It was a special night at Dr. Deering Stadium Friday evening.  Even though it was a cold and rainy night, the stands were filled with fans all showing support and Love for one of Danvers's own...  Long time Coach, Jerry "Hillsy" Hills was recognized Friday evening for his 40 plus years Coaching in Danvers at the High School (Varsity and Junior Varsity) and youth levels dating back to 1978.  Coach Hills had many of his Family and friends as well as former players in attendance for his special night.  Coach Hills retired after last fall due to battling some health issues.  Although he's still battling today, it was a blessing and super exciting to see him back on the sideline for the game.  Players signed special gifts for Coach and donations were collected from the 100 + in attendance.  The proceeds of the evening will be donated by Coach Hills to the My Brother's Table soup kitchen in Lynn and the St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  It was a very emotional start to the evening.

 

"Hillsy is a Legend.  He helped start this soccer program and we are where we are today because of the foundation he built.  He has always coached with passion, love and kindness and anyone that has ever played for him, is a better person because of him.  I can't thank him enough for all that he has taught me and he is such an important part of the D.H.S. soccer Family.  He is Loved by us all.  I'm so happy that he was able to come out to be with us tonight.  We are all constantly thinking of him."

 

After the pre-game festivities, the game began between the 5-2 Falcons and the 3-1 Crusaders.  Both Teams came out strong and B. Fenwick put a few early shots on the Danvers net that junior keeper, Maddie Dembowski made saves on.  Then, in the 7th minute of the game, junior Georgia Prouty broke up the left side of the field and beat her defenders.  She played a perfect ball across the box and senior captain, Krysta Zamejtis slammed it Home for the 1-0 lead.  Zamejtis made a perfect diagonal run on the play.

Only 3 minutes later, junior Brooke Wynott set up her teammate, sophomore DeAnna Figueiredo with the second goal of the game.

 

"Brooke and Dee looked great right from the start.  Brooke's touch was on and Dee was flying out there on the wing.  She had a fantastic game for us."

 

The game went back and forth from that point on with both Teams seeing time in the other's territory.  Senior Captain and defensive mid Molly Godfried did well to slow down a couple of B. Fenwick's most dangerous players.  Sophomore Ashley Freitas also saw some time marking them.  Outside backs, senior captain Skylar Laws and sophomore Lila Flynn did well to nullify the speed on the wings of the visitors.

 

"Getting those 2 early goals gave us a small cushion, but B. Fenwick was still coming at us.  I loved that Krysta got us on the board first.  She has had a solid week for us in the attack.  I also though Addi McCarty was an important part of the first half for us, soaking up anything that got through our defense.  She was always there to get the ball out of harm's way."

 

Danvers got a the very important third goal in the 32nd minute.  Sophomore Olivia St. Pierre crossed a ball in and Georgia Prouty was there to finish the goal for the 3-0 lead.  However, in that same minute, B. Fenwick was awarded a thrown in deep in the Falcon end.  A Crusader player did a long throw in that took 1 bounce onto the foot of a B. Fenwick attacker who blasted a shot into the Home Team's net for the goal.  It would remain 3-1 going into halftime.

 

"That was a moment where we lost focus for a couple of seconds, and they made us pay.  We've had trouble putting Teams away early in this season.  We know how dangerous a 2-0 lead can be in soccer and we had struggled with it a couple times already this season.  We stressed, that we needed to put this Team away and seal this win."

 

Danvers did just that.  Only 2 minutes into the second half, Prouty scored her second goal of the game on a second assist by St. Pierre making the score 4-1.  Only 3 minutes later, St. Pierre was taken down in the box.  Danvers was awarded the penalty kick and the sophomore connected on a beautiful shot.  However, a Danvers player had entered the box too soon and St. Pierre was forced to take it again.  Fortunately, she connected again, this time making the score 5-1.

 

"Liv was so composed on both those penalty kicks.  That's not easy to do.  She's already scored on 1 and now the goalie knows where she likes to shoot.  For her to connect on back to back penalties really says a lot about Liv's ability and confidence to put it in the back of the net.  She had a tremendous game for us tonight.  Her passing was absolutely beautiful."

 

In the 9th and 10th minutes Danvers struck again.  First, Georgia Prouty played a quick corner kick to Wynott who took 1 dribble and curved a beautiful bending shot into the back of the net for the 6-1 lead.  Then, senior captain Reese Holland scored her first goal of the year on a scrum off of a corner kick taken by Prouty.  That goal made the game 7-1.  

 

Goalkeeper Maddie Dembowski only had to make 1 save the second half and continue to be a vocal leader in the back for the Falcons.  Sophomore Addie Lamar saw a lot of big minutes playing outside back and used her aggressiveness to continually keep the Crusader wing from getting by her.  In the 23rd minute of the second half, the Falcons struck again.  This time, freshman Emma Sutherland played a perfect pass leading her junior sister, Gianna through the visitor's defense.  Gianna Sutherland beat a defender and played a perfect cross over that Prouty put Home for her third goal of the night.  With 6 minutes to play, Holland scored her second goal of the game off another scrum in front of the net.  Sophomore Claudia Drakos assisted with her first career varsity point.

 

"Reese had an awesome game for us.  She was physical when she needed to be but her touch and her intelligent play in the back really was a weapon for us tonight.  The fact that she scored 2 goals was icing on the cake."

 

6 minutes later the final whistle blew and the Falcons had a 9-1 non league victory.  The win brings their season record up to 6-2.

 

"That was a huge win for us.  Definitely our biggest win of the season so far.  B. Fenwick is not a pushover.  They have a very good Team this year and they had us on our heals at times in the first half.  But the girls really came through as a Team and picked up the signature win.  The second half in particular was very, very good.  I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said about Georgia Prouty.  She was terrific tonight.  She's playing so unselfish and her speed is truly a weapon.  But it's not just her speed.  She sees the game in an advanced way.  She knows how to find space on the field and she know when to take it herself and when to trust her teammates.  She had 5 more points tonight and is playing at an extremely high level.  Hopefully this kind of victory can give us the confidence we've been looking for."

 

"The win was great for sure, but the best part of the evening was celebrating Hillsy.  He's an incredible man who we all Love and respect and we're all lucky to have been a part of his coaching career."