Saturday was quite the day for the Four Rivers Charter School ultimate teams.
Behind stellar defensive play throughout the day, both the girls and boys varsity teams each won their respective A Divisions during the Four Rivers Invitational at Greenfield Community College.
The girls defeated Northfield Mount Hermon School, 13-6 in the championship game. Four Rivers opened up a 7-1 lead at halftime and never trailed in the match. Freshman Ashley Schlinger hit classmate Afri Flynn for the game-winning catch for Four Rivers, and the “Freshmen Connection” also hooked up for scores two other times in the game, with each player on the receiving end of one of those scores. Flynn finished with five scoring catches and one assist in the game. Hailey Tsatos had four assists in the finals.
Four Rivers went 3-0 in pool play to reach the championship. In the first game of the tournament, the Otters faced Hartsbrook, a first-year program. Hartsbrook actually scored the first two points of the match but Four Rivers switched to a zone defense at that point and scored 13 straight points to earn a 13-2 victory. Lyra Macek — who led Four Rivers in scoring catches on the day with 10 — caught the game-winning point on a pass from Michaela O’Donnell. The highlight of the opening game came on Four Rivers’ 11th point of the victory when Alouette Batteau laid out near the end zone and one sideline to haul in a pass and then found Schlinger, who laid out herself to make the scoring catch.
Four Rivers moved on to face NMH in the second match of the day and earned a 13-3 victory. Batteau had five assists and caught two points in that match, and Macek caught the game-winning point for the second straight game.
The third game of pool play was a defensive gem for Four Rivers as the Otters shut out Andover, 13-0. It took just 16 minutes for Four Rivers to score the seven points it needed to get to halftime. O’Donnell caught the game-winning point on an assist from Emily Brazerman, who finished with one goal and two assists in the match. Batteau added one goal and five assists in the win.
Otter boys win
The boys went 3-0 on the day to win the A Division
Four Rivers opened with a 13-9 victory over Northampton. The Otters led 5-4 at one point in the first half but scored twice in a row and took a 7-4 lead into the break. Four Rivers came out of the break and scored four straight to take command of the game. Evan Leaf and Sulli Schnoor each were steady throwers and helped calm the team down following the close start to pull away.
In the semifinals, the Otters used steady play on both ends of the field to defeat Masconomet High School, 13-3.
That sent Four Rivers to the finals where they faced Northfield Mount Hermon School. The Otters opened up a 7-0 lead at halftime and never looked back en route to a 13-4 victory.
On the day, Four Rivers completed 90 percent of its passes
The girls junior varsity team also captured the title in the girls B Division, which included several varsity squads.
Other champions
The Four Rivers girls junior varsity team gave the school its third crown of the day as it won the Girls B Division title.
The Otters beat three varsity teams en route to the crown, including a victory over Needham in the championship game.
Andover captured the Boys B Division title, while the Amherst Regional Middle School team won the Boys C Division championship.