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Girls’ soccer wins first-ever state title

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They say it’s tough to beat a team three times in a season.

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ soccer team proved why.

Down 1-0 late in the Div. 2 state final to Silver Lake, a team the Panthers hadn’t scored against in their previous two meetings, they finally broke through — erupting for three goals in the final 11 minutes to capture their first-ever state title.

“I’m at a loss for words,” said 26-year W-H head coach David Floeck. “We’ve worked so hard. This is a tremendous accomplishment for them.”

Senior Olivia Borgen, who was knocked out of the Panthers’ state semifinal win Wednesday with a sprained right ankle, snuck home the equalizer in the 69th minute.

“She is gutsy,” Floeck said. “She has been in a [walking] boot all the way until we got on the bus for the game. She said, ‘Coach, I’m taping it. I’m going to give everything I got.’”

“I just needed to give it my all,” Borgen said. “It was the last game. Even if I was in a boot 30 minutes before I came here, I just needed to push through and give it my all. We’ve worked so hard to get here. I’m just so proud of this whole team.”

It remained tied until the 77th minute when Lakers goalkeeper Emma Hudson got called for a foul, taking down a W-H senior captain Nora Manning in the box. The result? A penalty kick.

Fellow senior captain Ava Melia buried it for a 2-1 lead.

“Its just the best feeling ever,” Melia said. “I could not be happier. This team deserves it.”

Manning sealed it with a goal of her own in stoppage time.

“I’m so excited,” Manning said. “It was our goal from the beginning of the season. It feels so amazing to finally achieve that.”

Cheer wins another Patriot League title

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Their reign continues. 

For the 28th straight season — between fall and winter — the Whitman-Hanson Regional High cheerleaders are Patriot League champions. 

“A lot of our message this season has been a focus on having the team compete against themselves instead of others,” said head coach Alyssa Pietrasik. “We want to focus on beating our own last best record and continue to improve. We definitely did that in the league championship which I am insanely proud of.”

The Panthers topped their competition last Sunday, Nov. 7 on their home mats. 

“This is definitely one of our sweetest,” Pietrasik said. “The league championship is so important at Whitman-Hanson. It’s something we take pride in. Before results were in I let them know that either way, after their performance I was extremely proud of them. But I do have to say, it was great to win in our house on our mats with alumni, fans, families, and other W-H sports teams surrounding us.”

The Panthers have a quick turnaround time before their back on the mat. They’ll travel to Marshfield for the South regional championship this Sunday, Nov. 14. 

“Our goal is to continue to solidify this routine and master it,” Pietrasik said. “There’s potential to add a skill or two as well.”

The Panthers are captioned by seniors Jazzy Gomes, Tiffany Joyce and Samantha Sicuranza.

Volleyball sinks Hingham punching tourney ticket

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Lily Welch vs Hingham. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Last Friday was Lily Welch’s mother’s birthday. 

That wasn’t all she ended up celebrating. 

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ volleyball senior captain registered 17 kills and eight total blocks to power the Panthers to a 3-1 upset win over Hingham. 

“[She’s] unstoppable,” said W-H head coach Samantha Richner of Welch. “Her athleticism just drifts. She gets up so high, but she’s also a player that works hard. Lily wants to be the best and she does it 365 all year.” 

“I literally just cried,” Welch said. “I’m so happy. We’ve never beaten Hingham. They’re an amazing team, they’ve been an amazing team. This just shows how talented we are.” 

It sure does. 

Welch and the Panthers got the home crowd into it early, setting the tone and taking the first set, 25-14. 

However, the Harborwomen turned the tide in the second set, sinking W-H, 25-18, and opened the third set on a 7-1 run. But the Panthers battled back to take set, 25-22, and never looked back. W-H clinched the win with a 25-14 victory in the fourth set. 

“When our girls are up and they play they’re game, they’re unstoppable,” Richner said. “We know the talent we have and I think they’re sick and tired of getting beat by these teams. They know what had to do and they did it.”

Fellow senior captain Abby Martin added eight kills, while classmate Riley Scott tallied 12 digs in the win, which secured W-H a spot in the Div. 2 state tournament. 

The Panthers are back in action Friday, Oct. 22 when they host Duxbury at 5:30 p.m.

“We want to be the first team to win a state tournament game at Whitman-Hanson,” Welch said. 

Panthers run under the lights in Twilight Invitational

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’Tis that time of year. 

Some of the state’s best cross country runners legged it out under the lights at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in the Bob McIntyre Twilight Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 16. 

Whitman-Hanson Regional High was well represented. 

Adriana Kelly and McKenna McCarthy got it going in the girls’ freshman 2.1-mile race. Kelly finished 13th overall in a field of 184 runners with a time of 13:38, while McCarthy crossed the finish line at 25th with a time of 14:12. 

In the boys’ sophomore 5K race, in which 268 athletes participated, W-H’s team of Logan Bourgelas (32nd, 18:19), Alex Kehayias (42nd, 18:54), Gavin McCarthy (53rd, 19:11), Ryan Crowley (57th, 19:15) and Shane Johnson (63rd, 19:22) combined to place nine overall among the 29 teams that entered. 

Senior Captain Nathan Tassey ran a 5K personal record of 16:39 in the boys’ varsity race, placing 27th in a field of 365 runners. Senior captain Gordon Johnson finished 123rd at 17:53.

And in the night cap — the girls’ varsity 5K race — W-H senior captain placed 48th out of 287, clocking in at a season-best 20:22 

Football falls short at Silver Lake

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Just short. 

It’s what the Whitman-Hanson Regional High football team came up as against Silver Lake on Friday, Oct. 8. 

Down 13-6 with six seconds remaining, the Panthers were stuck on fourth-and-goal by the Lakers. 

Senior Jake Guiliani gave W-H a 6-0 lead in the second with a rushing TD, but it didn’t last as Silver Lake scored the next 13. 

Senior Collin Briggs added four catches for 60 yards in the loss. On defense, the linebacker combination of Guiliani and junior Evan Casey combined for 15 tackles and senior Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder racked up with two sacks and two tackles for loss. Junior Sam Pace added an interception.

W-H is now 0-5 and will travel to 4-1 Marshfield tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 15 for a 7 p.m. kickoff. 

— Nathan Rollins

Gray courting success for W-H girls’ volleyball

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Caroline Gray leads the team with 167 assists. / Photo by: Sue Moss

“She’s a freshman!”

The chant echoed from the Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ volleyball team’s bench shortly into the third set of its sweep over Silver Lake last week. 

That freshman is Caroline Gray, who was doing what she’s done all season: dominating. The first-year Panther was in the midst of a 10-point serving streak to put the Lakers away. She also went on a nine-point run in the first set, to go along with 21 assists from her setter position. 

Volleyball is in Gray’s blood. Her dad, Josh, was the head coach at W-H from 2012-16. And you bet she tagged along with him. 

“I always used to go to the games and after school I’d go to the practices and help out there,” Caroline said. “It was really cool.”

Not only did she attend practice, but she took the court, too. 

“I practiced down balls from some of best hitters on the team,” she said. “It helped me a lot advance in the sport. I got to get ahead of my age.”

Her dad had a few pointers for her coming into first high school season, too. 

“He just said take control of the court,” Caroline said. “Communicate all the time and be confident in yourself because you want to be assertive on the court and know what you’re doing.” 

She sure does. Caroline has tallied a team-high 167 assists through the Panthers’ first 10 matches, in which they’re 7-3. She had 42 of them in a 3-2 win over Hanover and another 38 in a 3-1 triumph over Pembroke. 

“With Caroline, you just see endless potential,” said W-H head coach Samantha Richner. “She works hard. She always wants to improve her game. You can tell she cares a lot about it.”

Setter is a spot Caroline has grown into. She was both an outside hitter and setter in club volleyball. Then she heard the high school team was graduating both of its setters and switched exclusively to the position last winter. 

“After losing Sophia [Berardinelli] and Caileen [Hurley], who we on the team for four years, we were worried going into the season,” Richner said. “But Caroline’s filled those shoes well.”

W-H senior captain Lily Welch agrees. 

“We thought a setter was something that we would lack and struggle with this year and she stepped up huge,” Welch said. “I think her success comes from hard work.”

She’s seen Caroline’s commitment to the game up close. 

“Her dad ran clinics for us last spring and Caroline and I had a lot of late nights working together in the gym,” Welch said. “Our chemistry definitely comes from those nights and she barely missed any volleyball during the summer either.”

W-H is back in action Friday, Oct. 8 when it hosts Plymouth South at 5 p.m. 

“I just want to enjoy the season and get to know all the players even more and we really want to go to the tournament,” Caroline said.

Keeping score in Week 4

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The first month of the fall sports season is over at Whitman-Hanson Regional High. 

Here are the scores from Week 4: 

Boys’ cross country (3-1) ran past Plymouth North, 21-36, on Wednesday, Sept. 29. Senior captains Nathan Tassey (17:36) and Gordon Johnson (17:56) placed first and second, respectively, while sophomore Logan Bourgelas finished third with a time of 18:20. Also scoring for the Panthers were sophomores Alex Keheyias (seventh, 19:06) and Gavin McCarthy (eighth, 19:07).

Girls’ cross country (2-2) dropped a nail-biter to Plymouth North, 27-28, on Wednesday, Sept. 29. Senior captain Myah Kamperides led the way for W-H with a second-place finish, clocking in at 20:53. Also scoring for the Panthers were freshman McKenna McCarthy (fifth, 22:09), senior captain Sarah Boulger (sixth, 22:20), freshman Adrianna Kelly (seventh, 23:05) and sophomore Caroline Poth (eighth, 23:49.)

Football (0-4) was shut out by Hingham, 35-0, on Friday, Oct. 1. Senior Rocco Ruffini led the defense with nine tackles, including three for loss. Junior Matt Phelps had an interception, while classmate Will Frazier had a tackle for loss and fumble recovery. 

Field hockey (1-5-1) picked up its first victory of the season with a 3-0 shutout win over Duxbury on Thursday, Sept. 30. Senior Ally Ayers opened the scoring in the first half with her third goal of the season, while classmate Joli Flamos and sophomore Paige Cosgrove added some insurance. 

Boys’ golf (2-8) opened the week with a 247-267 loss to Marshfield on Monday, Sept. 27. Senior captain Pat McBroom was again the team medalist, carding a 6-over 42. … On Wednesday, W-H fell dropped a 223-248 decision to rival Duxbury. Despite the loss, McBroom was the match medalist with an 1-over par 35. … On Thursday, the Panthers were clipped by Plymouth South, 253-267. Freshman Cooper Britton led the charge on the day for the home team, shooting his best round of the year with a 6-over par 40 in the loss. 

Boys’ soccer (0-6-2) allowed two goals in the final four minutes and fell to Cohasset, 2-0, on Monday, Sept. 27. … On Thursday, Tony Reis’ club suffered a 5-2 setback against Marshfield. Freshman Jah Estrela scored his first career goal and senior captain Jayden Stafford (also an assist) added another in the loss.

Girls’ soccer (6-2-1) received a pair of goals from senior captain Nora Manning to down Scituate, 4-0, on Wednesday, Sept. 29. Fellow senior captains Olivia Borgen and Ava Melia added single tallies of their own in the win. … Then, behind two goals from junior Kayla Cassidy and another from Melia, W-H topped Marshfield, 3-2, on Friday. 

Girls’ volleyball (6-3) went three-for-three. On Monday, Sept. 27, W-H swept Silver Lake, 3-0 (25-9, 25-16 and 25-9). Freshman Caroline Gray tallied 21 assists, while senior captain Lily Welch led the Panthers with nine kills. … On Wednesday, Samantha Richner’s team swept Scituate, 3-0. The set scores were: 25-22, 25-23 and 28-26. Welch led the team with six solo blocks and 15 kills and Gray added 28 assists in the victory. Senior captain Abby Martin and classmate Riley Scott led the team in digs with 16 apiece. … On Friday, W-H best Marshfield, 3-1. The set scores were: 25-18, 25-21, 17-25 and 25-8. Welch tallied 12 kills and six total blocks and sophomore Riley Codero notched 21 assists at setter in the triumph. 

*Express weekly roundups include scores from Sunday to Sunday. 

Season Preview: Cheer team aiming high

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The cheer team. / Photo by: Sue Moss

The cheer team is aiming for another state title.

For the Whitman-Hanson Regional High cheerleading team, this fall has been a long time coming.

“We’ve been waiting for this season for what seems like forever,” said fourth-year head coach Alyssa Pietrasik. “I am so ecstatic to be back with the team, but more importantly I’m ready to work.”

As, too, are the cheerleaders — led by senior captains Jazzy Gomes, Tiffany Joyce and Samantha Sicuranza.

“They each bring unique and different leadership to the team and truly want what is best for the program,” Pietrasik said. “They lead by example and are the first three to put in the extra time and effort to make the team successful.”

To prepare for this autumn, the team spent the the summer reading the book “Wolfpack” by Abby Wambach, which details new rules for athletes to follow in sports.

“In essence, its the idea of crashing through the glass ceiling of old rules and coming forward as your most authentic and true self to better your team,” Pietrasik said. “This season the message is just that. This is a new team and the possibilities are endless. They can achieve any single thing they set their mind to. In a way, our focus is that mindset, the rules and possibilities you create for yourself are more important than anything else.”

On the mat, Pietrasik said her team’s strength is its stunting.

“It is something I’ve been working on with them since for the last few years and this year we really seem to have a well-balanced team for it,” she said. “Mentally, their strength is in their mindset, they are workers, they want to win, and they want to bring back the legacy that is W-H cheerleading. I’m so excited to see where that drive takes them.”

The cheerleaders, who can be spotted cheering on the football team at games, opens their competition season on Saturday, Oct. 23 with the Duxbury Invitational.

“The goal, as always, is to build a team that becomes a family and make lifelong memories as we do it, but this season we also are really gunning for another league and state title,” Pietrasik said. “This team has a hunger for it. They are ready to put in the work.”

Season Preview: Girls’ volleyball on a mission

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The Panthers. / Photo by: Sue Moss

The girls’ volleyball team is aiming to make the tournament.

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ volleyball team’s mission is simple this season.

“Our goal this season is to be successful and have a winning season,” said third-year head coach Samantha Richner, whose club finished 3-10 last fall. “We will achieve that by working hard, day in and day out. We have a dedicated group this season and I am confident they will be successful.”

Senior captain Lily Welch is the engine that powers the Panthers. She led the team with 73 kills and 29 blocks last season.

“Lily has always been an impressive player” Richner said. “She is extremely dedicated to the sport and is constantly improving her game. Lily is strongest in the front row, but is a well-rounded player who plays all the way around the court.”

Middle hitter Abby Martin and right-side hitter Meg Stone, both of whom are seniors, also captain the Panthers.

“When Abby gets a kill, she gets a kill,” Richner said. “Abby’s hits are a line drive, making them very difficult for our opponents to receive. Abby is a beast at the net with not only her strong hits, but her ability to block our opponents.

“This is Meg’s first season back since her injury, but you wouldn’t know it. Meg is a lefty right side, making her a difficult player for our opponents to read.”

So, as you might expect Richner said her team’s strength is its front row.

“We have multiple power house hitters that we can and will be using to our advantage,” she said.

Junior outside hitter Caitlin Leahy and senior libero Izzy Baker are also key returnees.

As for departures, reigning league all-star Sophia Berardinelli, who paced the team with 162 assists, 142 digs and 30 aces, leaves the biggest void. But freshman setter Caroline Gray has made it a seamless transition, according to Richner.

“She has made a seamless transition to our team and we are lucky to have her,” Richner said.

W-H is back in action Friday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. on the road at Marshfield.

“I am just looking forward to watching the girls play this year,” Richner said. “We have a tight-knit group and it is fun to watch them play and interact on the court. They have great potential this season and we are excited to see how far these players can take their talents.”

Bright spots in rough Week 2

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The second week of the fall sports season is in the books at Whitman-Hanson Regional High.

Here are how the teams fared:

Boys’ cross country (1-1) fell to Marshfield, 21-39, Tuesday, Sept. 14. Senior captains Nathan Tassey (16:53) and Gordon Johnson (17:10) paced the Panthers finishing third and fourth, respectively.

Girls’ cross country (1-1) also fell to Marshfield on Tuesday, Sept. 14 by the final score of 15-50. Senior captain Myah Kamperides (20:14) and freshman McKenna McCarthy (20:24) placed eight and ninth, respectively, to lead W-H.

Field hockey (0-3-1) opened the week with a 2-1 loss to Plymouth North on Monday, Sept. 13. Senior Lauren Dunn knotted the score at 1-1 for W-H, before the Blue Eagles pulled ahead for good. … On Wednesday, the Panthers dropped a 5-1 decision to Hingham. Senior Madelyne Guidaboni had the their lone goal. … On Friday, senior Ally Ayers stuck for a pair and senior captain Olivia Phelps added a single tally as W-H earned a 3-3 tie against West Bridgewater.

Football (0-2) was shut out by Foxboro, 38-0, on Friday, Sept. 17. Junior Will Frazier carried the ball 11 times for 53 yards. On defense, the linebacker duo of junior Evan Casey and senior Jake Guiliani combined for 13 tackles, including three tackles for loss.

Boys’ golf (0-4) suffered a 274-304 setback against Plymouth North on Monday, Sept. 13. W-H senior captain Pat McBroom was the match medalist with a 3-over par 39. … The following day, Brian Dempsey’s club was clipper by Hanover, 248-258. McBroom led all scorers once again, carding a 2-over par 36. Fellow senior captain Matt Casarano turned in a 5-over par 41. … The Panthers closed the week with a 236-306 loss to Hingham on Wednesday. McBroom led the way for W-H with a 4-over par 40.

Boys’ soccer (0-1-2) fell to Plymouth North, 3-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 14. … On Thursday, W-H played to a 2-2 draw against Hanover. Senior Adam Sousa scored both Panthers goals, the first assisted by sophomore Ethan Fostello and the second, unassisted, a strike from 35 yards out.

Girls’ soccer (2-1) dropped its first match of the season, 3-1, to Plymouth North on Tuesday, Sept. 14. Senior captain Nora Manning scored for W-H. … The Panthers rebounded on Friday for a 1-0 win over Hanover. Junior Kayla Cassidy scored the winner two minutes into the second half off a feed from senior captain Olivia Borgen. Freshman Ava Patete stopped seven shots for the shutout.

Girls’ volleyball (2-1) fell to league power Quincy, 3-1, on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The set scores were: 25-23, 8-25, 21-25 and 11-25. Senior captain Lily Welch racked up 19 kills and three solo blocks for W-H, while freshman Caroline Gray tallied a season-high 30 assists. … The Panthers rebounded on Friday for a 3-1 victory over Plymouth North. The set scores were: 25-21, 25-9, 11-25 and 25-20 in their league match. Gray had 23 serves, two of which were aces, to go along with 18 assists, seven assisted blocks and two solo blocks. Senior captain Abby Martin also tallied seven assisted blocks and seven kills, while Welch added seven kills of her own.

*Express weekly roundups include scores from Sunday to Sunday.