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Taccini Delivers in Clutch, Franklin Edges Hopkinton to Reach Semis
By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor
FRANKLIN, Mass. – Franklin took the lead in Monday afternoon’s Div. 1 quarterfinal at Beaver Pond Field midway through the second quarter. When the horn sounded at the end of the fourth quarter, the scoreboard showed that the Panthers were still in front by a goal, but Hopkinton forced a corner so even though the clock read 0:00 the game wasn’t over.
Senior Ella Fowler got space and time at the edge of the circle and hit a rocket into the far corner, tying the game in the most dramatic (or devastating, depending on your perspective) way possible.
It was the kind of moment that could derail a team, especially one as young as Franklin, but the Panthers regrouped, reset, and regained control of the game. The hosts dominated in 7-on-7 and one minute into the second overtime period freshman midfielder Cade Taccini was tripped while driving at goal.
The officials gave a penalty stroke for denial of a clear scoring opportunity. Taccini was the pick to step up to the spot to try and win the game. She coolly rifled the ball into the top corner, giving the goalie no chance, sealing a 2-1 win, and sending the Panthers to their third state semifinal in the past five seasons.
“Wild, wild,” said Franklin coach Michelle Hess. “In all my years, I’ve never experienced anything like that. Them scoring with no time left was pretty crushing but I walked over to my team and they were like, ‘We’ve got this.’ They were almost too excited, we did some reset breaths to get them back down.
She added, “As soon as they called that stroke, I knew it was going to be Cade. She’s got the strongest shot on our team and I had faith in her. They played out of their minds tonight. They really wanted this game and they wanted to send a message to show that we can get back to the Final Four.”
Taccini explained, “I knew that was my moment. I had to capitalize on it and if I didn’t I’d have to be running back and forth some more. I just remember putting the ball on the line and I knew my spot and I just knew I had to score that.”
Franklin started slowly in each of its first two playoff games but on Monday, even without leading scorerElla Marzullo who picked up an injury in warmups, the Panthers got onto the front foot early on.
Jossie Camp forced a turnover and stepped up into the attack. The ball swung to the right for Tori Cahill, who fed it to sophomore Penelope Brady on the right side of goal. Her shot was kicked aside by Riley Curtin. The rebound was cleared at the far post with freshman Lily Aparo lurking.
Late in the first, on a corner, Taccini slipped a pass to Addi Weiss but her shot was deflected out. Sophomore Clara Blongastainer followed with a drive through the crowd but there was no touch.
Hopkinton had a scoring opportunity early in the second quarter. Avery Quebec fired a shot towards goal but Abby Burke’s tip went wide. Taccini had another scoring chance at the other end and Brady saw her round cleared off the line with the rebound popping out to the other side the Hillers again managed to clear one right on the line.
The breakthrough came with 6:50 left to halftime and it came from an unlikely source. Taccini again played the initial pass into a crowd in front of goal and in the scrum, with Brady and Ava Lucenta also in the vicinity, junior Kiley Silvestri got the final touch to push the ball over the line, just her third goal of the season.
Fowler had a shot through a crowd blocked just in front of Franklin goalie Devon Barry, who didn’t face a shot on target until the Hopkinton goal, and Blongastainer managed to squeeze the rebound out of danger.
The best chance for the hosts came with no time left in the third quarter, as they created a pair of corners. On the second one, Taccini fired the ball into the crease and Brady got a piece of the shot but couldn’t steer it on goal.
In the fourth, Lucenta started a corner routine with a pass to Taccini, who found Brady in space to the right of goal. Her shot found Blongastainer’s stick but the deflection took the ball into her body. A couple minutes later, sophomore Samantha Feigen made a nice steal to keep Hopkinton pinned back. Brady fired the ball across the face of goal and Weiss wasn’t able to get a touch despite being at full stretch.
Searching for a second goal that could put the game away, Caydence Canavan found Taccini for a shot off a corner, but Curtin made the save.
Franklin had only allowed nine goals in 20 games coming into Monday, including a pair of shutouts in the playoffs, and hadn’t allowed a shot to get through to Barry since the opening round, but the Hillers got one more chance and Fowler did not miss with her unstoppable blast.
When the game went to 7-on-7, Hess threw out a lineup that included two seniors (Barry and Lucenta), a junior (Camp), two sophomores (Brady and Blongastainer), and two freshmen (Aparo and Taccini), with freshman Amelia Manning coming off the bench. In the biggest moment, it was a freshman that stepped up.
It comes as no surprise to Hess, who has leaned on her underclassmen right from the start. “They showed right from the get-go that they were going to buy into our culture and tradition,” she said. “We did graduate so many good players but these guys just believed from the very beginning and they knew we could get back.”
The Panthers don’t often have a chance to show off their resiliency but it was on full display on Monday, as they quickly righted the ship and found a way to win.
“It definitely impacted our team a lot,” Taccini said of the Hopkinton goal, “but our coach, she really calmed us down. We do breaths, they really work. We knew this was our moment, we can’t lose. We never lose on the Beav, we just had to come out as strong as we can.”
Franklin (16-2-3) will face No. 3 Wellesley in the Final Four on Wednesday night at Westboro High. Five years ago, the program reached its first state semifinal. Now, it is headed to its third. The Panthers have reached the quarterfinal every year under the new tournament format.
“I’m very blessed with players who just love this sport and they just come out every day and work hard,” Hess said, emotion creeping into her voice as she thought about what it takes to keep the program at this level. “The expectation every year is to get back here and they buy into it.”
Franklin Overcomes Slow Start, Shuts Out Waltham to Reach Elite Eight
By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor
FRANKLIN, Mass. – After a solid opening couple minutes, Franklin found itself on the back foot. Waltham, coming off its first playoff win in nearly two decades, started Thursday afternoon’s Div. 1 Sweet Sixteen contest at Beaver Pond Field intent on testing the relatively young Panthers and putting pressure on the higher seed.
The Panthers were struggling to move the ball, connect passes, and even get over half. They were pinned back in front of their own goal and the Hawks forced four corners in quick succession. Through it all, the Franklin defense held firm and senior goalie Devon Barry was untroubled.
For the second playoff game in a row, it took Franklin time to get into its usual rhythm but the defense continued to hold firm and give the attack time to click. The Panthers eventually did find their offense, getting goals from senior Addi Weiss and freshman Cade Taccini to beat Waltham 2-0 and advance to a fifth straight quarterfinal.
“They had way too many offensive corners,” Franklin coach Michelle Hess said, “but I don’t really get nervous because we’re good at them. We have a good system, we’ve got it figured out, so I knew we’d be okay, but you just don’t know, they slip one in and that’s the game-changer. We can’t give them up.”
The first quarter was notable for Waltham’s pressure and for the lack of goal-scoring opportunities for either team. Miyana Bahl did find the back of the net for the Hawks, but her shot was outside the circle and Barry smartly watched it roll harmlessly over the line.
Asked about what has made the Franklin defense, which includes senior Ava Lucenta, junior Jossie Camp, and sophomores Clara Blongastainer and Samantha Feigen, Barry explained, “Myself and Ava like to direct traffic around there. We’ve played together so long, we know where to tell people to move. Especially on corners, I’ll step out of the goal. I’ll make sure everyone’s situated, everyone’s calm and taken a breath and we’re set and ready.”
Franklin started to find some joy in the attacking half of the field starting in the second quarter. From a corner routine, Ella Marzullo passed it to Tori Cahill, who slipped a pass on the edge of the circle to Taccini. The freshman looked into the middle and found Marzullo, but the shot was just wide of the post.
Two minutes later, on the second corner in a row, Camp teed up Taccini on the edge of the circle, but the shot blazed past the post.
Finally, with 2:37 left in the half, Franklin got a breakthrough. Blongastainer won possession back for the Panthers and Camp showed great composure to move the ball out of defense. In transition, Taccini fired it into the circle and Weiss was able to settle the ball and blast it through the save attempt from Nina Joannidis.
“It took a little pressure off. It helped them to settle in,” Hess said of the goal. “We’re so young and I think that inexperienced showed a little today. We’ve got to keep working with them, just flush it and don’t let them get in your head.”
One goal is never a comfortable lead. Waltham went back on the offensive for the final couple minutes of the quarter and nearly got a tying goal with no time on the clock. From a late corner, Bahl found Meri Guden in space on the left side of goal but her shot skimmed across the crease and just missed the far post.
The second half was more of what everyone has become accustomed to from the Panthers. Their intensity seemed a little higher and they were pressuring the ball more quickly, forcing turnovers and turning them into chances. Taccini got it started with an interception and she picked out sophomore Penelope Brady on the right side, but her shot flashed across goal.
Late in the third, Caydence Canavan forced a turnover and found Brady on the opposite side, but Joannidis made the stop. Another Canavan steal opened up space for Marzullo to have a run and shot. It was blocked but Taccini pounced on the rebound and forced another save.
The best chance to double the lead came with a minute left in the quarter. Marzullo picked off the ball in midfield and slipped a pass into the run of Brady on the right wing. The sophomore was clean through on goal, but Joannidis stood tall to make the save.
Asked about the play of Franklin’s underclassmen, Barry (who started in goal as a freshman) said, “I kind of know how they feel and the legacy that they want to build. Each of them wants to be part of something great and something really special. We like to say ‘play for your seniors’, play so we all go out on a high.”
One of the standout players in Franklin’s defensive unit was Camp. The junior seemed to always be in the way when Waltham tried to come through the middle and her presence of mind in possession allowed the Panthers to escape danger and get into the attack.
“Phenomenal,” Hess said about Camp’s play. “She has the experience from last year that’s carrying over and I think we found her spot, moving her position this year. I think it helps having her a line back because she has that time and she’s so calm and her IQ is so high that she makes better decisions.”
Franklin got a crucial insurance goal on its eighth corner of the day. Canavan started the play with a pass out to freshman Amelia Manning, who settled the ball for Taccini to wind up and smash it through a crowd and inside the post.
The Panthers almost added another goal from another corner. Lucenta got it started with a pass out to Taccini and, with Waltham defenders racing out to block, found Marzullo for a shot that skipped wide.
“I think we’re always holding each other accountable and lifting each other up because we know what’s on the line,” Barry replied when asked about the consistency of the program to be back at this stage for the fifth season in a row.
She continued, “If you lose, you go home, so I think we all have that thought in our heads that we don’t want it to be our last chance. We always like to think one game at a time, so whatever we can do to get to that next game.”
Franklin (15-2-3) will face No. 10 Hopkinton in the quarterfinal on Monday afternoon at Beaver Pond Field. The Panthers will be looking to secure a spot in their third Final Four in program history (all have come in the last five years).
Franklin Shakes Off Rust in First Round, Runs Past Woburn
By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor
FRANKLIN, Mass. – It had been nearly two weeks since Franklin closed out the regular season with a win against Bishop Feehan. Inevitably, the Panthers took a little while to find their footing in Monday afternoon’s Div. 1 tournament opener at Beaver Pond Field.
Once the Panthers got up to speed, things went according to plan. Franklin scored three times in the second half and rolled to a 4-0 win against No. 31 Woburn to get back into the Sweet Sixteen.
“A little slow to start,” Franklin coach Michelle Hess admitted. “The break was good because we had some injuries but yeah we’ve got to get back to the routine. We’ve got to get back to playing and you play against each other so much it gets monotonous. And, I have a young team, so I think we had a little bit of nerves.”
Franklin struggled to connect passes and create scoring chances in the opening quarter. With 8:20 left in the first, the Panthers got a corner and Ella Marzullo fed the ball to the goal mouth where Ava Lucenta was stationed but her tip was cleared off the line by Woburn’s Emerson Lilley.
A couple minutes later, Clara Blongastainer pushed up from defense and picked out Marzullo in the middle. She tried to connect with Penelope Brady on the far post but Norah Poncia was in the way and cleared.
Things started to pick up for the hosts in the second quarter. Freshman Cade Taccini had a shot from distance that was kicked aside and Marzullo had two chances inside the circle — the first was blocked and the second hit off the outside of the net.
Hess explained, “They were pressing us pretty good, so we figured out that we had to switch the field and open up the field a little bit more. Physical team, they’re tough to get by.”
With nine minutes to go in the half, Tori Cahill slipped a pass into the run of freshman Lila Reardon, but her touch was just wide of the post. Taccini was controlling the midfield and she played a pass to Reardon, who cut it across for classmate Lily Aparo but the ball was kicked out.
The breakthrough finally came on the fourth corner of the night. Lucenta started it with a pass to Blongastainer at the edge of the circle. Her blast was redirected by Aparo to Marzullo, who in turn fed Cahill on the post for a tap in.
Franklin kept pressing and had another good chance off a corner. Caydence Canavan played the ball across the circle to Cahill, who was denied her second goal by a nice save from Jillian Machnik. Lucenta had a chance on the rebound but could only steer it onto the post from a tight angle.
Hess urged her team to not let up in the second half and to put the game away. The Panthers responded to their coach’s message.
“The second half was so much better,” she said. “I challenged them that I wanted two goals in the third and they went out there and were able to do that, so I was happy with that. Our corners were a little off today, so that’s something we’re definitely going to focus on going forward.”
Marzullo nearly doubled the lead just 30 seconds into the third when she cut across the circle from right to left and forced a save from Machnik. Addi Weiss sent a ball across goal for Cahill at the back post but there was no touch and it went out. Marzullo then teed up Brady for a close-range chance that looked like it crossed the line before it was cleared. Again Lucenta was close on the rebound but Woburn survived.
Two goals in 32 seconds finally put the game away for the Panthers. With 1:35 left in the third, Brady was able to roll one through a crowd and find the back of the net. Almost immediately after, Brady’s pass found Marzullo open in the middle of the circle and she fired one inside the post to make it 3-0.
Franklin maintained control in the fourth (Devon Barry was only forced into one save in the game), but the attacking opportunities slowed down with the result just about settled.
There was time for another of Franklin’s underclassmen to notch her first playoff goal. Aparo was well-positioned on the post and she knocked in a loose ball to seal the win.
Asked about her younger players, Hess said, “They can level up. Sometimes they’ll play down a little bit and I say, no, we always have to play our game. Once they started getting into the groove, it definitely opened up.”
Franklin (14-2-3) will be back at Beaver Pond Field on Thursday afternoon to take on No. 18 Waltham, which upset Lexington in the opening round.
Monday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 10/20/25
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Goalies Put on Show, Franklin and Canton Finish Scoreless Again
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Monday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 10/06/25
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Friday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 10/03/25
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Defense Shines As Canton, Franklin Finish Scoreless
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Thursday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 09/25/25
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