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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
In 2014, Wellesley ended Walpole’s season with a 1-0 victory in the state tournament, so the Porkers know to never take the Raiders lightly.
On Friday, the Porkers (2-0) and the Raiders (1-1) met in Wellesley for their first of two meetings in 2016, with Walpole coming out on top 4-1. Despite being the defending Division One-South champion, the Porkers fell behind early after Lexi Why ripped a shot past Audrey Lynch to put the Raiders up 1-0 early in the first half.
Midway through the first, Walpole responded with a goal from Mel Weber to knot the game up at one. With less than five minutes left in the first half, Alex Rodia took a pass from her twin sister, Sam, inside the circle and fired a shot past the reach of several Wellesley defenders to put the Porkers up 2-1.
Just before the sound of halftime, Sophia Giovaniello tipped the shot of Mel Weber from the top of the circle into the back of the Wellesley net to put the Porkers on top 3-1 at the break.
The Porkers came out firing in the second frame with Mel Weber adding her second goal of the game early in the second half, putting the Porkers up 4-1. Walpole played tough defensively throughout the entire second half, holding the Raiders to just three shots on net in the final 30 minutes.
“We fell behind early as we didn’t play a full 60 minutes, and thankfully that didn’t come back to bite us,” said Porkers head coach Marianne Murphy.
“There’s definitely a lot to improve on, specifically breakaways, as we missed a couple of really good chances, and it also wouldn’t hurt to play a bit more consistent. But overall, I’m happy with the effort we gave tonight, it was a good win.”
The Porkers return to the field on Monday at home against Brookline while Wellesley will travel to face Weymouth.
