By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

The object of high school sports is to put together a team that can eventually challenge for a State Title. While not as easy as it seems the Ashland girls lacrosse team has been able to inch its way toward that goal over the last few years.

Under the guidance of Coach Katie Blasi, the Clockers have been able to work its way through the Division 3 State Tournament. Last spring Ashland was able to finish the season with a 14-6 record earning themselves a number six seed the tournament. The Clockers would dispatch of Archbishop Williams 19-4 and Nauset Regional 19-8 gaining their way into the Elite 8, where they would fall 14-8 to Hanover finishing their season with an overall 16-7 record.

From that season Blasi said goodbye to a lot of talented seniors but is not all tat worried about it as those girls returning along with some new blood will give the Clockers enough talent to continue along their path.

“Year after year the goal is to try and continue on the track that we’ve been on,” the Ashland Coach said. “We want to make the playoffs and continue to creep further and further into it. We would like to stretch our season as long as we can while building upon what we have created in the past.”

Playing in the Tri-Valley League, a league the Clocker Coach believes is one of the strongest in the state, gives Ashland a taste of what they need to do if the want to capture a Championship. The Clockers opened this year with a loss to Westfield (a team that went to the Division 2 Elite 8 last year). 

“I expect this team to be in the top of the middle half of the league,” Blasi said. “Medfield (last year’s Division 3 State Champion) and Westwood are the tops of the league and we are right behind them chipping away to get closer.”

The Clocker Coach is looking for her two captains midfielder Paige Tripp and attacker Abbey Lombardo to take the team to the next level this spring. According to Blasi, both girls are big-time players o the field and the ones that set the tone while getting the team organized and focused.

Tripp is an instrumental part of getting control of the draws to allow Ashland possession of the ball. She is also strong in transition, moving the ball well while able to get open when she doesn’t have the ball. She is the glue to the clocker midfield.

Lombardo, on the other hand, is the finisher with a great hard shot. Although the senior only recorded 2 goals and 2 assists last year, Blasi is looking for her to contribute a lot more this spring.

In addition to Lombardo putting the ball into the oppositions net, Blasi is looking for junior attacker Lilly Vitti to continue her success from a year ago where she had 30 goals and 12 assists for Ashland. 

“She can really thread the needle,” the Coach said. “She can find the smallest gap in the oppositions defense and get the ball there; she definitely makes things happen. When she doesn’t have the ball in her possession, she works extremely hard in getting it back.”

Senior Ayla Turncliff is looking to get back on the field and show she still can be an impact. Last year she was lost to an ACL injury and the team definitely missed her presence on the field. This year, Blasi has noted that the senior has show right away that she is going to make an impact and will be an important piece in the Clockers success. 

Two sophomore midfielder that Blasi will look to take their game to the next level will be Maggie Magennis and Payten Tripp. The duo are talented athletes with the skills and speed to make things happen on the field.

While the offense will be providing the Clocker were goals, it will be the job of the defense to keep the opposition at bay. Leading the back line of defense will be junior Ashley Forster, the team’s top defensive player. 

“She has a high lacrosse IQ and can read the play and know what is going to happen and communicate it to her teammates,” Blasi said. “She is also a strong attacker so she’ll get some playing time at midfield as well this year.”

The very last line of defense will be goalie Alannah Duffy. As a freshman keeper last year, the Clocker keeper recorded 120 saves with a 43% save ratio. As she enters her second season in goal, the sophomore finds herself much more confident in her game. According to the coach, she has been working with her club team on her skills to get ready for this season. 

“She’s become more assertive this year,” Blasi said. “As a freshman she was trying to figure things out and now she is more confident and mature as well as vocal in the defensive end.”

If the Clockers can continue their success of moving another step deeper into the tournament, they should be able to find themselves in the Final 4 this year or maybe even further.