Weekly Update

These are special days at Whitman Hanson with many of our student athletes competing in the post season and with it our seniors playing their final games of their careers.  Each senior night is special in its own way but for the girls soccer team, it was a night no one will soon forget as World Cup Champion Samantha Mewis joined us and was inducted into the athletic hall of fame at half time.  Samantha demonstrated once again why she is so loved in Panther nation.  She not only signed every autograph, but she took the time to talk to and inspire all of the young soccer players who braved the rain to join us.  Please check out our facebook page (search Whitman Hanson) for more from this special evening.

The student-athletes in the Whitman Hanson athletic department will be honoring the veterans in our community next week by performing free community service for any veteran in either town.  If you are a veteran or know of someone who could benefit from an “Army” of student athletes doing a yard cleanup or other chores around the house, please email me at robert.rodgers@whrsd.org .  The team of students will be doing the work from 10am-noon on Veterans Day.

A reminder to all student athletes that in order to be allowed to play sports at Whitman Hanson you must be making satisfactory progress in the classroom.  With the winter season coming up, students are reminded that you could be told you cannot tryout for your team if you are not making your classwork a top priority.  Students should be staying after for extra help and doing all they can to be sure that grades do not prevent them from playing this winter.  Also, if you want to play a winter sport, your parents must sign you up online at www.whathletics.com .  Please check the list in the athletic hallway to be sure your name is on the list.  If it is not, this means your parents have not filled out the permission slip.  Also be sure you have a valid physical (physicals expire 13 months from the day it was performed) and a valid impact test.

Now to our update for each fall team:

1)      The volleyball team wrapped up a terrific season with a hard fought 3-2 (10-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-10, 13-15) loss at Durfee High School on Halloween in the first round of the MIAA Division 1 South State Tournament.  Senior captain Alexis Connolly played her heart out, she led the team in kills with an impressive 20. Sophomore Lily Welch was not far behind with 19 kills. Welch led the team in solo blocks with 5. Senior captain Maya Faich was a strong presence in the back row with 15 digs. Faich also did not make a single service error in her 27 serves; she did, however, serve 3 aces. The Panthers end there season 8-6 in the league, 0-1 in the state tournament.

2)      The Whitman Hanson football team saw its playoff life come to an end Friday with a 41-12 loss against Stoughton.  The Panthers were lead by CJ Guiliani who had 133 yards rushing on 20 carries and scored a touchdown. Jason Murphy ran for 60 yards on 12 carries and was 10-12 passing for 127 yards. Tom George had a great night on the defensive side with 3 pass break ups and 4 tackles,  Colby Garden scored on a 58 yard flea flicker from Murphy.  While the team is out of the playoffs, under the MIAA format the season continues with two weeks of consolation games.  The Panthers will host Scituate Friday night at 7pm and the following Friday will travel to Bridgewater Raynham.  This year the Thanksgiving game will be on the road at Abington.

3)      The girls soccer team wrapped up the year by beating a tough Notre Dame team of Hingham, 2-0 on Thursday night.  Kelsee Wozniak got the Panthers on the board when she collected the ball in  midfield and raced 30yds before depositing the ball in the back of the net. Despite constant pressure the Panthers had to settle for a 1-0 lead at the half. Whitman Hanson continued the pressure and doubled their lead when Nora Manning took an Olivia Borgen cross and fired it into the goal. The defense of Erin Wood, Sam Perkins, Ava Melia and Courtney Woodward was outstanding all night and helped keepers Kylee Colclough and Reese Codero earn the shutout. Whitman Hanson finishes the regular season with a 15-1-2 record and with it the number 3 seed in the Division 1 tournament which starts on Tuesday night here at Whitman Hanson as the Panthers host Braintree High School.

4)      The boys soccer team wrapped up the regular season with an impressive 9-3 win over East Bridgewater.  Senior captain Jason Brodeur scored 3 for W-H while fellow Senior captain Steve Kelly scored 2. Senior captain Andrew Sullivan played well in net. Steve Bagley played very well in the back. Adam Milewski, Brendan Nehiley, Joèl Arsenault and Jacob Donovan all scored for W-H.
The team finishes with an overall record of 10-7-2 and 6-6-1 in the Patriot League.  The Panthers travel to Bishop Feehan for a 2pm first round tournament game on Monday.

5)      The cross country teams fresh off their outstanding performances at the league meet, spent the week tuning up for the Eastern Mass meet at Wrentham on November 9^th.

6)      In golf, Junior Aidan Miller fired a solid round of 84 at states to wrap up the Panther golf season.  The good news is we have him back for another year.  Great job Aidan.

7)      Our cheerleaders fresh of their league title hosted their annual fall invitational and had a terrific performance taking first place in their division.  The girls will now compete in the Abington Invitational on Wednesday as they continue to gear up for regionals and states.