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By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Needham, Walpole, Westwood and Wellesley have all had incredible success in girls lacrosse over the last decade. The 2019 season was no different, as all four of these Division I powers made long tournament runs. Needham, Westwood, and reigning Division I champ Wellesley put together long tournament runs, with Westwood and Wellesley facing off in the South semifinals, while Needham took on eventual sectional and state champ Notre Dame Academy in the other semifinal.
Walpole, meanwhile, won their way to their second consecutive Division I East sectional title before falling to Notre Dame Academy in the state semifinals.
Despite all four of these powerhouse programs coming up short of their ultimate goal of a state championship, it is no surprise that the Globe’s girls lacrosse postseason awards were littered with names from Walpole, Needham, Wellesley and Westwood.
From Walpole, junior Sydney Scales (73 goals, 35 assists) and senior captain Audra Tosone (69 goals, 38 assists) were named All-Scholastic. Scales, a BC commit, was also named Bay State Conference MVP for her efforts. Tosone earned the honor of Will McDonough Female Athlete of the Year after being named All-Scholastic in three sports (field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse). Joining Scales and Tosone as Bay State Conference All-Stars are seniors Nikki Griffin and Abby McLaughlin.
In Westwood, seniors Fiona McGowan (69 goals, 21 assists) and Alex Finn (86 goals, 96 assists) earned the honors of All-Scholastic. Finn was also named TVL MVP. Ashley Mackin and Sarah Raycroft were named TVL All-Stars, along with the UMass-bound McGowan and BC-bound Finn.
Maeve Barker and Lexi Schmalz were the two names from Needham that earned All-Scholastic. Schmalz, who will play at Duke, led Needham in scoring with 102 goals and 40 assists, while Barker will head to Johns Hopkins. Lilly Callahan, Grace Kelley and Chloe Newman were all named Bay State Conference All-Stars.
In Wellesley, Maddy Balter earned the honors of All-Scholastic after leading the Raiders in scoring, despite dealing with a knee injury that forced her to miss a good chunk of the season. Balter was named Bay State Conference Co-MVP, along with Walpole’s Sydney Scales, and will play at Northwestern in the fall. Brooke Baker, Nicole Beckett and Maya Desmond were all named Bay State Conference All-Stars as well.
For funny and insightful sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter @fLAno0.
