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More ups than downs in Week 1

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Panther sports post a .722 winning percentage in first week of action.

Boys’ cross country struck first into the Week 1 win column and many followed, as the teams at Whitman-Hanson Regional High opened the fall season with a combined 6-2-1 record.

Boys’ cross country (1-0) began the season with a 24-36 victory over Pembroke on Wednesday, Sept. 5. Panthers finished in nine of the top 11 spots, led by a second-place finish from sophomore Theo Kamperides at 15:41.

Girls’ cross country (0-1) didn’t have the same luck against Pembroke and fell 15-45 on Wednesday, Sept. 5. Senior captain Maeve Mc-Donough was W-H’s top finisher with a time of 19:21.

Field hockey (1-0-1) opened the fall with a 1-1 tie against defending Patriot League Fisher Division champion Scituate on Wednesday, Sept. 5. Sophomore Delanie MacDonald supplied WH’s goal. … On Friday, with roughly two minutes remaining and the score deadlocked at 0-0, sophomore Lauren Clark potted the winner for W-H as it took down EastBridgewater, 1-0.

Football (1-0) routed Marshfield, 41-13, Friday, Sept. 7. Senior captain Ethan Phelps led the offensive onslaught with 187 total yards and four touchdowns (two rushing and two receiving). Senior captain Quinn Sweeney recorded 10 tackles on defense.

Golf (1-0) got off on the right foot with a 239-285 triumph over North Quincy on Wednesday, Sept. 5. Senior captain Owen Manning carded a 2-over-par 36 to lead the Panthers. … W-H had its match against Plymouth North the following day postponed due to the rain and lightning.

Boys’ soccer (1-0) defeated defending Division 4 South Sectional champion Cohasset, 2-1, Saturday, Sept. 8. The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 in the first half on goals from junior captain Jason Brodeur and sophomore Brad Pelissier and held on. Senior Nolan Clack registered two assists in the win.

Girls’ soccer (1-0) — behind a hat trick from freshman Kelsee Wozniak — opened the season with a bang, topping Notre Dame Academy (of Hingham), 5-1, Wednesday, Sept. 5. Freshmen Nora Manning and Olivia Borgen added goals and sophomore Alexis Billings had two assists.

Girls’ volleyball (0-1) fell to Rockland by a 3-0 final Thursday, Sept. 6. The Bulldogs took the sets by scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-20.

*Express weekly roundups consist of games from Monday to Saturday. 

Defense dominant, offense outstanding in Whitman-Hanson football’s 41-13 victory over Marshfield

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Panthers football dominates Marshfield for season-opening victory.

Coming into Friday evening’s season opener, head coach Mike Driscoll was wary of his Panthers’ opponent — Marshfield. 

The Rams have been a perennial high school football powerhouse, boasting a pair of Super Bowls (‘09 and ‘14) since Whitman-Hanson’s last (‘01). Also, a change at the helm over the offseason led to former Hingham head coach Chris Arouca, who’s had his success against Driscoll (2-1, including a two-game winning streak dating back to ’16), taking over the Rams. 

However, it only took 11 minutes for that wariness to wear off as W-H jumped out to a two-touchdown lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 41-13 home triumph over Marshfield in a non-league tilt. 

“It feels pretty good now that it’s over,” Driscoll said. “I knew that they were going to be ready to play and they really came to play tonight.”

Senior Panthers dual-threat quarterback Ethan Phelps led the offense, garnering 187 total yards and four touchdowns. 

“It’s great to get a win under our belt,” Phelps said. “Everyone contributed.”

Phelps found pay dirt twice in a 5:34 span in the opening frame to put the hosts up 14-0 after one. 

The grounding and pounding carried over into the second quarter when rushing scores from seniors Billy Martell and Nate Beath, of 10 yards and one yard, respectively, gave the Panthers a 27-0 cushion. 

Phelps finished the quarter by flashing his arm, connecting with classmate Brandon Frawley for a 10-yard TD, to make it 34-0 at the half.

A 21-yard TD catch by CJ Guiliani from Phelps with 2:09 left in the third, coupled with a Jake O’Brien extra point, capped the Panthers’ offensive onslaught at 41.

“We try to spread it around,” Driscoll said. “We have so many weapons that we wanted to use them.”

Marshfield struck for two scores in the final frame. 

Senior captain Quinn Sweeney sparked the Panthers on defense with 10 tackles, while classmate and fellow captain Rian Schwede recorded an interception and had three catches for 48 yards. 

W-H will host New Bedford next Friday at 7 p.m. in another non-league contest. 

“We’ll enjoy this tonight and come tomorrow, we’ll be on to New Bedford so it’s gonna be a challenge there itself — a big, strong team coming into town.”

Johnson’s return bolsters Panthers on defense

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Johnson throws the ball in during a Panthers tilt against Silver Lake last season. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Senior Olivia Johnson is back from a broken wrist sustained in the Panthers’ final game of the season last fall.

From what looked minor from afar was anything but for Olivia Johnson.

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ soccer captain was in the wrong place at the wrong time during the Panthers’ Div. 1 South Sectional semifinal tilt against Newton South last season. Roughly midway through the first half, an attack into the W-H zone induced a scrum. Panthers defender Sammy Smith was there to clear the ball and pelted a shot that struck Johnson’s left hand, breaking her wrist in half in the process.

“I knew right away that it was going to be a big injury,” Johnson said. “A lot of my teammates thought that I got hit in the stomach and they were like ‘Get up, get up, get up,’ and I’m like ‘I can’t.’”

Panthers senior goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich said she remembers the moment Johnson went down.

“It was bad and very tough to watch,” Kuzmich said.

The injury sidelined Johnson for the remainder of the game – a 2-1 Panthers loss, which ended their season – and put her on the shelf for the beginning of winter sports.

“I was actually more concerned about not being able to play in the game and with basketball coming up the next season, just not being able to participate,” Johnson said.

Surprisingly, Johnson, who was in a cast for three months on and off, only missed four basketball games.

“When I think about it now, if that was my senior year and I couldn’t play in the rest, I’d be devastated,” Johnson said.

Well, it wasn’t her senior year, of course, meaning the dual-sport athlete has one more go-around to assure healthy campaigns.

The Panthers are going to need her more than ever on the pitch after the graduation of a pair of stalwarts on defense in Betty Blake and Elana Wood.

“OJ’s going to be a great leader out on the field this year and I think she’s going to give great direction and talk a lot in the back with me, especially if Sam (Smith) moves up to offense,” Kuzmich said.

Johnson, despite being ready for game action, said she’s still sharpening the “little things.”

“I’ve been working on mental toughness on defense, staying fit, staying agile and stuff like that,” she said.

As for Johnson’s wrist, “It’s still not fully healed,” she said. “They don’t think my motion will ever be healed.”

Season Preview: Despite graduating 15 seniors, W-H field hockey is aiming for playoffs

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The Panthers during an Oct. 18 game last season. / Photo by: Sue Moss

The Panthers look to keep plowing ahead after the graduation of 15 seniors.

For the past five seasons at tryouts, Whitman-Hanson Regional High field hockey head coach Todd Humphrey has watched the pool of players expand and talent level rise.

That’s why after losing a 15-player senior class – albeit one that set the tone of what field hockey is at Whitman-Hanson – Humphrey isn’t using the term rebuild, but rather “transition” to describe this fall.

“We’re very, very fast,” the fifth-year head coach said. “Our front seven — our forwards and midfielders are quite fast so that is a help, a boost, having lost 15 seniors.”

Humphrey, whose team, which was brought back in 2014, set highs in wins (six) and goals scored (30) last season, even took three freshmen – Lauren Dunn, Joli Flamos and Rosie MacKinnon – on varsity, which speaks volumes of how much field hockey has grown at W-H. But for every young team, it takes veteran leaders and playmakers to steer the ship to its destination, and the Panthers have them.

Senior captain Olivia Sheehan is as good as it gets from the left corner of the defense.

“Olivia Sheehan is one of the better defenseman in the Patriot League,” Humphrey said. “She will step up and battle and the thing about Olivia [is] when she gets the ball, she has an unbelievable burst.”

Senior captain Lauren Godbout has been with Humphrey since she was a freshman and will start at right midfielder.

Senior Annika Putur, who joined the team last season, will start in the center of the field at forward and serve as a captain, a role she serves on the girls’ lacrosse team as well.

FORWARDS

“The offense pretty much centers around her,” Humphrey said. “She is a great ball mover. She’s very fast and I’ve noticed this year she’s got a little cut. She can deke on the field.”

Flanking Putur on her left will be sophomore Lauren Clark, who Humphrey expects to see big things out of.

“She was on the freshman team and I was just moving her around a lot last year just to expose her because we were so crowded on varsity last year,” Humphrey said. “I knew she was a good goal scorer and know you’re going to see the coming out of Lauren Clark.”

Clark will work in tandem with junior Robin Goyette. At right wing will be another tandem with juniors Maddy Tassey and Sophie Molinari.

Zoe Lydon, a girls’ hockey and lacrosse captain, will back up Putur, and Lauren Dunn, senior Samantha Whitman and sophomore Delanie MacDonald will see time at forward.

MIDFIELDERS

Junior Victoria Ryan, a softball captain, will go up against some of the Patriot League’s best from her spot at left midfielder, and she looks to be up for the task.

“The reason I chose her at left midfielder was so I can deal with all these right wings that are so fast,” Humphrey said. “I figure that she can trail them.”

Flamos will also see time at left midfielder and junior Abby Repoza at center midfielder, while seniors Emily Stearns and MacKinnon will be up the middle.

“I want to get a lot of speed in the midfield and I’d love to see our midfielders enter the offensive zone – that half circle – and join the offensive attack,” Humphrey said.

DEFENSE

In addition to Sheehan on defense, senior Kathryn Dunn – a girls’ basketball captain – will roam the middle with sophomores Skylar Leonard and Noelle Cornetta to her right. Sophomore Madi Savicke takes over for Molly MacKinnon in goal.

“She’s been playing in a lot of leagues and getting in shape,” Humphrey said. “She’s looked great and definitely has a very bright future.”

The Panthers are back on the field Friday, Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. as they play host to non-league rival East Bridgewater. 

“In terms of wins and losses, I’d love to make the tournament, Humphrey said. “I think there might be some growing pains at first. We’ll see where we’re at one game at time, but we may have ourselves a playoff team.”

Season Preview: Panther cross country teams are warming up

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Both teams at a beginning of the year practice. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Head coach Steve Goerge is expecting the boys’ team to be competitive while he doesn’t know what to expect from the girls’ team just yet.

Personal bests are always key in the sport of cross country. Without shooting for them, you’re doing your team a disservice.

Cross country is also one of the rare sports that celebrates the lowest score, not the highest with a first-place finish yielding one point, a secondplace yielding two and so on.

At Whitman-Hanson Regional High, fifth-year head coach of the boys’ and girls’ teams Steve George is hoping to see his runners flourish thus producing some positive results.

GIRLS’ TEAM

On the girls’ side, senior captain Maeve McDonough will lead the way.

“She’s a surprise,” George said. “When she first came here, one of my better runners said, ‘You won’t find a sweeter kid. She’s not a great runner but you won’t find a sweeter kid.’ Well, she was a sweet kid and right now she’s our top girl runner.”

Runners two through four will be juniors Niki Kamperides, Tori Boss, Tori Carleton and at No. 5 will be senior captain Maeve Rooney.

“She works hard despite the fact that she’s a dancer,” George said of Rooney. “She does Irish step dancing, which to me is as difficult as running is.”

Said Rooney: “I think if I’m doing good, I can motivate others to do good which would result in more wins for the team.”

George said freshmen Anna Flynn and Sarah Boulger have impressed him early on while seniors Dorothy DiMascio-Donohue and Gabbie Trongone figure to factor into some meets.

“I think everyone has a lot of potential and they don’t realize it until they actually start getting serious about it,” McDonough said.

The girls return to the course Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. on the road against league opponent Hanover.

“It’s just a matter of improvement for them,” George said. “I haven’t even thought about wins and losses and that’s never been my criteria for a successful season. I’d like to see a steady improvement over the season.”

BOYS’ TEAM

The boys’ team has “the makings of a very good team”, according to George.

Sophomore Theo Kamperides is the Panthers’ top returning runner and junior Brandon Hager is their second best.

Adam Solari, W-H’s third best returning runner, will captain boys alongside senior Shane Schraut.

“Adam comes from hockey and he’s a tremendous hockey player, strong hockey player,” George said. “He’s well-liked by his teammates. I think the fact that he’s well-liked is going to help him with leadership.

“Shane is on the quiet side and he’s a quiet leader. He’s shown some leadership in and outside of cross country.”

Schraut said the Panthers like to encourage each other regardless of where they stand on the totem pole, which will work to their advantage this season.

“Say one guy is straggling, one guy from behind will tell him to keep going and just keep pushing him to do harder and better,” Schraut said.

Solari echoed Schraut’s views.

“I think if we push each other, we’ll be a really good team,” Solari said.

Juniors Matt Avery, Dylan Burns and Nick Hanley along with , sophomores Matt Butler, Liam Cafferty and Chris MacDonald and freshman Evan Jewett will also make impact for the Panthers, who return to action at Hanover on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m.

“We have the makings of a very good team,” George said. “Perhaps not this year, but next year. One of our captains is a junior and then the next top seven is made up of juniors, sophomores and freshmen.”

Season Preview: SSVT football ready to make noise

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The Vikings have eight starters back as they aim to improve on last season’s 5-6 record.

Twenty-year South Shore Vo-Tech football head coach Derek Mariani is confident his team has what it takes to make a run for the league title.

The Vikings, who finished 5-6 last season and 3-1 in the Mayflower Athletic Conference Small Vocational Division, return eight starters.

“We’re talking about — with the people we have — we should to be able to contend for the league because I think right now that league is wide open,” Mariani said. “I don’t see anybody as a huge odds on favored, it’s just going to be who plays consistent week to week.”

The Vikings’ main weapon back in the fold is senior running back Shane Fougere (Hanson). Fougere, who burst onto the scene as a sophomore, is SSVT’s only returning league all-star.

Paving the way for Fougere, who is a captain, will be an offensive line led by senior John Jolliemore (Whitman), who moves from guard to center and is also a captain.

“He’s going to bring the experience,” Mariani said. “He’s been working very hard getting in condition. We may not always have the biggest line, but I think we have a line with some good football knowledge and good football sense.”

Insulating Jolliemore on his right side will be junior Nick Morrissey (Whitman).

“He put on some good, solid weight over the year,” Mariani said of Morrissey. “He is an intelligent player and as a guard he has great speed. His footwork and his intelligence is very good.”

Senior 6-foot-4, 225-pound Noah Rodri (Hanson) will move from right tackle to left tackle as he enters his second fall as a starter.

Junior Mac Johnson (Hanson) and senior Casi Ezekiel (Whitman) may work their way into the starting lineup at tackle and guard, respectively.

“Noah is one of our bigger and stronger kids,” Mariani said. “Noah’s got the power.”

At quarterback will be senior Nick Podgurski (Whitman), who will share time with classmate Spencer Joseph (Rockland).

“He’s quick,” Mariani said of Podgurski. “He’ll run the option well. He’s got the speed.”

Jolliemore (DT), Fougere (CB), Podurski (CB) and Rodri (DE) will be starters on defense also. Mariani said he’s been impressed with junior Bobby Fettig (Hanson) and sophomore Joseph Parker (Hanson) and wouldn’t be surprised if either nab a starting role soon.

SSVT opens the season on the road Saturday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. against Tri-County.

“I want to see some toughness and some consistency,” Mariani said. “I think we have the people and the experience that we should be able to play a fundamentally sound game [with] minimal mistakes, but be very physical.”

Connors’ success on gridiron stems from behind the scenes

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Connors (No. 42) in the Panthers’ 2017 Thanksgiving Day game against Abington. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Senior Mike Connors is a force in the middle of the field for the Panthers defense.

Standing at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, Whitman-Hanson Regional High middle linebacker and senior captain Mike Connors is a tall task for opposing offenses.

The 2017 Patriot League All-Star is coming off a junior campaign in which he totaled a team-high 104 tackles, a sack and interception.

“I would say he’s the leader of the defense,” W-H head coach Mike Driscoll said.

But it’s what he does when nobody is watching, but himself, that keys his success.

During the offseason, Connors is in the weight room five days a week and when the season rolls around he makes an attempt to get in three to four days a week.

“I try hitting every body part twice,” Connors explained. “I bunch them up into two’s every day.”

In the lead up to game days, Connors goes above and beyond just hitting the weight room and attending practice.

“I watch hours of film, every day of the week and I take pride in learning what their offense is so I can fly to the ball every snap,” Connors said.

Driscoll said Connors’ constant commitment to the sport has allowed him to excel on the field.

“He recognizes things that are happening in front of him in a pretty fast manner,” Driscoll said. “Not only is he big, strong and fast, he’s a student of the game so that puts him at an advantage over most high school players.”

Driscoll pointed to four of many contests last season where Connors’ studying paid dividends.

“[In] the Hingham and Stoughton games he was huge for us,” Driscoll said. “He played really, really well against Duxbury too and was a force in the middle there.

“He shut down Silver Lake’s run game and did a lot of things in that game.”

Driscoll said having Connors back roaming in the middle of the field allows him to “relax a little bit.”

“Instincts, side-to-side, C-gap to C-gap, he’s probably the best linebacker that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” the eighth-year head coach said. “He’s tough. He’s strong.”

While Driscoll is thrilled to have Connors back, he couldn’t be more ecstatic to be at his post for his third and final season for the Panthers.

“[At linebacker] you get to play the run game and then you also get to drop back in the pass game,” Connors said. “I’m in the center of the field at middle linebacker so it’s fun to roam around the whole field.”

Connors added he’s not at all concerned about replicating last fall’s stats.

“I don’t care about the tackles, they’ll come,” Connors said. “I just want to win games for my team. If you train hard and watch film for this team you’re going to play good.”

W-H football’s O’Brien is a rarity

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O’Brien nails one through the uprights in the Panthers’ tournament game against Stoughton last season. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Senior kicker Jake O’Brien is near automtic for the Panthers.

Jake O’Brien is a rare find among high school football players in the state.

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High senior’s primary role is kicker, and just kicker.

Last season — his second as the starter — O’Brien knocked in 18 of 19 extra points and was three for three on field goals, which included a long of 39 yards. His near-perfect campaign had him drawing high praise from his head coach Mike Driscoll.

“In my opinion, he’s one of the top five kickers in the state,” Driscoll said.

It’s not O’Brien’s point-scoring ability that’s his biggest asset to the Panthers, but rather when he takes the pressure off his fellow special teamers.

“Some of the bigger ones to me were some of the times he could kick it out of the end zone on a kickoff and not worry about the return,”Driscoll explained.

Driscoll said a key to O’Brien’s success is that he understands his role on the team. Besides spilling the starter occasionally at safety, all O’Brien does is kick.

“He knows he’s not going to play offense for us, so during offense he’s out there [and] he’s kicking — either up on the grass field working on his kickoffs or he’s working on one end on his field goals,” Driscoll explained.

And, when he’s up on the grass field, Driscoll must make sure he keeps a close eye on him.

“We have to limit him on his kicks because he would kick 100 a day [and] you don’t need that,” Driscoll said jokingly.

PITCHING IN

Ironically, O’Brien’s knack for kicking doesn’t even stem from the gridiron, rather the pitch.

“I played soccer for a while when I was younger and then [in] eighth grade all my friends were playing football, so I decided ‘Why not switch over?’” O’Brien said. “Then, from eighth grade I just started kicking in youth because I played soccer and then it’s just been natural for me, I guess.”

As a ninth grader, O’Brien was the freshman team’s starting kicker, but his leg was essentially neutralized because the Panthers would shy away from the point after. However, he got his chance in the last game of the season.

“We played Abington before Thanksgiving and they let me kick a field goal and that was my first field goal in a game ever and I was pretty nervous, but I did hit it; I think it was from 15 yards,” O’Brien said with a laugh.

Over the following months, O’Brien set his sights on the starting varsity kicker position and nabbed it as as sophomore.

“I knew that our kicker was graduating next year, so in that offseason I did work a lot,” he explained. “I worked a lot all summer. I made sure that I definitely had a chance to get that spot and it paid off for me in the end.”

O’Brien connected on 23 extra points and a pair of field goals that sophomore season.

“To have a kicker is huge because most kids don’t work at that skill anymore and I think Jake is unique,” Driscoll said.

To prepare for his final go-around, O’Brien used the offseason to kick — of course.

“I went to one camp at the beginning of the summer with Kicking World and that was in Braintree and that was more of an instructional camp,” O’Brien explained. “They kind of taught me a little more of the basics, likewhat I didn’t know already. From there, I went to another camp called Clutch Kicks and that was more of, not really competitive, but it was kind of like you already know what you’re doing. They definitely helped me out a lot.”

Driscoll said he has no reason not to believe O’Brien’s going to have another strong campaign this fall.

“Jake is a big, big, big part of our team,” Driscoll said. “I’ve never had a kid who you feel confident trotting him out there from 40, 45. He’s working hard try to get less air time on it and put something into it. I think that he is going to be a huge factor for us to besuccessful this season.”

Season Preview: Young Panthers girls’ soccer team is ready to go

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The girls’ soccer team during a scrimmage against Mansfield Aug. 25. / Photo by: Sue Moss

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ soccer team will be led by a trio of senior captains, who will have a young core around them.

Another season, another clean slate for the Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ soccer team.

The program, which has not had a losing campaign since 1999, also hasn’t fallen short of the sectional semifinals — which occurred last fall — in the past four seasons.

In 2014, the Panthers made it to the state title game, in 2015 they made the sectional title game and their 2016 season ended with a loss in the state semifinals.

“I’m pretty fortunate that we get some really talented players that come through and I think we as a coaching staff are smart enough not to get in their way,” head coach David Floeck said. “I think we’ve been blessed that the program has established itself so younger kids in the fourth, fifth, six grade, who want to be a part of the program, are already working towards that and working their skills to get here.

“And so, year after year we graduate great players and then in comes some other great players and that’s how we’ve been able to have success.”

Coming into this fall Floeck’s club, which went 17-2-2 last season, has some major losses with the graduation of past captains and four-year starters — defender Elana Wood and midfielder/forward Eve Montgomery.

“They’d played in everything from a state championship game to right on down so they were able to share that with everybody, so it’s a big void but we have a couple other seniors returning that have a lot of experience and we’re looking forward to their leadership as well,” Floeck said.

Defender Betty Blake and midfielders Katie Korzec and Taylor Kofton (2016 All-American) were also cornerstone pieces who have graduated as well.

2017 All-American Lauren Bonavita and her 43 goals last season and school-record 113 leaves the toughest hole to plug, and Floeck isn’t even going to try to do that.

“It was a one-man wrecking crew,” the 23rd-year head coach said of Bonavita. “It’s a huge void, but we’re not trying to fill that because that would be huge mistake on our part to put that kind of pressure on anybody, so we’re trying to look at doing it differently, but certainly when you have a player of that type of talent, it’s always a big loss.”

Floeck said he believes his team’s balance and depth are its two main strengths.

“We have people who can play multiple positions,” he said. “We have quite a bit of pace, we’re a pretty quick team, but we’re young so there’s going to be some growing pains along with that but it’s nice because they don’t know what they don’t know yet so it gives us a great opportunity to teach.”

The most notable multi-faceted Panther is Boston College-bound senior Sammy Smith.

Smith, who was voted a Patriot League All-Star, first-team EMass and all-state as a defender last season, can also play up the field and play it well.

“We’re still playing around with that depending on how some other things go, but she’ll probably play a little bit of both (positions),” Floeck explained. “She’s phenomenal.”

Smith will also captain the Panthers alongside classmates — defender Olivia Johnson and goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich.

This will be Kuzmich’s fourth year in W-H’s net.

“[We want to] get as far as we can in the tournament,” Kuzmich said. “We’re actually going to have a really good year, I can feel it. We have a lot of good freshmen coming in.”

Other than W-H’s three senior captains, most of its experience comes from its underclassmen, such as the likes of juniors Riley Bina, Zoe Cox, Anika Floeck, Delaney Hall and Samantha Perkins as well as sophomore Alexis Billings.

However, despite the youth, Kuzmich, a Hofstra University commit, still has high expectations.

“I think we’re going to do really well and get really far this year,” she said.

W-H opens the season on the road Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 5:15 p.m. against Notre Dame Academy of Hingham.

“Right now, in all honesty, and I don’t want to sound clicheish, but because we’re so young, we want to be better today than we were yesterday,” Floeck said.

Season Preview: Leahy, W-H boys’ soccer team positive and optimistic

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The Pathers’ during their Aug. 25 scrimmage against Bridgewater-Raynham. / Photo by: Sue Moss

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ soccer team is rallying around positivity.

As he enters his second season at the helm of the Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ soccer team, Dave Leahy is preaching the same message to his players as when he first got there.

“Last year it was to be positive and I think every single year, the goal is to be positive and make each player try to bring out the best in each other,” Leahy said.

His reasoning is straightforward.

“I think negativity gets the opposite (of success), so positivity helps people feel like they can do their best,” Leahy explained.

Leahy’s logic seemed to have played at least a part in the Panthers’ success last season, of course with player production accounting for a big chunk. W-H finished with 11 wins (10 more than the previous season), cracked the postseason for the first time since 2014 and even won a game (2-1 over Catholic Memorial) in them.

“Well, we were the first team to make playoffs in a while so it proves that we can get there,” current junior captain Stevie Kelly said.

Positivity doesn’t just translate into wins, but also acts as a way to pull the Panthers closer, especially at the outset of this fall. In addition to graduating a skilled crop of seniors — headlined by former captains Anthony Pasciuto (goalie and Patriot League All-Star), Kyle Nehiley (forward and Patriot League All-Star) and Cameron Rogers (defender) — W-H had a trio of unexpected departures that tested its program.

“We had a few really talented players [leave us],” Leahy explained. “We had an injury, and a private school and then going to another public school, and that happened in the last two weeks.

“But what happened was the team kind of just came together instead of separating and kids realized there was opportunity where maybe there wasn’t as much before.”

The Panthers may have had a few talented players exit for a variety of reasons, but they return a solid core.

Kelly provides a steady presence in many facets of the game at centre-back.

“Last year he was all hustle and just won balls for us,” Leahy said of his captain. “This year he’s our field general and he’s the intelligent guy leading our defense. The maturity, and the leadership and growth is just great to see.”

Senior Matt Hickey and juniors Kyle O’Connor and Cezar Zurita return in front of the net as well.

“I think our strength right now would probably be our defense and possessing,” Kelly said.

Along with Kelly, junior Jason Brodeur will also captain the Panthers. The junior midfielder was their leading goal scorer last fall with nine.

“He’s a talented kid,” Leahy explained. “Everything he has for weaknesses he made sure that he worked on in the offseason. He wants to be as good as he can so he doesn’t just work on his strengths, he works on his weaknesses.”

Senior Nolan Clack (two goals and four assists in ’17) and sophomore Brendan Nehiley (seven goals and five assists) also both provide some playmaking ability and experience in the middle.

The goalkeeper position is still up for grabs between senior Griffin Nickerson and junior Andrew Sullivan.

“Right now, we have two strong contenders,” Leahy said. “It could be that they split time, who knows?”

The Panthers open their season Saturday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. with a home game against Cohasset.

“I think that we can play good, successful soccer,” Leahy said. “I’m not sure what the overall record will be at the end of the year, but we’ll play some good brand of soccer and we’ll play good defense and we’ll play together.”