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On hanging tough: Comendul goes from stopping goals to scoring one for UMass women’s soccer

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Ari Comendul. / Photo by: Doug Keller

Ari Comendul convereted to a midfielder for her senior season.

All Ari Comendul could do was watch.

After her first three seasons on the UMass women’s soccer team, she received zero playing time.

“I had a lot of trouble breaking through that starting [goalkeeper] position,” said Comendul, who hails from Whitman.

The constant commitment to practice, with no results to show for it, began to take a toll on her.

“Everyone thinks of quitting at one point,” said Comendul, who began playing soccer at age 5. “It was hard. It was a grind every day, and no matter how much money you’re on, you really question if it’s worth it.”

Not playing was uncharted territory for Comendul, who, as a senior and the starting goalkeeper, helped lead the Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ soccer team to the Div. 1 state finals in 2014. But a position change was anything but new to her. She didn’t step into goal until the middle of her junior season in high school, when she converted from forward.

“I honestly think we were at halftime, and I think our goalkeeper got hurt and our coach was like, ‘Who wants to go in net?’” recalled Comendul. “And for some reason my hand just shot up, and then I went in and I did well.”

So, with experience as a goalkeeper and forward stemming from high school, Comendul made the switch to midfielder this past spring in advance of her senior season at UMass. First-year Minutewomen head coach Jason Dowiak was the one who suggested the move.

“Having three goalkeepers, it’s tough to share the minutes,” Dowiak said. “I knew Ari had a little bit of experience playing the field and we just talked about it really. Weasked her if she was interested in the idea and she was more than interested, she was excited about it.”

After playing half the game in the field at first, she received significant minutes in UMass’ final spring bout against Holy Cross.

“We were just really light on numbers, and she ended up playing really well,” Dowiak said. “She was really productive and grasped a lot of the concepts we had been talking about.”

Dowiak said Comedul’s position change shone a light on two of her best attributes: unselfishness and leadership.

“She’s willing to kind of play whatever rolethe team needed,” he said. “I think she set a great tone for the mentality of the ‘Do what’s best for the team.’” Comendul didn’t just make the switch, but she was pretty effective as a field player as well. The biochemistry and molecular biology major played 278 minutes and had a goal and an assist on the season for UMass, which finished 11-6-1, surpassing the 10-win mark for the first time since 2011.

“It’s just a cool story,” Dowiak said. “You never hear about a goalkeeper changing positions and then becoming really impactful on the field. As a wing player, she made herself dangerous and she made players around her dangerous. She had a really good eye for the final pass. I’d say we missed some really good opportunities that she created.”

The goal came in the fifth game of the season Sept. 7 in an 8-0 victory over Chicago State. “It was funny,” Comendul said. “It was just awesome.”

Comendul said at times she felt like a freshman during the transition.

“My positioning was off a lot of the time, and it kind of just hit me one day that, ‘I need to stop trying to become a midfielder and just start being one and adopting the mentality of the position,’” she said.

Dowiak said it was Comendul’s intelligence, both on and off the field, that allowed her to succeed in the switch.

“She’s an incredibly gifted student,” Dowiak said. “She was able to process tactical information and ideas, as well if not better than most.”

When all was said and done, Comendul said she’s forever thankful she continued stick it out through the difficult times.

“I’m so happy I never quit,” she said. “I held that version to the past version of myself that I would stick it out and I did. I’m really grateful I ended on a high note.”

‘More like family’: Zamagni an inspirational presence on girls’ soccer sideline

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Tom Zamagni has coached at Whitman-Hanson for 24 years.

In Tom Zamagni’s office, there’s little space left empty, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.

Every banner hanging signifies pride, every scrapbook sitting on the table causes a chuckle, every picture adorning the wall recalls a memory. But they all signify relationships.

It’s a collection — that’s inching into his sitting room — Zamagni has been piecing together for the past 24 years he’s been prowling the Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ soccer team’s sideline. It’s journey that began from an inside tip.

“My oldest daughter came home as I believe a sophomore and said, ‘Dad, there’s no JV coach right now up at the high school,’” Zamagni recalled. “I thought, ‘Well, I think I know enough to go up and do that.’”

One of his favorite photos lies in a scrapbook. It’s of him and David Floeck walking down to Dennis M. O’Brien Field for practice. It’s a friendship that formed nearly 22 years ago after Zamagni was ready to quit coaching after two seasons due to a heavy workload off the field in the finance industry.

“I told him, ‘You need to join me at the varsity level and when you can’t make it, it’s not a big deal,’” Floeck said. “And I don’t think he’s ever missed a day in all these years.”

Floeck found Zamagni’s multi-sport knowledge appealing. This stemmed from his time playing shortstop and coaching St. Joseph’s The Worker Catholic Church’s softball team, as well as playing baseball.

“He brings a different perspective or a way of looking at something from his athletic background,” Floeck said of Zamagni. “From my perspective, it makes me kind of think about the decisions or some of the things we look at, and I really find that to be awesome because it challenges me as a coach and it helps me to see things from many different angles.”

Messages conveyed

Under Floeck, Zamagni initially served as the goalkeeper coach. Kerry Flood, a 2010 W-H alum, spent four seasons being coached by Zamagni in net.

“He had a significant impact on my development as a goalkeeper, since I had never been committed to the position prior to high school,” Flood said.

Flood, who can be seen in numerous pictures around her former coach’s office, said Zamagni provided a wealth of knowledge and source of inspiration on the sideline during her playing career. However, his most impactful moment to her came in 2009 prior to a state semifinals game against Acton-Boxboro.

“To say I was nervous was an understatement, as we had been preparing for this moment all season,” Flood recalled. “I remember my conversation with coach Z before that game. He told me, ‘Do not let the moment be bigger than you. This is a quality team and you are a very talented keeper. Stay focused and give it everything you have.’”

It’s simple messages like that Zamagni hopes resonate with his players.

“The most important thing for me is trying to teach the kids life lessons through soccer and then they come back years later and tell us what a wonderful experience they had,” he said. “Sports is like life situations, so if bad things happen to us, that’s life. We fall behind, I say, ‘Now what? So what? What are we going to do about it?’”

Flood rejoined the program in 2015 and eventually took over training the goalkeepers, while Zamagni shifted to drawing up game plans for the defense, but he still keeps his eyes on the whole field.

“He sees things from a different perspective and sometimes I come back and say, ‘No way, that won’t work,’” Floeck said. “Then a few minutes later I’m like, ‘Well, what I’m doing isn’t working so maybe it will.’”

Sometimes it’s minor – like a defensive adjustment.

“He’ll say, ‘Listen, we really need to put this player on this side, it’s a better matchup for us,’ and I’ll say, ‘Jeez, no,’ and he’ll say, ‘Listen, will you just give it to me please and let me do it?’” Floeck said. “And I’ll capitulate and we’ll do it and a lot of those times he’s spot on.”

Relationships through coaching

Over Zamagni’s 22 years as Floeck’s assistant, the Panthers haven’t had a losing season since 1999, have won numerous Patriot League titles and made a trip to the state finals. The success is gratifying, but the bonds he has created along the way are even more rewarding. He’ll even miss work to watch a W-H girls’ soccer alum, such as this past season when Marina Kelly, class of 2014, returned to Dennis M. O’Brien Field in a different uniform – as Scituate’s JV soccer coach.

“I had to cancel a meeting so I could get up there and see it,” Zamagni said.

In his spare time, Zamagni, if not at the youth soccer field in Hanson watching his grandchildren play, is keeping tabs with alumni — whether it’s a trip to Rhode Island to watch them play, a simple text or over breakfast.

Flood said it’s that type of dedication to the program’s alumni that makes Zamagni an irreplaceable presence on the sideline.

“Coach Z keeps all of the alumni informed as to which games to go to and how the current team is doing,” Flood said. “It is great to see former teammates coming to our games and cheering on the program. Coach Z keeps in touch with many of his former players and continues to have an impact on their lives.”

Past team captain and freshman at Manhattan College Eve Montgomery said Zamagni’s selflessness stood out to her.

“He would be standing there from the sidelines supporting me no matter what,” Montgomery said. “He does everything and anything he can to help better other players. That’s what makes him so special. I believe he’s a vital part of the Whitman-Hanson soccer team [and] without him there’s a piece of the team missing.”

Former All-American Lauren Bonavita, currently playing at UMass Amherst, said Zamagni was more than just a coach to her.

“He calmed me down when I need it and challenged me when he needed more from me,” Bonavita said. “He’s more like family to me and I know I’m not the only one who thinks of him this way. I’m grateful for his coaching and friendship.”

Reason to return

Zamagni said his main motivation to come back every autumn is because of the bonds he creates.

“There’s five or six seniors that I don’t really want to leave,” he said. “That continues every year, so I don’t know how I’m going to retire because there’s always those seniors that are there that you have that special relationship with. It’s hard to think about walking away.”

And walking past countless memories from the past two-plus decades in office on a daily basis plays a major role in that mindset.

“It keeps me going,” Zamagni said. “You can’t put a price tag on that.”

Julian rises to the occasion for Eastern Nazarene volleyball

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Julian (No. 11) / Courtesy photo

Halle Julian earned an extend role in her freshman season at Eastern Nazarene College.

Coming into the season, Whitman native Halle Julian had two ways to measure success in her freshman campaign on the Eastern Nazarene College women’s volleyball team: individual improvement and team accomplishment. She can check off both of those boxes.

“It was just an awesome experience and I couldn’t have imagined a better freshman year,” she said.

The 2018 W-H grad made an impact immediately for Eastern Nazarene, which advanced all the way to the New England Collegiate Championship this season, where it fell to South Vermont, 3-1. The Lions’ final record was 20-7, –a significant improvement over their 11-19 campaign in 2017.

In her first season with the Lions, Julian, a middle hitter, saw action in 79 of the squad’s 93 sets; she ranked second on the team in blocks per set (0.51) and third both in kills (111) and hitting percentage (.257).

“For a freshman to come in and put up those kind of numbers in the first year of being a college player is pretty good,” said Eastern Nazarene women’s volleyball head coach Derek Schmitt.

Schmitt said Julian’s consistency on the court is why she saw significant playing time as a freshman.

“She had some pretty good offensive numbers in matches,” he said. “I thought she was consistent in her play and you could just count on her every night to go out there and be out there doing whatever it took to win. Try and score some points for us offensively and work hard for us blocking.”

Schmitt said he was surprised Julian cracked the learning curve that comes with being a freshman so quickly to make an impact right away.

“She was able to handle the change because the college game is definitelyfaster,” Schmitt said. “She was able to adapt quicker than I thought she would. I think she picked up on things quickerthan a lot of freshman would have.”

Julian credited her time playing for former W-H girls’ volleyball head coach Josh Gray as having a major impact on her.

“He taught me how to play the game I do today,” Julian, the Panthers’ all-time blocks leader on record, said.

Julian’s best match statistically this season came Oct. 11 against Gordon College; she registered a career-best 11 kills and swatted seven blocks.

“She really just developed as a middle blocker and as far as being able to handle the pace of the game and being able and being quicker to the outside to block the pin hitters and to be able to get better offensively and get better timing,” Schmitt said. “The good thing is she’s already got that 6-foot-2 frame, that’s not going to change.”

Julian said she’s already been in the gym as she strives to make an even larger impact for the Lions next fall.

“My goal is to improve my blocking because with this speed, you got to get out to block super fast and it’s hard to press over sometimes, but I definitely want to get better at my blocking,” she said. “I’ll use this season at motivation.”

Bonavita a score for UMass’ women’s soccer team

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Bonavita against UMaine. / Courtesy photo: Thom Kendall Photography

Lauren Bonavita, of Hanson, put forth seven goals in her freshman campaign, which was tied for the team high.

When Jason Dowiak was announced head coach of UMass Amherst’s women’s soccer team last December, Lauren Bonavita was the first person he called.

Since Dowiak had not recruited the incoming class, he needed to find out more about the team’s incoming freshmen. Dowiak had a solid idea of just what Bonavita, coming off a 43-goal season and 113-goal soccer career at Whitman-Hanson Regional High, would bring to the team – a dynamic scoring presence. Further game footage sent over by Bonavita affirmed his thinking.

“I got to see three or four mostly high school games,” Dowiak said. “What was unique about Lauren was her knack for being able to create really good, quality scoring chances. I think in one of the high school games she sent me she scored four goals.”

During the spring, Bonavita, who hails from Hanson, impressed him, while playing for her club team FC Boston.

“I think out of four or five spring games that we watched her play, only one of those games did we walk away saying ‘Ah, we kind of expect more,'” Dowiak said. “All of the other games she was the best player on the field and it wasn’t even close, and she was scoring a boat load of goals. I think in a matter of seven or eight club games last year she had 13 goals and 13 assists.

“And we were tracking, we started watching and we were like, ‘OK, so she had two or three that game. She had three in this one and then she only had one goal in this game but she had three assists. Obviously we started getting really excited of what she’s capable of.” When the fall arrived, that goal scoring was on full display for Dowiak’s Minutewomen and played a key role in their turnaround.

Bonavita tied for a team-high seven goals and added five assists as UMass went 11-6-1. It marked a four-win improvement on 2017 and the team’s first season above 10 wins since 2011.

In the Minutewomen’s opener against Maine, Bonavita set the tone of the fall in the 36th minute with the first goal of the season. “It was very, very exciting,” she said. In the first four Atlantic 10 games, Bonavita notched a goal and two assists – including the winning pass in a 1-0 victory over St. Bonaventure on Sept. 27. Thanks to this, UMass began conference play 4-0 for the first time in over 10 years.

“It’s not like all scoring,” said Bonavita, who was selected to the A-10’s All-Rookie Team. “It’s about helping the team and making the right decisions and helping the team and passing it to an open player. I was just able to help the team push toward the win whether it was offensively ordefensively.”

Bonavita said the most important thing she learned at W-H that translates into the college level is conditioning.

“Our fitness with coach [Dave] Floeck would be the two-mile run in the summer and just making sure you’re working throughout the sum mer to get your fitness up,” she said.

Bonavita also noted competing in a rigorous Patriot League throughout high school helped her to compete at the next level.

“Definitely playing against those high-competitive teams kind of set me up, I mean college is completely different, but setting me up for what I’m going to be looking at in college,” Bonavita said. “But Duxbury, Silver Lake and Hingham all have like club players who are playing in college, so it was definitely a high-competitive game and then coming to UMass it was similar and everyone was working together.”

Thanks to her strong performance this fall, Dowiak said he is excited to watch Bonavita’s growth over the next three seasons.

“I think that we’ve got an amazing player on our hands that we can really develop into someone that can come out and be productive against just about anybody,” Dowiak said.

Sweeney, Trongone anchors and leaders in the trenches

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From left, seniors Ryan Trongone and Quinn Sweeney. / Photos by: Sue Moss

Seniors Quinn Sweeney and Ryan Trongone have been playing on the line together their whole lives.

For Whitman-Hanson Regional High foot ball seniors and starting two-way linemen Quinn Sweeney and Ryan Trongone, most weeks their toughest competition doesn’t come on Friday nights. It doesn’t even come from the other team.

Every Wednesday during practice, the Panthers hold their pass rush championship. Each drill calls for one quarterback, one offensive lineman and one defensive lineman. After cycling through the rest of the team’s linemen, Trongone and Sweeney are almost a sure bet to be the last ones standing.

“Our practices are very competitive, especially on Wednesday,” head coach Mike Driscoll said. “They compete like crazy, those kids.”

Some weeks, Sweeney, who starts at right tackle and defensive end, gets the edge on Trongone. Other weeks, Trongone, who starts at left guard and defensive end, swoops under Sweeney .

“We’re pretty even with wins for that,” Trongone said. “It’s always fun to go against him.”

Said Sweeney: “We always make each other better. He works hard and gives 100 percent on every play.”

On game day, the two, who have been starting on both sides of the ball for the past two seasons, compete on the stat sheet as well.

“We’re all racing for first in sacks,” Trongone said. “The lead for sacks is a big race be tween us.”

Their work on W-H’s defense, which is surrendering under two touchdowns a game, has been eye-popping. Sweeney leads the team with 21 tackles for loss and Trongone is second with 14. In a 9-6 nail-biting win over New Bedford earlier in the season, the two brought down the opposing ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage five times.

“They’re the heart and soul of the line,” Driscoll said of Sweeney and Trongone. “Quinn has just blossomed into an incredible football player over the last two years. Ryan is just a steady kid. He has the best technique of any lineman I’ve ever coached. They’re dependable guys and come to play every day, every game. They start every game and they finish every game, and they’re just great players to have on the team.”

They’re not just reliable up front. They’re leaders there as well, always trying to find a way to bring their unit closer.

“We have a group chat with the linemen where we all go out and do fun things with each other,” Sweeney said. “We’ll go to Buffalo Wild Wings or fishing, just so we can bond with each other more and then when game time comes we know that we have each other’s back, and we know that we have this bond with each other.”

The two have been building chemistry on the offensive line since playing in Hanson Youth Football, where they won the Super Bowl as eighth graders. Sweeney was an offensive guard and nose guard and Trongone played defensive end and center.

“It’s almost instant where we can say, ‘Go get this guy,’ and the next thing you know we get a run for 10 yards,” Trongone said.

And Thanksgiving Day marks the final time these two linemen will step onto the gridiron as teammates.

“That’s gonna be rough because all the Hanson kids that played in eighth grade and a majority of them that played in high school,” Sweeney said. “I’ll never be able to play football with a group of kids like these every again.”

Said Trongone: “I’m sure by the time it comes there will be a lot of mixed emotions. Obviously the fact that we’re leaving football isn’t the greatest thing I want to leave behind but we’re doing it with the best team we’ve had.”

Plays like team spirit: Rian Schwede’s versatility, unselfishness shining for W-H

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Schwede against Duxbury. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Senior captain Rian Schwede has done anything asked of him, and is flourshing in that role.

The general consensus about Whitman-Hanson Regional High senior Rian Schwede is simply stated: He’s as unselfish a player as you can ask for.

His talent blends quite well with his unselfish manner, too, and it hasn’t been more evident than over the last two weeks.

Due to an unforeseen change at quarterback early in the season, the Panthers needed a boost under center, and Schwede, who was on the receiving end of 19 passes for 300 yards and two TDs last season, stepped right in and is now sharing snaps with junior John Zeidan.

Quarterback isn’t completely foreign to Schwede, as he played it throughout youth football, but it’s never easy to accept a position change, albeit a partial one.

“I always love my receiver spot, but it was like second nature when coach told me [to play quarterback],” Schwede said.

But Schwede, who stands at 6-foot-3, isn’t just playing quarterback. He has also been been split out wide and lined up in the backfield, along with starting in the defensive backfield and on special teams and flourishing while doing so.

Over the past two weeks, Schwede’s posted five touchdowns and a two-point conversion rush, while recording an interception.

On some occasions — as in two games ago against Quincy — Schwede will see action at receiver, running back, quarterback, defensive back and placeholder all within the span of a quarter.

Senior kicker Jake O’Brien’s said Schwede’s unselfish attitude is nothing new.

“Since youth football, Rian has played a ton of different positions,” O’Brien said. “He will do anything to help the team be more successful. Rian definitely embodies the unselfish attitude that every football player should strive to have.”

Against the Presidents — a 39-0 shutout victory — Schwede found himself on the receiving end of a 30-yard TD from Zeidan, tossed an 11-yard score to classmate Jacob Nixon and rushed for a 2-yard TD.

The offensive outburst came after the Panthers were held to two touchdowns or less their previous three games.

“Rian has always been one of the leaders, that’s why he’s one of our captains,” W-H football head coach Mike Driscoll said. “He’s doing what Rian does. He’ll do whatever we ask him to do.”

Against Silver Lake last week — a 29-6 victory on senior night – Schwede fired a 57-yard TD to Nixon on a fleaflicker to open the scoring just 16 seconds in. Then, in a 2:06-span in the fourth quarter, he converted a key two-point conversion run to put the Panthers up by two-plus scores, came down with an interception and tossed a 76-yard TD to classmate Ryan Downing.

“Rian’s stepped into that role and he’s flourishing in it,” Driscoll said. “We know he’s got a cannon, and Rian’s done a great job for us.”

Schwede said the biggest adjustment has been studying all of the pages of the Panthers playbook rather than a few.

“The practices, they’ve just been kind of getting to know the whole entire offense, all the runs,” he said. “I was pretty down with all the pass routes and plays, but a majority of the runs I’ve started to learn.”

It’s on to Plymouth North (4-2, 2-2) for Schwede and the Panthers for a key, in terms of potentially hosting a playoff game, Patriot League Keenan Division battle.

“We got to have a real good week of practice and preparation and that’ll be it,” Schwede said.

Gervasio settles into setter role

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Gervasio (front) during a Sept. 14 match with junior captain Olivia Martin peeking over her shoulder. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Kylie Gervasio has found her own on the court and in the school since joining the girls’ volleyball team.

Coming into the season, Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ volleyball head coach Ashley Balbian had a question mark penciled in for a key position — setter.

Little did she know that area of concern would be shored up by someone who last played competitively over 2,600 miles away in senior Kylie Gervasio.

Gervasio and her family moved from Whitman to Arizona when she was 10, only to return at the beginning of last year’s school year. Unfortunately for her, their move back occurred after tryouts so she missed the season.

For Gervasio, who played the sport throughout middle school and high school, not competing in nearly two years was tough, but when the season inched closer, she made sure to sharpen her skills.

“When I knew tryouts were coming up, I went out to the beach and volleyball courts with my best friend Jennifer and we practiced because she’s also a volleyball player and she helped me get back into it,” Gervasio said.

Balbian said Gervasio’s positive energy at tryouts caught her eye immediately and blended in with the rest of her returners.

“Even if she shanks a ball she’s still got a smile on her face,” Balbian said. “So right away I was like ‘I know I want her on my team.’”

That positive energy Gervasio and her Panthers teammates convey has made her joining the roster, which consists mostly of girls she had never met prior to tryouts, a seamless transition she said.

“Everybody here is so helpful and sweet,” said Gervasio, who has accumulated 93 assists in 24 sets. “Everyone is so cheerful and excited to play and always pumped up going to games. They made coming on to the team not feel weird.” 

Joining the volleyball team has just provided it with a boost, but its benefited her as well.

“Being new and everything last year, I had trouble making friends,” Gervasio said. “Being on the volleyball team and everything, I’ve never felt more enjoyment in going to school.”

Balbian said the Panthers’ 3-2 victory over Hanover on Sept. 17 (14 assists) and their 3-1 loss to Hingham on Sept. 28 (15 assists) stick out among many strong efforts put forth by Gervasio. Balbian said she expects to see much of the same production from her senior as the season wears on.

“She’s really been a game-changer for us,” Balbian said. “I knew I had one setter coming into the season. I wasn’t sure who was going to be my backup setter so she came in as the backup and now is the starter. I think she really had taken on that leadership role the more comfortable she gets.”

Clack clicking for W-H boys’ soccer

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Clack against Pembroke this season. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Through the Panthers’ first three games, senior midfielder Nolan Clack has two goals and two assists.

Senior midfielder Nolan Clack has been a man on a mission this season for the Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ soccer team.

It took the four-year varsity player just two games to match his goal total (two) and halve his assist total (four) from last fall. In the Panthers’ season opener, Clack racked up two assists in a 2-1 victory over defending Div. 4 South champion Cohasset, 2-1. His first came off a corner kick to junior captain Jason Broduer and other came toward the end of the first half when he fed sophomore Brad Pelissier, who found the back of the net.

Two days later, Clack was the one finding the back of the net – not once, but twice – in a 6-1 triumph over Rockland. His first tally came five minutes in to set the tone, putting W-H up 1-0. With 15 minutes left in the opening frame, Clack scored again to make it 4-0.

“What he did in the first half against Cohasset and the first again against Rockland, he made us a better team because of his play,” W-H boys’ soccer head coach Dave Leahy explained.

PUTTING IN THE WORK

Clack’s early success was preceded by a summer centered around soccer. After back-to-back tough seasons in 2015 (4-14) and 2016 (1-16), both of which Clack were a part of, he and the Panthers got a taste of success last fall in what was their first season under Leahy. Their win total rose by 10 and they made the playoffs for the first time in three years. The advances had Clack wanting more and aiming to be a bigger part of the action. So, he knew the work he had to put in to better his game.

“Every day, me and captain Steve Kelly, we just went to the field,” Clack said. “We just worked on everything we needed to over the offseason. Every day.”

Improving hisshot was high on his to-do list. “My dad would come to the field and [my right foot was] all we’d work on for like an hour,” Clack said.

In addition to just coming to the field, Clack was in game action for a few months with his club team, the FC Boston Bolts, playing in numerous tournaments. Leahy’s noticed the effort put in.

“Nolan has done an excellent job at coming back from his junior year to his senior year, and he worked as hard as he could in the offseason to make himself the best player he can be, and he’s continuing to work hard,” Leahy said.

Adding more fire to Clack’s desire for success was when he found out the Panthers were going to be down two key players to transfer just a few weeks before the season.

“It just put a chip on our shoulder,” Clack said. “We don’t want to show that were bad, we don’t want to show that we’re too good, we just wanna play the way we wanna play.”

Clack looks to keep rolling Friday, Sept. 21 when the Panthers (2-1) host Hanover at 4 p.m.

“I just want to get over .500 and help the team as much as possible to win,” Clack said.

Double dose of Dunn: Sister act chips in for W-H varsity field hockey

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Lauren Dunn (left) and Kathryn Dunn (right) after the first game of the season. / Courtesy photo

Sisters Lauren and Kathryn Dunn are ecstatic to be playing with each other for the Whitman-Hanson Regional High field hockey team.

Coming into tryouts, Lauren Dunn was just aiming to make the freshman field hockey team.

But her speed was too much to pass up for Whitman-Hanson Regional High field hockey coach Todd Humphrey, who selected her and two other freshmen out of 26 for the varsity team.

“During tryouts, I noticed that Lauren was quick to the ball,” Humphrey explained. “She was aggressive. She’s going to be a playmaker. I thought she worked well with Annika (Putur), so I want to continue to enrich that throughout the season.”

Dunn’s low expectations for her roster status stemmed from the fact that she just picked up the sport over the summer after a lifetime of playing soccer. 

Her sister Kathryn, a senior, made a similar move. Kathryn was the MVP of the junior varsity girls’ soccer team her sophomore season before deciding field hockey was the fall sport for her.

“Kathryn was kind of debating [joining field hockey] and talking about it,” explained Humphrey, “and I said, ‘Look, I don’t recruit. I’m here for you if you want to make that transition. If you want to come play field hockey, I’m here for you. That’s your decision.’”

So, when Kathryn found out her younger sister cracked the varsity team, a few months after talking her into playing the sport, she was ecstatic.

“I think I was more excited than she was,” Kathryn said.

EXPERIENCE

The two sisters’ only prior experience playing together has come when Lauren subbed in on Kathryn’s AAU basketball team when they need an extra player or two.

Lauren said her older sister has been an immense asset for her to have by her side as she makes the transition to high school both in the classroom and the field.

“She’s been a lot of help,” said Lauren. “She’s just there for me, always. It’s awesome.”

Humphrey said this season brings back memories of 2014, when freshman Colleen Hughes (’18) came out for the team along with her sister Caitlin (’15), who would end up being the program’s first captain since its revival that season after a 30-year hiatus.

Colleen went on to captain the team three seasons later. Caroline Woodward (’16) was a captain her senior season and then her younger sister, Tina (’18), went on to do the same her senior season.

“It’s very much a family affair, for sure,” Humphrey said. “I like it.”

In the Panthers’ first game of the season, a 1-1 tie against Scituate, Humphrey gave both Dunns the start – Kathryn at defender and Lauren at forward.

“That was awesome,” Kathryn said. “Scituate was the Fisher League champions, so it felt great to tie against them because they’re a good team.”

Said Lauren: “I was so excited to get to play with her. It was a lot of fun and we played really well, too.”

KEY FORCE

Kathryn was a key force in the middle for the Panthers that game, and Humphrey said he can’t begin to explain her importance to the team as an elder statesman.

“I’m really impressed with Kathryn,” he said. “She was working in the offseason. She was playing in the Bridgewater Dome just doing different things – putting the basketball down a little bit and playing some field hockey, so it definitely helped.”

Humphrey said Kathryn’s biggest improvement from last fall is her technique. “She’s just great at getting low and sweeping the ball,” Humphrey said. “That’s very different because last year she was very high. Now she’s very low and she’s able to drive the ball down the field.”

While Kathryn clamps down on defense, Lauren is flying down the field with the offense. In the Panthers’ 2-1 victory over Silver Lake on Thursday, Sept. 13, Lauren passed the ball to junior Victoria Ryan, who buried it home for a goal to make it 1-0.

“You’re going to see Lauren going more with the offensive flow, just very graceful and fast,” Humphrey said.

NEXT GOALS

The goal the rest of the way for the Dunns is to keep the Panthers’ winning ways going. Through five contests, W-H sits at 2-1-2, its best start since the program resurfaced four years ago.

“We’ll never get this chance again, so I’m glad we got this,” Kathryn said.

Kuzmich’s path to the net paved by obstacle at young age

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Kuzmich during the semifinals last season. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Syklar Kuzmich is in her fourth year as W-H’s starting goalkeeper.

Faced with an obstacle at a young age that could have halted her soccer career, Skylar Kuzmich found her niche elsewhere on the pitch.

After jumping into the sport a few years prior, Kuzmich hit a bump in the road when she was 11. Running up and down the field was proving too much as her asthma was getting the best of her, leaving the then-middle schooler with two options.

“I could either quit the sport or become a goalkeeper,” Kuzmich explained.

She chose the latter. Then, she spent the next years in town and club play mastering the position before arriving in high school where she’d blossom into one of the state’s best goalkeepers.

Kuzmich, now a senior, has started for Whitman-Hanson Regional High’s girls’ soccer team since she was a freshman. The Panthers own a 58-5-3 record and haven’t fallen short of the South Sectional semifinals in her first three seasons, a span she’s posted 37 shutouts in.

“I always know that even if I mess up on defense, Sky is there and I trust Sky because she is an amazing goalie,” classmate and fellow captain Sammy Smith said.

Last season was when Kuzmich took her game to a new level, posting shutouts in 10 of 19 games. She earned Patriot League All-Star recognition.

After falling to league rival Hingham, 3-1, Oct. 17, W-H found itself with a rematch against the Harborwomen on the road in the South Sectional quarterfinals Nov. 7.

Kuzmich turned away numerous shots in the first half to keep the score deadlocked at 1-1, before the Panthers pulled ahead 2-1 in the second and that’s where it would stand.

“She made three of four saves there that absolutely gave us an opportunity to win the game,” head coach David Floeck recalled. “I’m hoping we don’t have to see too many highlight-reel saves but we’re happy that we have her there to make a few if she needs to.”

Kuzmich stopped 16 shots in the game.

“She makes these amazing saves and I’m jealous because I don’t know how she does it,” Smith said. “She’s like a ninja.”

Jealousy isn’t all that flows through Smith’s mind watching Kuzmich, a Hofstra University commit, protect the Panthers’ goal.

“I’m confident with her behind me in net at all times,” Smith said.

Kuzmich said that while she deals with the same struggles most all goalkeepers do, her attitude allows her to stay sane in net.

“After you let up a goal you have to have a goldfish mindset,” Kuzmich said. “Forget about it [and] move on to the next save. You can’t let it get in your head or else you’ll let in another one and part of that is you just need to be a little crazy too because one, you’re diving at the ball all the time and two, you have to forget something that just happened even if it was your mistake.”

Floeck said that while he’s had to circle in numerous players on the backline over the past few seasons and plans to do the same this fall, he can count on Kuzmich to put them in the right positions to succeed.

“We’ll have some different people on defense and she’s the one, she’s the conductor of that,” he explained. “I’ve said from Day 1 that one of her greatest attributes is the saves she never has to make because she organizes our defense so well that she shuts off opportunities before they get to her. She can still make the game-saving save, but she shuts off a lot.”