Weekly Update

It has been a great start to the new school year in WH Athletics.  We have more students participating this year than any time in the last 10 years. However, we still have room for more!  In particular, we would love to see even more freshmen enjoying the benefits of high school athletics.  If you know of someone who you think may want to join a team, please send them my way.  We have room in the following sports:  Freshmen football, Freshmen boys and girls soccer and boys and girls cross country.

Students will have a chance to get their new SuperFan Cards this week during lunch.  In order to get the cards, the students have to agree to sign our sportsmanship contract.  The card will entitle the students to all kinds of discounts ranging from free admission to reduced rates.  In addition, we often give out prizes reserved exclusively for our SuperFans.

As a reminder the best place to follow Whitman-Hanson Athletics is at our website, www.whathletics.com as well as twitter @whathletics.  Another great resource is the MIAA App.  It is free and available at the app store.  If you follow us at all these places (or even just one of them) you will always be notified every time we make a change to the schedule.  You can put the schedules right on your phone.

Here is a recap of our first full week of sports action.

1)      The football team came just as advertised Friday night before the largest crowd in recent memory. The team used a balanced attack to easily beat Marshfield, 41-13.  Senior captain Ethan Phelps ran for 70 yards on 9 carries including 2 touchdowns.  He also threw for 2 more TDs, one to Brendan Frawley and another to CJ Guliani.  Billy Martell ran for a 13 yard score and Nate Beath added a 1 yard run.  Quinn Sweeney led a swarming defensive attack with 10 tackles.  The team will return to action Friday night at home against New Bedford.

2)      Our field team is off to a great start tying defending league champion Scituate in the opener and beating East Bridgewater, 1-0 on Friday.  The win over EB was a thriller as Lauren Clark cashed in for the game winner with 1:50 left to play.  The two teams will have a rematch in EB on Tuesday at 7pm.  In the season opener it was Delanie MacDonald scoring the Panthers lone goal.  In both games, the defense was outstanding.  Sophomore Maddie Savicke looks like a veteran in net.

3)      Our golf team was only able to squeeze in one match this week as their other matchup was postponed in the middle of the round by rain.  The good news is the Panthers won their one contest beating North Quincy on the road, 239-285. Senior captain Owen Manning led all golfers with his 2 over par 36, while juniors Matt Korzec and Ian Brown each turned in a 5 over par performance. Sophomore Aidan Miller also shot a 6 over.  The team plays on Monday at East Bridgewater but its pretty much a home match as the two schools share the same home course.

4)      The Whitman Hanson girls' soccer team opened the season with a 5-1 non-league win over Notre Dame of Hingham on Wednesday. Freshman Nora Manning opened the scoring in the 19th minute when she took an Alexis Billings(2 assists) feed and put the ball by the keeper. A short time later Manning set up fellow freshman Kelsee Wozniak for the first of her 3 goals on the night. Notre Dame cut the deficit to 2-1 at the half but the Panthers erupted for 3 second half goals. Wozniak picked up her second and third of the night while Olivia Borgen (2 assists) rounded out the scoring. Goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich was outstanding in net turning away 11 Notre Dame shots while Samantha Smith, Ava Melia, Sam Perkins and Erin wood were solid defensively. The team doesn’t play again until Wednesday night under the lights here at WH against Plymouth North at 6:30pm.

5)      The boys soccer team opened the season in impressive fashion beating Cohasset, 2-1 last night.  W-H scored first off a corner from senior Nolan Clack to junior captain Jason Brodeur. Near the end of the first half Nolan Clack assisted again to sophomore Brad Pelissier to make it 2-0. Cohasset came out to prove a point in the second half, and they kept W-H on their heels for the majority of the half. Cohasset finally got on the board with a beautiful free kick from their center midfielder to make 2-1. Cohasset continued to bring a great attack, but W-H held strong and finished the game 2-1.  Whitman- Hanson is now 1-0 on the season (0-0 in the Patriot League).

6)      In Girls Cross Country, The Pembroke Titan Girls (1-0) placed the first five runners in its meet at Whitman-Hanson (0-1) to win 15-44.  Whitman-Hanson's top three finishers were Senior Captain Maeve McDonough (19:21), Junior Tori Boss (19:31) and Junior Niki Kamperides (19:36.)

7)      In Boys Cross Country, The Whitman-Hanson Boys Cross Country (1-0) team placed 9 runners in the top 11 and took the 24-36 win on its 2.6 Mile course over the Pembroke Titans (0-1.)   Pembroke placed first with Cole Radke (14:41) leading the way and third with Robert Kay (15:51.)  Whitman-Hanson's scorers included Sophomore Theo Kamperides (2nd, 15:41), Sophomore Liam Cafferty (4th, 15:56), Junior Brandon Hager (5th, 15:57), Junior Nick Hanley (6th, 16:10) and Junior Captain Adam Solari (7th, 16:14.)  Also running well for the Panthers were Sophomore Matt Butler (8th, 16:17), Junior Dyllan Burns (10th, 16:56) and Freshman Evan Jewett (11th, 16:57.) 

8)      Whitman-Hanson volleyball traveled to Rockland on Thursday for a non-league game. The Panthers lost against the defending South Shore League Champions 0-3. The set scores were 19-25(R), 19-25(R) and 20-25(R).  As a team the Panthers were loud and strong all three sets. They played smart with high energy especially in the third set when they held a steady lead. The Panthers fought hard with many excellent blocks and digs. Whitman- Hanson struggled with service errors and keeping up with the fast-paced Bulldogs. 

Leaders on the court include Junior Tri-Captain Alexis Connolly with positive all around play in each set, Junior Tri-Captain Olivia Martin with outstanding effort (plus a pancake save), Junior Marissa Connell taking command of the middle and Junior Brooke Beauregard making her varsity debut with confidence in the back row.

The Panthers are 0-1 overall, 0-0 in league and host Silver Lake Monday 9/10. 

9)      Our cheerleaders don’t have a competition for a few weeks but they were outstanding at the football game on Friday.  Their halftime performance gives every indication that the Lady Panthers will once again be one of the best in the state.