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McAleer is making impact at Nichols

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W-H alum Mel McAleer has found smooth skating as a Nichols Colege Bison. / Courtesy photo: Jill Souza

Mel McAleer, a Hanson native, is impressing on the ice at Nichols College.

Mel McAleer is no stranger to success.

At Whitman-Hanson, as a member of Pembroke/Whitman-Hanson (2013-14) and then Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake (2014-17), her teams boasted a 53-26-7 record and cracked the Division 2 tournament each season. During that span, McAleer registered 114 goals and 73 assists. Now, she is carrying over that success at Nichols College.

It took McAleer, a Hanson native, all but 6:55 into her first collegiate contest to find twine. At the 13:05 mark of Nichols College women’s ice hockey’s season opener against SUNY Canton on Nov. 3, Kelly Ferreira passed to Jordyn McGuire who fed the puck to McAleer and she skated a few strides and buried a shot far side for a power-play goal, pushing the Bison up 2-0.

“After realizing that we scored, it was the best feeling.” McAleer said. “My coach did let me keep the puck and I gave it to my mom and she put it in her room as display.”

The tally, which turned out to be the game-winner, came 49 seconds after McAleer dished out her first collegiate assist on a goal scored by McKenna Gernander.

Since that first tilt, McAleer has nine goals and 11 assists and had been tabbed Colonial Hockey Conference Rookie of the Week twice.

McAleer’s most recent honor came Feb. 4 after she tallied four points (two goals, two assists) in 5-2 win over Neumann the day prior. Not only was it a career day for the freshman, but it was a record-setting contest for Nichols, as it set a regular-season wins mark with nine.

“I think that was absolutely my fondest moment because we all dialed in,” McAleer said of the game. “We all worked as hard as possible and together we made [women’s ice hockey] history. This year’s team is a team of firsts and it feels good to be a part of something so successful.”

McAleer’s path to the Bison is a unique one. She was actually recruited by former head coach Wil Brown, who stepped down, and was succeeded by former University of Maine women’s ice hockey assistant Mike O’Grady.

“I touched base with Mel when I got the job and she was in and said she was coming, so we kind of just went from there,” O’Grady said.

McAleer said the biggest adjustment from the high school to college level has been the speed of the game.

“Passes are much crisper and come much faster,” she said.

Building on speed

While at Whitman-Hanson, WHSL head coach Kevin Marani always raved about McAleer’s speed, but O’Grady said he’s seen her develop in other facets of the game as well.

“I think the other part that has come along is her ability to see some lanes, [and] not only put the puck in the net, but also give the puck,” O’Grady said. “She’s gotten better with some patience and the speed of the game and just the way things happen and reading lanes and more of some of the intricacies that come into the college level, playing within a system and understanding how to play within a system and how it can continue to help her be successful in putting the puck in the net.

“She’s grown in that way in terms of her hockey IQ has grown a ton, she’s not just playing at the Mass. high school level, where she was able to be really successful but at the same time, she was so skilled that she stood out a lot more where at the college level, you have to buy into the system, which she’s done very well to be successful.”

McAleer said the key to success at the collegiate rank is simply just competing for your teammates.

“Success on the ice at the college level is playing for the girl sitting next to me,” McAleer said. “I work as hard as possible from the minute I lace up my skates.”

McAleer, whose pregame ritual consists of putting on her headphones and imagining herself making plays from a fan’s perspective, said fully intends to finish out the campaign strong.

“A personal goal I have for myself is my first collegiate hat trick, but my main goal is my team’s success at all costs,” McAleer said. “I hope to get far in playoffs because we are absolutely capable of that.”

All-around leader takes the mat: Blackstone steps up for Panthers

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LEAP FORWARD: Britney Blackstone on the bars in a recent meet. In her first year with W-H gymnastics – the team’s second since its return – she is a an all-around team leader. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Through the Panthers’ first five meets – in which they are 8-1 – senior first-year member Britney Blackstone has posted the highest all-around score in each one.

Sophistication, maturity, hard work and incredible talent.

Those are the assets that senior Britney Blackstone has brought to the gym this winter in her first season as a member of the Whitman-Hanson Regional High gymnastics team.

“Her work ethic is incredible,” W-H head coach Rachel Sferruzza said. “She’s always working, you don’t have to ask her to do anything, so she is definitely a leader by example.”

Through the Panthers’ first five meets – in which they are 8-1 – Blackstone has posted the highest all-around score in each one.

“She has certainly stepped up in a role where she shows the other girls how hard work can really pay off,” Sferruzza said. “She kind of brings a life to our team which we didn’t have before, where the girls are really cheering her on. They haven’t had someone on the team do gymnastics this big before, so they get really excited for her and we’re all really proud of her.”

In W-H’s first meet of the season Dec. 19, Blackstone boasted a 34.7 all-around score as the Panthers swept the meet, to open the winter 3-0. The three wins matched the club’s win total of last season, which was its first year back from reinstatement.

While it may be Blackstone’s inaugural campaign donning a Panther uniform, she is no stranger to gymnastics. She first hit the floor when she was 6 years old at Kathy Corrigan’s School of Gymnastics and has competed ever since. Last year, she was sticking her routines at Head Over Heels Gymnastics before having a change of heart.

“I hadn’t done a high school sport yet and I was getting a little tired of my club sport,” Blackstone explained on her decision to join the Panthers this season. “It was a lot of time and stuff so I decided to quit that and start high school.”

Sferruzza said that while she didn’t know Blackstone personally last season, she did know of her, but she’s ecstatic she chose to join them this time around.

“Her mother was actually pretty instrumental in pushing for the program at Whitman-Hanson, and I know Britney was really contemplating doing it last year, although her club team was pretty strict and it would have been a lot of juggle along with keeping up her grades, she’s a good student as well,” the head coach said. “So, I understand that mental struggle in doing one versus the other.”

Sferruzza said as the winter’s gone on, they’ve added difficulty to Blackstone’s routines, which can be seen by her all-around marks, as she’s hit 35.4 or more in two of the past three meets.

“We’ve tweaked them a little bit to build up her scores,” Sferruzza explained. “We’ve worked hard on cleaning up her routines and making sure that she is hitting the elements and she has gotten better through the season.”

As for growth, Blackstone acknowledged she still has plenty of room for it as the season enters the homestretch.

“I want to pike my vault, to stick beam because that hasn’t been going so well and I want to get my double full back on floor,” Blackstone said.

Pinning down success: Freshman Goldsmith-Greene impressing on the mats

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Damari Goldsmith-Greene wrestles his Plymouth South opponent in his 9-5 win Jan. 3. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Freshman Damari Goldsmith-Greene is impressing on the mats this winter.

Whitman-Hanson Regional High freshman wrestler Damari Goldsmith-Greene has been turning some heads with his play on the mat this season.

It was on brisk Wednesday, Jan. 3 evening when W-H hosted and was soundly defeated by Plymouth South, 69-3.

W-H’s lone win of the match came at 132 pounds, courtesy of Goldsmith-Greene, who downed his opposition, 9-5.

It was already the third victory of the winter for Goldsmith-Greene, and while he may be in ninth grade, he is vastly ahead of the game.

Goldsmith-Greene began his career on the mat in sixth grade as a member of Josiah Quincy Upper School’s wrestling team, where he competed for three seasons, before moving at the outset of the 2017-18 school year, which led to him attending W-H.

“I came in not knowing anything and then in seventh and eighth grade it was more of like a learning thing for me,” he said. “Then, when I got here it was kind of different because we all wrestle different, but I knew I just had to work hard and just keep it up.”

W-H wrestling head coach Gary Rabinovitz said he knew from day one he had something special in Goldsmith- Greene. “He had great takedowns, but his top and bottom is what really needs the work, so he has a lot to learn, he’s a freshman, but he’s willing to learn – he’s going to go very far,” Rabinovitz explained. “He’s come with a lot of experience behind him and pure talent, I think he’s going to be really good over the next three years.”

Not only has Goldsmith-Greene enhanced his own skills, but he’s improved others around him as well.

“Actually, Ben Cordingley at 138 [pounds], they both weighed in at 132 and he has made Ben a better wrestler,” Rabinovitz said. “Damari showed up on the scene and pushed him and actually won the spot at 132 and they’re going to wrestle off one more time before sectionals, so the things that he’s brought to the team are incredible. He really works very hard, very coachable and just a great overall kid.”

Goldsmith-Greene said the biggest hurdle he’s had to overcome since joining the W-H program is just adapting to the system.

“Learning the new moves that they learn,” Goldsmith-Greene said of his toughest challenge since joining the team. “Everyone wrestles differently, that’s basically it, learning new moves.”

In the Panthers’ Jan. 10 meet against Duxbury, Goldsmith-Greene scored another 9-5 victory to help the team edge the Dragons, 45-36. Three days later, he medaled at the 2018 Weymouth Invitational with a sixth-place finish at 132 pounds.

“I just want to work harder and make it to sectionals and states,” Goldsmith-Greene said.

Rabinovitz is looking for the same thing out of Goldsmith-Greene.

“The key is to place in sectionals, go to states, especially as a freshman,” Rabinovitz explained. “Then at every tournament next year he’ll have what’s called paper, so he’ll be at least seeded at every tournament next year, so we’re really looking for him to be in the top-four in sectionals and go to states as a freshman.”

Erin Leahy back on the court

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Team quad-captain Erin Leahy (34) is making an impressive comeback from a serious knee injury last year. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ basketball junior captain Erin Leahy has battled back from a torn ACL to be ready for the opener.

Sometimes, amid winning, the adversity overcome to get there can be forgotten.

Last February, the Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ basketball team, which was one win away from making the tournament at the time, hosted Pembroke. W-H was on fire in the early going, up 10-0, with six of those points coming from then-sophomore point guard Erin Leahy.

“In my head, I was thinking she was going to have a career night,” head coach Jenna Olem said as she reflected on the game.

But, things took a turn for the worse for Leahy. After snatching a steal, off the Panthers’ press, Leahy jump cut and went up for a routine layup, but her return down was anything but routine, as she hit the floor awkwardly and immediately went down in pain.

“I knew that something went wrong because I heard it pop,” Leahy said as she reflected on the injury. “I was so scared.”

Olem said the team was in a state of shock when Leahy, who has been struggling with knee problems for a while, went down, but it had to keep pushing forward, even if it was going to be without its floor general.

“When it actually happened, everyone was so focused on winning that clincher that we had to move on quickly and focus on the task at hand,” Olem recalled.

Leahy, with the help of the trainer, made it off the court and headed into the trainer’s office, where she was given ice and crutches, before returning to the sidelines. It was there where she watched her team finish off Pembroke, 63-32, securing its first tournament berth since the 2013-14 season.

With the team and Leahy holding out hope it wasn’t serious, she headed for an MRI a few days later, and the results: a torn left ACL, sidelining her for the rest of the season.

Classmate, friend since kindergarten and familiar face on the basketball court since third grade, Kathryn Dunn, said the news was devastating.     

“I was crushed because that meant I couldn’t play with my partner in crime, as coach [Paul] Carroll has called us since freshman year,” Dunn said.

Leahy, despite the injury, never missed a game or practice, but she knew being stuck on the sidelines wasn’t where she belonged.

“It just upset me so much that I knew I wanted to get back so much sooner than I was predicted,” Leahy said.

Eleven days after season’s end, Leahy underwent surgery.

“They said the earliest I’d come back was nine months, but since everything happened the way that it did, they were thinking a year, so that’s what they put in my head,” she said.

Within a few weeks, Leahy, with that one-year timeline in the back of her mind, began physical therapy, working on her hamstrings and building up strength in her leg.

“I continued it for about six months and it was two days a week for like an hour and a half,” Leahy said.

“So, going to [physical therapy] I worked so hard and I put a lot of time and effort into getting back and I did a lot of the exercises at my house. So, it was really just beating the odds of what they thought I was going to.”

Although Leahy, was kept off the court, there was no keeping her away from the game of basketball and over the summer and fall, she coached the Panthers’ league teams. She said it allowed her to see basketball from a new viewpoint, albeit one she didn’t expect to have an angle from so soon.

“It was cool to see like a coach’s perspective and when playing, I now have a whole new perspective on the game,” Leahy explained.

When Nov. 27 tryouts rolled around, Leahy was ready to go, nearly eight months after surgery. Olem, who said she talked with her frequently over the offseason, said she felt a sense of joy and relief to see Leahy back out there.

“She is a kid that takes no days off,” Olem said. “I was honestly skeptical about having her back right from the get-go, but she cleared all the benchmarks with the doctor and physical therapist and was ready and willing to go full speed since the start of tryouts.”

Leahy said some of the best words of advice she received during the lenghty recovery process actually came from her brother, Sean, who suffered the same injury two years prior.

“He kind of just said that he knows how tough it is, but time can really only heal it and work as hard as I could with [physical therapy],” she said. “It was basically what I had to do with myself and he kind of showed me that with his injury.”

Since returning to action, Leahy, now a junior captain, is a major reason the girls’ basketball team, which sits at 7-1 and is on pace for its best campaign in eight seasons, is enduring such immense success.

“Having her back on the court this year shows that she was the missing link as we made our way towards the tournament without her,” Olem said. “She is so strong and athletic and can do so many different things on the court that it makes us as a team deeper and more versatile.

“Erin continues to grow as a leader and is becoming better every practice and every game. During the first game of the season, we lost Halle [Julian] and Kathryn to injuries. Erin was able to stay calm and even keeled, and the younger kids were able to really look up to her and she was able to hit clutch three in overtime.”

Dunn, who is also a junior captain, echoed Olem’s sentiment.

“Having Erin back this year changes the dynamic of the team because she is a versatile player who can play all positions from point guard to center,” Dunn said. “Her ability to play many positions makes us more flexible as a team.”

The Panthers recently wrapped up a trip to Fort Myers, Florida to compete in a three-game Queen of Palms Tournament. W-H went 3-0 and captured the Emerald Division title and Leahy was tapped to the all-tournament team.

“Now, I just tell her to be honest with me,” Olem said. “If she is sore or feels a tweak she needs to rest, get ice, etc. Besides playing positions one through five for us all year, she is inching towards where she was pre-injury and will end up being better than she was before the injury, but we keep reminding her that she cannot get it all back at once and needs to be patient as she has not played at all over the course of her nine-month long recovery.”

Leahy said the biggest adjustment since returning has been just how different her leg is now, but it’s not a challenge she has to go through alone.

“It’s hard to play like I did before the surgery, but having my team behind my back and everything and, my coaches and they were being so supportive, just makes it a lot easier knowing they understand where I’m at,” she said.

Whether watching Leahy battle for boards, crash the floor in pursuit of a loose ball or slide into the lane for an easy two, know she doesn’t take the game of basketball as a given, not after what went through.

“I don’t really take it for granted anymore because it was taken away from me for so long,” Leahy said. “It’s nice to get back and the fundamentals that I had to start over with again just really made me a stronger player.”

Keith takes volleyball skills to Curry starting lineup

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W-H alum Jordyn Keith, seen at a recent practice session, earned a starting spot in the season-opener vs. Fisher College on Sept. 1. Her goal for next season is to work on her strength and speed. / Courtesy photo: Curry College Athletic Dept.

Whitman-Hanson alum Jordyn Keith is the only freshman starter on Curry College’s women’s volleyball team.

It was three years ago when members of the Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ volleyball team took a trip to Curry College to soak in a few sets as spectators.

One of those on the adventure was then-sophomore Jordyn Keith, who immediately fell in love with the campus. She then went home, did some research, before ultimately applying. After getting in, she soon received an email from new Colonels head coach Bori May, asking her to attend preseason on a tryout basis. After a week of play, she was penned on Curry’s women’s volleyball roster.

As if making the team was not enough excitement for Keith, May tabbed her as a starter ahead of Curry’s season opener against Fisher College on Sept. 1. That was something she never expected.

“Being a freshman starter is a huge accomplishment for me,” Keith said. “I came into the season not knowing if I would even play a single game, and it shocked me when [coach May] told me I would be starting.”

Keith –– the only Colonels freshman starter –– finished the season with 69 kills, 12 assists, 52 service aces and 181 digs to her credit.

Keith said one of the struggles she faced this fall was a position change, something she was no stranger too. As a senior at Whitman-Hanson, she was shifted from outside hitter and defensive specialist to libero, where she flourished, leading the Patriot League in digs and aces. At Curry, the 5-foot-4 Keith saw action as not only a libero, but as an outside hitter and defensive specialist as well.

“I had to adjust to hitting and blocking which isn’t easy, but I’ve improved since I began hitting on the team,” Keith said.

Another struggle Keith endured is just mustering up enough confidence to go out and compete against some of the wily veterans she goes up against. Her solution: try to smile and think positively, no matter what.

“As the only freshman starter, it is difficult to be new to college volleyball and to transition from being a senior in high school, to a freshman again in college where all the older girls are more comfortable and experienced than I am,” she said. “I think about how I am on that court for a reason, and that everyone has bad games. We win and lose as a team.”

Former Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ volleyball head coach Josh Gray, who coached Keith for three years on varsity, said he’s seen her grow her game immensely.

“I first met Jordyn in my first season coaching at Whitman-Hanson and from day one of tryouts I knew that she was a special player,” Gray said. “There was no doubt in my mind that she was going to make varsity and that she would contribute from the start. She was so committed and devoted to the sport and did whatever she could to get better every day. “

Gray said Keith’s dedication to her craft has played a major role in the player she is today.

“Jordyn is one of those players who gives everything she has to her team and is willing to do whatever it takes to give her team has a chance to win,” Gray said. “Jordyn’s ability to read the ball and react to it before anyone else is one of her greatest assets on the court because it allows her to make plays others can’t.”

As Keith heads into the offseason, she said she is going to keep doing the things that got her to this point.

“One major goal I have is to work hard for next season,” Keith said. “I am going to start going to the gym more often to stay in shape and to work on becoming stronger and faster on the court.”

Holland to start record 44th game

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Riley Holland snaps the ball during an Oct. 13 game against Hingham. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Whitman-Hanson Regional High senior Riley Holland will make a school-record 44th straight start on Thanksgiving against Abington.

Whitman-Hanson Regional High football senior captain Riley Holland is one snap of the pigskin away from making history.

This Thanksgiving, when Holland assumes his post in the heart of the Panthers offensive line — at center — with Green Wave defenders breathing down his neck, he will have started his 44th consecutive game on offense, which is a school record.

“It’s a huge accomplishment for me,” Holland said. “I came in and I never really expected to start as a freshman.”

It was with good reason that Holland didn’t expect to assume an everyday role at the varsity level during his first year of high school, because it was rare a freshman even made the team in the first place. However, Panthers head coach Mike Driscoll said it was during the summer – just a few months before Holland was set to embark on ninth grade – when ‘this kid’ kept showing up to offseason lifting sessions. Driscoll had no idea who it was at the time, but he knew he was going to be on his team.

“I talked to the freshman coach and told him, ‘You’re not going to be able to get him, he’s just too big and strong, he’s going to have to play right away,’” Driscoll said.

Holland spent his first two seasons at left tackle for the Panthers before being shuffled to center – where he would remain throughout his career. Holland said the move was a tough one, but it was necessary to assure his team’s success.

“Having to move inside and learn a new position, blocking schemes from a different point of view of the offense, and everything, that was kind of a big obstacle to get over,” Holland said. “But I had to do it.”

Driscoll described Holland, who makes all the Panthers’ line calls, as more than a just a player on the gridiron.

“He brings a presence about him that the kids know when he’s there, just kind of that coach mentality that they got to be on their game with him, but they respect him,” Driscoll explained. “He’s light when he need to be light, but when Riley’s serious, everybody knows it’s time to get serious. He’s a great leader on and off the field.”

It was that leadership that played an integral role in helping the Panthers engineer a 21-point comeback to shock Abington, 29-28, last Thanksgiving.

“Time after time he was 15, 20, 30 yards down field making blocks down the field, to get us back into that game,” Driscoll said. “He was a huge part of that.”

School record aside, Holland said he has one goal when all is said and done with this Turkey Day.

“I’m the only one left in the program that’s lost on Thanksgiving and I don’t want anyone else to have that feeling,” Holland said.

Pasciuto makes mark in the net

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Anthony Pasciuto makes a save against Silver Lake. / Photo by: Sue Moss

First-year starting goalie Anthony Pasciuto has been a key for the Panthers this season.

Starting between the pipes on a regular basis at the varsity level has been something Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ soccer senior Anthony Pasciuto has been waiting for since he was a freshman.

Pasciuto, who has been playing on the pitch since he was in kindergarten, served as the starting goalkeeper at the lower levels during his first two high school campaigns. Last season he backed up Patriot League Keenan Division All-Star Conor Keane on varsity, while receiving reps on defense as well. This fall there was never a doubt, even to first-year W-H head coach Dave Leahy, that Pasciuto was ready to take over.

“He knew he was the starter, I knew he was the starter, he’s just, he’s a great goalie,” Leahy said.

Pasciuto, despite receiving minimal playing time in goal last season, said the move from second to first string wasn’t too much of a challenge.

“It’s not really much different because I’ve been playing goalie my whole entire life, so I’ve been playing goalie and defense so it’s really no change for me,” Pasciuto said. “I used to play goalie in club, so it’s been an easy transition for me.”

Pasciuto, who stands at 6-foot-4, has relished in the opportunity.

In 15 regular season games, he posted a 1.5 goals against average and recorded six shutouts for the Panthers (10-7-1). W-H is headed to the Division 2 South Sectional tournament for the first time since 2014.

“This year in goal I’ve been feeling really good,” Pasciuto said. “Probably my best year in goal in my whole entire life, so I’m feeling really good right now.”

Leahy said his senior goalkeeper has been everything he could have imagined this season.

“We had a tough first week going 0-3 and then from that point on, after a very important Hingham game (2-1 Panthers loss) for him, he has been outstanding in the league,” Leahy said.

In preperation of the new season, Pasciuto said he spent count less hours with the rest of his squad trying to get better at anything they could.

“In the summer, I was on the field four times a week just to work on goalie stuff,” Pasciuto said. “My whole entire team went every single week. We just worked really hard and that’s why we’re here right now, 10-7-1, making the tournament.”

Pasciuto said if there is one aspect of his game that separates him from his opposition on the field it’s his work ethic.

“I’ve been working really hard, I’ve been waiting for this since my freshman year,” he said. “I wanted to be the starting goalie since my freshman year. So, I’ve been waiting for this so I got to make the most of it.”

Not only is Pasciuto crucial to the Panthers’ on field performance, but he’s a leader off the field as well, serving as a captain. Those two combined make a player like him tough for a coach not to appreciate.

“He’s got the heart of a lion and he’s just a gentleman,” Leahy said. “You add all those things up, and he’s an athletic guy, he’s an outstanding goalie and outstanding captain.”

As W-H heads into the tournament, Pasciuto said it is essential for it to keep doing the things that got it there in the first place.

“We have to stay together, stick together,” he said. “One focus, we’re a family, we’re gonna go far. We just [have to] stay focused and hungry.”

Eli hockey standout

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Yale freshman Billy Sweezey has found smooth going on the ice as he has also worked to tackle the challenges of an Ivy League college’s classrooms. / Courtesy photo

Hanson native Billy Sweezey has been a standout for Yale’s men’s hockey team.

Commitment, confidence, grit, poise, resolve and wit. All are on full display when you watch Yale men’s hockey defenseman Billy Sweezey skate.

The Hanson native just concluded his inaugural campaign on the ice for the Bulldogs. He coined it his “most fun” season yet. The 6-foot-2, 204-pounder appeared in all 33 games for Yale, scored a goal, notched five assists and led the club with a +13.

Sweezey’s path to one of the oldest schools in the nation is an interesting one. After beginning school and high school hockey at Archbishop Williams, he transferred to Noble and Greenough, repeated his sophomore year and played three seasons there and was honored as a captain his senior campaign. After Nobles, he decided to take a year off from school and competed in the United States Hockey League for the Chicago Steel. In the midst of all that, he committed to Yale as a junior in high school.

Sweezey said one of the toughest shifts to the collegiate ranks he was tasked with was not on the ice.

“The transition into a college classroom, especially at a place like Yale, was pretty tough,” Sweezey said. “My dad always stressed doing well in school to my brother and me, so I was able to get back into the swing of things after a few weeks.”

Sweezey said everything on the ice went relatively smooth after he was able to work diligently with his coaches to get past the adjustment period.

“The biggest difference is the speed,” Sweezey said. “Guys are faster and stronger so you have that much less time to make a decision out there. The room for error is extremely small.”

One aspect Sweezey said he prides himself on is his physicality on the ice. However, it can be a detriment at times, and caused a few issues at the early stages of the season. Though, he was able to figure out how to become more disciplined, which can be seen by a season-best sixgame no penalty streak from Jan. 13 to Jan. 28.

“I think I improved in that aspect a lot this season,” Sweezey said of his discipline. “A lot of it comes down to being able to relax during the games and keep my emotions in check; never getting too high or too low.”

The rising sophomore said when he reflects back at his 2016-17 campaign, one moment that comes to mind is Yale’s 3-2 overtime win over Dartmouth in the first round of the ECAC playoffs on March 4. In the triumph – the Bulldogs’ last home tilt – Sweezey netted a third-period assist that knotted the score at 2-2.

“After the game and handshakes, we lined up and saluted our games for the final time,” Sweezey said. “It really hit me that I was going to be part of something really special for the next three years.”

Sweezey, who went through the Hanson School System up until high school, said he looks forward to the offseason for a bevy of reasons.

“I still see all my friends from home when I’m there and look forward to coming home,” Sweezey said. “I’ll probably skate two to three times a week doing skills work. Then I’m in the gym lifting four to five times a week. I also play three on three with my best friends once a week which is probably the most fun.”

Josselyn firing up Dragons

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Brandon Josselyn, a 2005 Whitman-Hanson Regional High graduate who finished his career at 20-4 with a .470 batting average, has been named the new head baseball coach at Duxbury High.

One pitch at a time.

That’s the philosophy Whitman-Hanson Regional High alum Brandon Josselyn is trying to instill in his players as he settles into his new role as the manager of the Duxbury High baseball team.

After previous skipper Gordon Cushing stepped down from the helm of the Green Dragons, Josselyn applied for the gig and was named his successor in August, and his path to the job is a unique one.

The Hanson native was one of top players ever produced on the diamond at Whitman-Hanson. The right-hander tallied a 9-0 record and pitched to the tune of a 1.10 ERA in 2005 during his senior campaign and finished his career at 20-4 with a .470 batting average.

Josselyn said one his takeaways from former W-H manager Pat Forbes was how to attack the game from both themental and physical side.

“I remember more how to compete and to get in the dayto- day stuff and take baseball very seriously from [him],”Josselyn said.

Not only did he star on the baseball field, but it was quite apparent Josselyn would have a leadership role down the road when he was tabbed a captain on the football and indoor track team his senior season.

“It was more of an honor back then,” Josselyn said. “To be recognized by my peers as someone who can be seen in that way is probably something I look back and think highly of the most. It was a nice honor.”

After graduating, Josselyn took the next step heading to Yale to compete at the collegiate level, where he ran into his first major speed bump.

“I had mono, I had my wisdom teeth out and I had strep all going into the season,” Josselyn said. “I was supposed to be the starting left fielder and I lost that job and the kid that came in and replaced me because I had mono was hitting .500 by the time I was cleared to get back in and play so that was tough.”

However, he would bounce back settling into a niche on the bump developing a slider-sinker combination en route to being named Ivy League Pitcher of the Year his senior season.

After being drafted by the Seattle Mariners as the second pick in the 25th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Josselyn spent two seasons in their organization before deciding it was time to move on.

“That following spring training, so going into my third season, that spring training you kind of see your name on the list and every day the list kind of changes,” Josselyn said. “There was one day my name was on the Single-A roster again to go back to Clinton, Iowa. I was already one of the older kids because I was drafted as a senior in college, so I just didn’t see the organization valuing me and I just thought if I was going to go back to the same level, well that’s three years at this level, I thought I had enough success to move on.”

After a brief stint in investment banking, Josselyn was ready for another change which led to him joining Duxbury as a math teacher in 2013.

“You want to teach them things that they can pick up along the way and things that they can take with them along the way, so there are definitely some parallels,” Josselyn said. “It’s certainty a different philosophy, me in the classroom and me in baseball.”

In 2014, he took over as the girls’ cross country coach at Duxbury in the fall and began managing the freshman baseball team in the spring, and now he’s ready for the next step.

“I’m a believer in just concentrate and focus on every single pitch,” Josselyn said. “If you’re an outfielder, put yourself in the right position based on the kid’s swing. If you’re a pitcher, whatever pitch the catcher is calling to execute that pitch and that kind of stuff. Let the results fall wherever they’re going to fall, but put yourself in a place to be successful from practice and from concentration in a game and results will take care of themselves.”

Josselyn will make his return to his alma mater May 1 when the Panthers host the Green Dragons at 4 p.m.

Mass. ADs to honor Sue Moss: W-H alum takes the photos that keep memories

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Whitman-Hanson Express volunteer photographer Sue Moss is being honored.

From student to teacher to coach to memory maker, Sue Moss’ role has transformed over the years at Whitman-Hanson, but her love for the Panthers has not. Now, she is being rewarded for her lifelong dedication to the school.

Moss has been selected by the Massachusetts Secondary School Athletic Directors Association as this year’s District C Joao Rodrigues Distinguished Service Award recipient. She has appeared at thousands of Panthers athletic events with camera in hand, snapping countless photos, where they soon appear on her Flickr, which fittingly features the panther statue as her profile picture, before they are used on the Whitman-Hanson athletic site and the Whitman-Hanson Express. Moss, who also takes pictures for the yearbook, said she’s the type of person who likes to fly under the radar.

“I just want to make things happen,” Moss said. “I’m very flattered and I’m very honored.”

The award will be presented to Moss March 30 by the MSSADA at their annual awards dinner held at the Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis.

The Joao Rodrigues Distinguished Service Award is assigned to one nonpaid individual chosen from 61 nominees put forth by the District C schools based on their continued involvement with high school activities at the local level.

Whitman-Hanson athletic director Bob Rodgers put Moss’ name forward and she was selected as the Patriot League representative in June before being tabbed as the district winner.

“This award not only recognized people who devote their time and energy to their communities, but I feel the best candidates are the people who inspire others to want to give back,” Rodgers said. “I think every student who has come in contact with Sue realizes how community service is something we should all aspire to make part of our lives.”

Moss’ time in Whitman dates to her childhood as she worked her way through the public school system. She said it was in her backend years as a student at Whitman-Hanson when she began to ascertain the true power behind giving back to her town.

“My loyalty is always there,” Moss said. “I believe in paying it forward. There were a lot of good people when I was in high school who did a lot of good things for us that they didn’t have to. But back when I was a student, there wasn’t anyone around capturing all the games so that you’d have a souvenir as you graduated from high school and went onto the rest of your life.”

Moss jumped into teaching at Whitman-Hanson in 1971 and spent 35 years as a physical education and then technology educator.

While there, she played an integral role in the athletics of the school. Moss helped to create the first girls’ cross country team and first girls’ outdoor track team in the early ’70s.

“Back in those days, Kevin Black and I used to take slides,” Moss said. “When we put a banquet on at the end of the season, we’d have those pictures to share with the parents and everybody else. I had a habit at the end of the year, after the banquet, I would pull out all the senior slides and I would give them to them.”

None of Moss’ images have ever been for purchase and that’s something on which she prides herself.

“All my images are up there in cyberspace, as the saying goes,” Moss said. “They can go get them anytime they want. The parents can go find the ones that they want so it’s good and they don’t have to pay for them. You shouldn’t have to pay for all that stuff. None are mine are for sale, even for the visiting team that might get an occasional shot. I just tell them where to find them and they can download them for free.”

Moss, who retired in ’06, said she has always and will continue to strive for the perfect image that can last a lifetime.

“I keep looking for that ‘wow’ photo,” Moss said. “Every once in a while, you get one, not every year, but you get one. It’s the joy that the kids take seeing themselves captured, whether I shoot a funny one or I shoot one where they don’t know that I’m shooting, which I try to do a lot. Those are the ones that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”