The Division 1 South Sectional Tournaments for girls and boys went just about according to plan: on the boys side, the top two seeds, the No.4 team, and the No. 6 team made it to the semifinals. On the girls side, again the top two seeds advanced, along with the five seed.
However, there was one outlier — the Cinderella, No. 19 seed Walpole Rebels, who knocked off 14 Plymouth South, 3 Oliver Ames, and 6 North Attleborough on their way to their first South Sectional semifinal berth in over ten years.
This incredible, unlikely run — especially in a tournament that had yielded few upsets (3 for the Rebels and only 6 in total) — ended Thursday night at the hands of the 2nd seeded Bishop Feehan Shamrocks. After the characteristic 90 minutes of scoreless play, the Rebels’ back line was finally breached when the slick surface gave Feehan the first goal allowed for the Rebels after 296 minutes of postseason play. Feehan controlled the majority of play from the end of the first half on, but junior sweeper Abby McMackin and sophomore goalie Kaitlin Brown continually cleared the ball, relieving the consistent pressure.
Senior forward Lauren Regan — the Rebels’ main scorer for the season — was unable to generate anything offensively, being hampered with an injured ankle she picked up against North Attleborough. Freshman Tayla Randall looked the most dangerous Rebel attacker, constantly chasing down balls in the corner with little to no other attacking support.
Finally, after it looked certain that the girls would participate in their third PK game of the tournament, the unbreakable defense was broken, and as Bishop Feehan put the loose ball into the open net after a tough bounce to Brown, the run was over. Unfortunately, Rebsoc’s run ended just short of the South Sectional Final, which would have been their first since 2001.
“It stinks,” said senior Captain Abbey Smith. “We were so close.”
However, Rebsoc’s run was a lot more than so close to the South Sectional Final; it was an unparalleled series of upsets from the most unlikeliest of places. Getting into the tournament on a 1-0 win against Norwood on the last day of the season, the Rebels embraced the last seed in the whole sectional and went to Plymouth South. After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, Smith put in the last PK to give the Rebels their second straight first round tournament win.
Their next round game — against a heavily favored No. 3 Oliver Ames — the Rebels again grinded through 100 minutes of constant pressure to keep the game scoreless. This was Brown’s best game, in which she made at least 5 saves on open OA chances, none more important than her tip over the bar in the last three minutes of regulation to deny OA a certain winner. Then, in PKs, Brown saved three penalty kicks, giving junior Ashley Levya the golden opportunity to win the game on the eighth PK, which she did.
The quarterfinal game against No. 6 North Attleborough was the easiest game for the Rebels — based on the score, at least — as junior Steph Lund scored a ‘SLUNDerful’ left-footed strike from the top of the box to the upper corner. Regan added another goal before half time, giving the Rebels more cushion than they would ever need, as Brown kept her shutout streak going and the Rebels advanced.
A common theme in Rebsoc’s playoff journey was unquestionably the play of Brown — throughout, she kept the Rebels in every game, one breakaway save after another. In the Bishop Feehan game, Brown made at least three saves on clear cut Shamrock chances to preserve the shutout. Her performance, along with the aggressive, man-marking play of seniors Smith and Mehron Hoag and juniors McMackin, Julie Moser, and Annie Gallivan on defense, were paramount to the Rebels’ success.
“[Brown] was our best player in the tournament by far,” said senior Captain Karalyn Kickham. “We wouldn’t have made it as far as we did without her.”
The Rebels lose 11 seniors from this year’s squad, but only four starters — Kickham, Regan, Hoag, and Smith — and look to go further and have even more success, with the experience from this year under their belt.
“We’ve gone farther every year since [Coach Erin Kearney]’s been in charge,” said McMackin. “Next year, we’re going to set our goals high and look to win a State Championship.”
With tournament call-up Randall — the surprise of the tournament, logging important minutes — Levya, Lund, McMackin, Gallivan, junior Claudia Schoenthaler and sophomore Lisa Regan, the Rebels have a talented foundation to build around to accomplish those goals.
“The example that these seniors gave us, especially the senior Captains, will help us so much in the future,” said Lund.
This was the first year that all of these girls had won more than one playoff game, so next year they should know what to expect in a 20-21 game season. Even though there’s not one Rebel on the team that wanted their season to end the same way it ended last year — at the hands of Bishop Feehan — there’s something to be said for what Cinderella story accomplished. Sort of a fairy tale, actually.
