Southeastern gets historic first win
Snaps 2-year drought
It was a dream come true for Southeastern to get a club field hockey team up and running into a varsity program two years ago.
Now, under the constant positivity, encouragement and motivation from the two seniors who were on the Hawks when they were just a club team their freshman year, Southeastern has added to that dream — reaching the win column.
FIELD HOCKEY NOTES
After a two-year winless stretch, the Hawks started its season on Sept. 8 with a 3-1 win over Brockton for the program’s first varsity win. It’s an iconic moment for any young program, and it was especially rewarding for senior co-captains Nilianna Gomes and Caleigh DeMartino.
“I think it was a really great experience for us, especially knowing that we started off as just a club,” said Gomes.
“I think it’s cool that we were kind of like the first two that was the first team at Southeastern for field hockey,” added DeMartino. “Just seeing everyone, how far they’ve come along.”
Of course, this wasn’t just any old program first.
If you ask the two of them if going winless their first two years was burdensome, they’re the special kind of competitors to say that it wasn’t. It’s not for a lack of caring, nor is it setting the bar low. Brand-new coach Morgan Richardson attests to the amount of work put in at practices. She also points out the impressive showing of leadership from Gomes and DeMartino to simply inspire growth.
That growth led to a win against Brockton. Brockton just so happens to be where most of the team is from — including Gomes. And it’s no secret how competitive sports are in that city.
“Beating Brockton High for our first game, I think it was pretty amazing,” Gomes said. “Sometimes, even though we’re not in the same division in all sports, sometimes there’s a competition between Brockton and Southeastern. And they’re a really good sports school, so for us to beat them was super exciting.”
To Richardson, Gomes and DeMartino are exactly the leaders a young program needs. Finding the fun in what you’re doing is just as important as the work put in. That, among other things, is what builds a program.
“Our leadership team has done a really amazing job with bringing the girls together,” Richardson said. “That’s what makes a team.”
That also led to what the Hawks hope to be just one of many iconic moments in their history.
Quick spotlights
It’s always dangerous when a perennial power is loaded with 15 senior returners, but King Philip is off to a hot start in the tough Hockomock League behind the early success of a few young scorers, too. Sophomore
Mara Boldy already has a hat trick in the books, freshman
Makenzie McDevitt scored in a big 2-0 win over Foxboro and added another against Taunton, and sophomore
Kelly Holmes paced a 5-1 win over Stoughton with a pair of goals herself.
Head coach Lisa Cropper was a little unsure about how the start of the season would go after graduating her front line and losing her starting goalie to transfer just two days before the start of the year. But throw in a vaunted defense of seniors
Lily Brown, Molly Piller, Haley Izydorczak, Morgan Cunningham and Jen Daniels in front of a promising but brandnew goalie in Haley Bright, and the Warriors have grinded their way to a 4-0 start.
“(The forwards) are a little young but they’re doing great so far,” Cropper said. “It’s very good so far. (But) we still have a lot of work to do.”
It was a special week in Andover for All-Scholastic junior midfielder Emma Reilly, and not just because she picked up four assists despite only playing the first quarter of a 7-0 win over Dracut on Wednesday. Just two days before, the star player verbally committed to Columbia — her first choice.
“She is very excited,” said head coach Maureen Noone. “Good things happening to great kids.”
Those who haven’t played field hockey wouldn’t realize the magnitude of a difference between playing on grass versus turf, but rest-assured — it’s not an easy change. Despite the end of a 15-year stretch of renting out a turf field suddenly ending for Pentucket, though, the Sachems have cruised to win both of their first two home games — on a grassy field — for a 3-1 start.
“We’re not focused on (the field change),” said longtime Pentucket head coach Ruth Beaton. “It has been an adjustment, but we are just making this our home away from home.”
First-year Monomoy head coach Kathryn Andreoli adopted a team rich with senior talent, and her squad is rolling with flying colors.
A 7-1 win over Martha’s Vineyard to open the season was followed on Thursday with a convincing 5-0 win over Plymouth North. It helps to have All-Scholastic senior Caroline DiGiovanni bury four goals in the big game against the Eagles, and Andreoli is confident in the group to keep this stretch rolling.