50 balls.  They dominated us in the air as well but we felt we could certainly get back in the game the second half."

 

Danvers through more into the attack early in the second half.  The game went back and forth but Masco had the edge in shots.  Maddie Dembowski continued to look solid in net and recorded 16 saves in total on the day.  Junior defender Lila Flynn made several keep plays in the back to keep Masco from increasing their lead.  24 minutes in, Danvers changed the momentum of the game.  Senior captain Georgia Prouty collected the ball around midfield and sprint dribbled passed her defender.  As Prouty approached the goal box with defenders closing in, she noticed junior forward, Claudia Drakos making a solo run towards the back post on the right side of the field.  Prouty slid a perfect pass across the goal mouth and Drakos was perfectly positioned to slam it home, tying the game.

 

"Georgia has the ability to makes something happen for us offensively at any given moment of the game.  Claudia made a great run and that was a perfect goal.  It was so nice to see Claudia rewarded because she was flying in the second half."

 

With the game 1-1, Danvers continued to battle but Masco's attack picked up the intensity and created more chances.  With 7 minutes to play, the Home Team cashed in on the eventual game winner.  Only 2 minutes later, Masco added a third goal, sealing the victory and increasing their winning streak to 49 games.

 

"We played with them for 80 minutes.  They're a very strong team and it took a lot of energy to defend them.  I know it's a tough feeling right now for the players but I feel this game will certainly make us stronger going forward.  We have things we need to work on, but we'll get a second opportunity against them in a couple of weeks at Home."

 

"Ali Doucette defended so well today.  She was always in the right position and made some big plays at the right time.  Maddie Hanas was the same.  She really made it difficult for Schneider to get any good looks on our goal.  You would never have thought Ali and Maddie were freshman by the way they played.  They were incredible and both played all 80 minutes of the game."

 

Danvers record is 4-1 and Masco improved to 5-0 in N.E.C. play.  Danvers hosts a very strong Marblehead Team on Friday night at 6:30.