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.