As the temperature starts dropping, the action only heats up as the fall sports season draws to a close. Some teams have finished their seasons such as the Women’s and Men’s Cross Country, who finished second and third respectively. The football team still has two weeks and one game left in their season. Also, the field hockey team had a great season despite missing the playoffs, but there are still three teams who are making a push to call themselves champions. Before postseason play gets under way for the volleyball and Men’s and Women’s soccer teams, let’s preview how they got here and what to expect.
Men’s Soccer:
The Owls finished their regular season with an overall record of 5-5-4 and a conference record of 3-1-3 to lock up the fifth seed in the MASCAC tournament. Much like last year, the Owls are looking for a Cinderella run where, despite being the sixth and final seed, they made a run all the way to the MASCAC championship. The Owls weren’t the best offensive team as they only scored fifteen goals all year, but a strong defense carried them to success with the help of Seniors Kieran Moriarty (West Springfield, MA), Jimmy Murphy (Wilmington, MA), and Brodie Keene (Feeding Hills, MA). The tournament kicks off on Tuesday October 30th when they travel to Worcester State to battle the fourth seeded Lancers. The odds are against the Owls, but anything can happen when the playoffs begin. If history repeats itself, expect another magical run for the Men’s soccer team.
Women’s Soccer:
A change was made in the style the Owls play, but the results didn’t change as they locked up the third seed with a 7-6-3 overall record and a 4-1-2 conference record. If you take away a huge 9-1 victory over Mass. Maritime, the Owls also scored only fifteen goals in total and averaged a 1.20 GPG (goals per game). Sacrifices were made, most notably by Junior Bella Eduardo (Springfield, MA), who after winning MASCAC Player of the Year last season, only finished with one goal and three assists in the regular season. Instead, it was Freshman Jenn Rennich (Bedford, MA) who led the Owls in offense (19 PTS, 6 goals, 7 assists). Senior Casey Rotti (Rutland, MA) anchored a historically great defense that only allowed fourteen goals all year and a goals-against-average of 0.83. The Owls start their tournament Tuesday October 30th at Alumni Field as they host the sixth seeded Fitchburg State. Even though the Owls are 1-5-2 at home, there is reason to believe that this group can make a deep run through the MASCAC tournament.
Volleyball:
It wasn’t a pretty start as the volleyball team started the season 0-12, but when it came time to conference play, the intensity was turned up to 100. They ended up finishing as the third seed with a 6-18 overall record, but a 5-2 conference record. A team with six upperclassmen had won only five sets before their first win of 2018, had tremendous leadership from their two Seniors Brianna Starkey (Rockland, MA) and Karolyn Higgins (Billerica, MA). The Owls’ ability to keep points alive and carry out streaks of winning points can propel them to a nice playoff run. Their first matchup will be a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday October 30th as they host sixth seeded MCLA. This team is proof that no one needs numbers and big time statistics to be a great team; just dedication and teamwork.
