Looking Back on Grafton's Fall Athletic Teams

The weather has begun to get colder and the teams are starting to move inside for the winter. But the fall sports season has not been forgotten. From the soccer teams to the golf team, from the regular seasons to the playoffs, here is a quick rundown on team and individual performances from the past few months.

Women's soccer  had a great season under head coach John Chatalian. The Lady Indians finished the season 11-7-3 and continued their play all the way into the Central Division-II Girls' Soccer Semi-Finals where the team was defeated 3-1 in penalty kicks by rival Millbury. The team went into the playoffs as the number three seed in the bracket and didn't disappoint, defeating Northbridge in the Quarters to get to the semis. The first playoff game will be at 5 p.m. Nov. 30 at Foley Stadium in Worcester.

Grafton got great production all year offensively from seniors Kaitlyn Sowryda and Kaitlyn Matloff, as well as great defensive play from both goaltenders, senior Lyndsey Deane and junior Marissa Temple.

 The football team under third year head coach Mike Ross has had their best season since he arrived in 2008, going 7-3 and making the playoffs, which will take place Nov. 30 (time and opponent to be determined after Thanksgiving).

The famous double-wing offense has produced great numbers this year thanks to a number of backs, including Ovie Melifonwu, Dylan Riggeri and PJ Couture. Though the offense has had a very good year, scoring about 27 points per game, the defense has held opposing teams in check, holding teams to just under 16 points per game. The Indians have only allowed more than 21 points  twice, once in a loss to undefeated David Prouty (36-14) and the other in the Thanksgiving loss to rival Millbury, 36-7. 

 Boys soccer failed to reach the number of points needed to make the districts this year, finishing with a record of 5-8-5. Though the season may not have turned out the way the team would have hoped for, Coach Alan Rotatori can't complain about the offensive production from leading goal scorer Anthony D'Amico and the defensive presence of goalie Tyler Reilly, who established himself as one of the top goalies in the SWCL this past season. Zach Tucker and Dalton Richards also played well this season.  

The Grafton cheerleaders have made quite the name for themselves over the past few years and that tradition continued this year, as they took home the championship for Central Massachusetts Division-II. With the victory, the girls travelled to Woburn High School for the State Cheerleading Tournament on Nov. 21 and took second place behind Notre Dame Academy with a final score of 169.75. 

The field hockey team had a tough go at it this season, finishing 4-11-3. Despite the competition being fierce in the SWCL East, with undefeated Uxbridge leading the way and a very good Oxford team close behind, the Lady Indians did their best to stay in every game, and thanks to goalie Marita Steinmetz they were able to.  

Despite being young and inexperienced, the girls' cross country team made strides to the future, led by senior captain Michelle Xia. She led a young squad that improved their running times over the course of the season and will look to come back stronger, faster and more experienced next season to make a run in the SWCL. 

 The boys cross country team had a great year, finishing  ninth out of 24 teams at the Division-II Central Massachusetts Cross Country Tournament Nov. 13. Junior Chaz  Davis, who has had quite the year, put in another great individual effort by running the 2.9 mile course in just under 15 minutes. With that time, he qualified for the All-State Cross Country Tournament. He ran the tourney to an eighth place finish overall, with a personal best time of 14:52.

The golf team closed out its season by shooting 367 as a team, good enough to place seventh out of 10 teams in the Division-II Central Massachusetts Sectionals on Oct. 20. Brendan Stock shot a team best 89, while teammates Jonathan Fritz and Shawn Shannon shot a 91 and 92, respectively.

Now it's on to winter sports excitement.