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Solari brothers a dynamic pair for W-H boys’ hockey

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Brothers Matt (left) and Adam Solari. / Photos by: Sue Moss

Brothers Adam and Matt Solari have flourished since joining forces on the Panthers’ first line.

Separated by three years, brothers Adam and Matt Solari had never taken the ice competitively together prior to this season.

You’d never know it.

The brothers form two-thirds (along with senior captain Chris Stoddard) of a dynamic top line for the Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ hockey, which after recording its best regular season in at least 15 years with a 15-5-1 record, has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Div. 2 South Sectional tournament, following an 8-2 win over Wareham/Carver on Tuesday.

Adam, a senior alternate captain, struck for a goal in the first-round victory, while Matt, a freshman, lit the lamp twice. Adam registered the assist on Matt’s first postseason goal. The two have wrought havoc on opponents together all year. Adam tallied 20 goals and 11 assists during the regular season en route to being named a Patriot League Keenan Division All-Star. Matt scored 14 times and recorded 14 assists.

“A lot of times, when lines in hockey have success, the ones that sustain themselves are because they stay unselfish, and I think that’s so evident with those guys,” said W-H boys’ hockey head coach Chris Googins. “They have different skill sets, but I think Matt is a great F1, which is the first forechecker, and he’ll find Adam the puck. Adam is a gifted goal scorer, and I think when Adam gets loose, he’ll try to find Matt. They use their skill set very well to find each other.”

However, they didn’t join forces until the sixth game of the season, when Googins bumped Matt up a line, as he searched for some offense.

“We shook it up and they’ve been together ever since,” the coach explained.

While the two had never suited up together until this winter, they still had plenty of practice with each other over the years.

“In the driveway, we would always play together,” Matt said.

Added Adam: “Especially when our friends came over, all we did was play hockey.”

Matt is the only freshman on the team.

“He’s a physical kid, he can skate well and he’s got a good hockey IQ,” Googins said. “That’s something you really can’t teach in three or four months or in a season. You have to have that, and he does.

“He is only going to get better. He is going to make the underclassmen and the upperclassmen work harder. He’s just going to elevate his other teammates’ play.”

Despite being a freshman, the younger Solari has aimed to be on the varsity team for the last few years.

“I always came to his (Adam’s) game,” Matt said. “I would see who was leaving to see if I could make the team.”

Adam admitted that he’s a little jealous of his younger brother.

“I wish I could have done that as a freshman,” he said with a laugh. “It’s wicked cool to see him lighting it up, though.”

But Matt gives his older brother a ton of credit for his success.

“He absolutely makes me a better player,” Matt said. “He does. He gives me advice, a lot of the time. Growing up, I would watch what he did and try to replicate it.”

Their athletic bond doesn’t end at the rink, though.

“He plays lacrosse too, which is pretty cool,” Adam said.

Pretty cool for them, but a nightmare for the rest of the Patriot League.

The Panthers return to the ice for the quarterfinal round on Saturday, Feb. 29.

“We don’t want to come up short again this year,” Adam said.

Said Matt: “I think it would be awesome if we could go to the Garden. That would be awesome.”

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.”