October 1 2025 – Story and photos by William Wassersug
Heading into Friday’s field hockey game at Cohasset, the Harborwomen looked unstoppable, with an 8-0 record, outscoring opponents 53-1 while continuing the outstanding play that got them to the Division 2 Final Four last season.
Meanwhile, Division 4 Cohasset entered the game with a 5-2-1 record that included a 1-1 tie with Scituate, a team Hingham had beaten 7-0 not long ago.
When all was said and done, Hingham came out of the game still undefeated, but with a hard fought 1-1 tie that felt different on both sides.
For Hingham, who led 1-0 heading into the fourth quarter on a third quarter goal from Haylen Wilson, there was a bit of disappointment, while on the Cohasset side it felt closer to a victory as Kate Greer scored the tying goal with less than two minutes left in the game.
“That was a good game against a good team,” Hingham coach Sue Petrie said. “My kids are bummed out because they think they should be better. I like that. We’re nitpicking in practice now because they know what it feels like and what it takes to get back there.”
Hingham had a couple of chances with corners as time expired in the first quarter, but Cohasset goalie Ella Otfinoski made a couple of saves to keep the game scoreless and both teams played pretty evenly in the second quarter before Wilson scored, taking advantage of corner in the third.
“She makes those goals happen,” Petrie said of her 100-point scorer. “She works for those goals. She doesn’t just stand there. She works for those goals. That was a great shot. We’ve had some great connections. Ryan Hallisey has a really hard shot, really hard to stop. That was important for us.”
Once Wilson knocked in the first goal, Hingham’s offense took control, keeping the ball in front of the Cohasset net the rest of the quarter.
While the tie wasn’t what the team was hoping for, Petrie thought there were some excellent performances.
“I think Kaitlyn Manning did an exceptional job,” she said, adding that Manning usually play a back center-midfield, but was moved up to high forward midfield for the game. “She’s very confident on the ball and she helped us swing the ball from left to right. I’d say our goalie Molly McDonald played great. We have two goalies. Molly played today. She’s a sophomore and she made some huge stops for us.”
Through those first eight games, Hingham has been able to spread the scoring around, buoyed by a strong passing game.
“Our biggest strength is our passing,” Petrie said. “We have such great chemistry and the girls get along so well on and off the field that when we move the ball well it’s really impressive. There’s not just one person. We don’t have one superstar. We have lots of people who can score. It’s our passing and being able to switch fields.”
On the Cohasset side, the feeling was a bit different.
“This was a game all of us were pretty excited about because in past years we’ve lost a lot to them,” Cohasset captain Lucy Royston said. “Once we started getting momentum and holding them back, I think we started picking up and the goal got us really excited to even just tie them because it’s been blowouts in years past.”