Fall Sports Season Recap

As fall sports wrap up this week, let's take a look back at all the varsity seasons to see how the athletes fared in their respective divisions. From the gridiron to the court, from the regular season to the playoffs, it's all right here.

In his third year at the helm of Hawks' football, Coach Tom Cullen has the team sitting at 7-4 after a big Thanksgiving Day win over Shrewsbury, 20-6. With the win, the Hawks advance to the playoffs to play the number two seeded Nashoba (8-3). The team has played considerably well all season, despite the number of injuries it has faced. Cullen's team has struggled a bit on offense with inconsistency at times, but has truly taken games over with their hard-hitting defensive style of play. The team has had great production from their senior captains: Zach Skerry, Brian Sanchioni, Nick Velante and Tyler Asam. Also, senior defensive end Kyle Morgan and quarterback Steve Morganelli have come up big for the Hawks this season.

On the volleyball court, Coach Linda Zacchilli helped lead the girls to the playoffs, where they lost in the quarter finals to number two seed Marlboro, 3-2. Marlboro went on to the finals, losing to top-seeded Medfield. The girls got into the tournament as the number seven seed, finishing with a final record of 13-8. Juniors Chrissy Fraga and Brittany Hill played well all season, leading the way in attacks and kills for the Hawks.

Needing to win one of their last two games, the boys' soccer team fell just short of making the playoffs, finishing with a record of 6-10-2. Despite the last couple of games, the team got off to a roaring start going 6-3-2 (as of Oct. 13) and were clearly in the hunt for the postseason. Though the outcome of the season wasn't what Coach Jim Asam had hoped for, the team got great offensive production out of senior co-captain John Damas, junior co-captain Gustavo Rocha and junior William Marcal. The defense was anchored by senior co-captain and goalie Alex Usevicius and senior co-captain defender Matthew Ziegler.

As for the girls' soccer team (8-8-3), they completed the task of winning one of their last two games and made it into the playoffs as the number nine seed, but lost a close game, 2-1, to eighth-seeded Westboro. Things may have been different for the Hawks if they didn't lose starting goalie Carolyn Chapman to a shoulder injury a few weeks before the season ended, but volunteer goalie Mikayla Pasciutto did a great job in her absence. Coach Kristin Strazulla had great forwards/midfielders in juniors Olivia Grose, Kelsey Pratt and Carly Hanna. Defensively, the team was anchored by the play of senior captain Kiara Still.

From the field to the pool, the Hawks continued their winning ways under swimming and diving team coach Dave Chaplin. Chaplin's squad of talented senior co-captains Heather Annis, Sofia BonTempo, Noelle Cook and Kaitlyn Kline anchored the young team to the 2010 South Sectional Championships. A team of Leah Kosteva, Kline, BonTempo and Maddison Garber came in 16^th out of 23 teams in the 200 yard medley relay. Garber also raced in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing 32^nd out of 44. Garber, Kline, BonTempo and Angela Sabo finished 16 in the 200-yard freestyle and the 400-yard freestyle relay and Kline finished 27^th in the 100-yard breaststroke. Their efforts were good enough to get them to the states, where they competed honorably against some of the toughest schools in Division II.

We head back to the field to check in on the field hockey team, who struggled in the win column, going 2-14-2, despite their efforts in a very touch Wach A league. The team, coached by Jennifer Fournier, was led by senior co-captain and goalie Val Ferrante—who stopped more than 90 percent of the shots on net—as well as captains Katie Blackburn, Heather Campbell and Alex Jacobson.

On the green, Matt Thomas of Milford's golf team made it to the Division I Sectionals at Townsend Ridge Golf Course where he shot a 90, but unfortunately wasn't able to qualify for states. Overall, Milford's team, coached by Jason Potty, did not make the tournament.

Lastly, the boys' and girls' cross country teams, coached by Bill DeVita, finished their seasons 2-5 overall.  As a team, the boys finished 18^th out of 20 in the 2.9 mile run at the Division I Sectionals, with sophomore Connor Rosenblatt leading the way with a time of 16:46. As for the girls, junior Michelle Savoie led the way, finishing sixth overall with a time of 18:18 on the 2.9 mile course. The team, however, didn't place. Individually, no one made it to states for the boys' team, but Savoie did for the girls, placing 60^th out of 178 runners with a time of 18:31 on the 2.9 mile course at Gardner Municipal Golf Course.

Though all teams but football have finished, the winter season gets under way in a few short weeks, giving Milford sports fans a chance to cheer for a new group of teams.