Tafties - The Taft School

S P O R T
m Captain-elect Thomas Freyre ’10 (#25) with assistant captain Jesse Root ’09 (#22)
against South Kent; Taft won 3–2! Pe t e r fr e w ’75
honor, the team and coaches were also
chosen for the Sportsmanship Award by
the Connecticut basketball officials for
their exceptional conduct on the court.
Taft will return six players next year and
will be led by co-captains elect Jackson
and Greg Nicol ’10, a strong guard and
forward duo.
Ski Team
It was an icy, cold season on the slopes
of New England, but the ski team competed
well in a number of four and five
team races in the Berkshire Ski League.
At the Class B New England championships,
the girls’ team placed 13th behind
captain Annie Shafran’s 11th place in the
Giant Slalom (61 skiers), and lowermid
Hadley Morris’ 32nd place in the slalom
14 Taft Bulletin Spring 2009
(63 skiers). The boys’ team finished a solid
8th within the 14-team field. Captain
Ben Johnston ’09 and Reed Shapiro ’10,
the team’s top skiers, placed 20th and
21st in the slalom field (70 skiers), while
Jay Feinman ’11 was tops in the giant slalom
in 13th place (70 skiers).
bOyS’ hOCkey 14–6–4
lawrenceville
Tournament Champions
new england quarterfinalists
This great season started with a bang,
a 5–2 win over a very strong Berkshire
team in the first annual Louise B. D’Arco
game, named for the mother of Taft alum
Brad D’Arco ’99, also one of Berkshire’s
coaches. Taft would go on to win its
first six games, including a 5–4 victory
over Choate to capture the prestigious
Lawrenceville Christmas tournament.
Throughout the season, an outstanding
group of seniors demonstrated excellence
on and off the ice. Captain and
Ainger Trophy winner Kevin Reich
’09 commanded the blueline, while assistant
captains and Founders League
All-Stars Jesse Root ’09 (15 goals, 21
assists) and Mike Sinsigalli ’09 (16 g.,
15 a.) were relentless offensively. All-New
England selection Robbie Bourdon ’09
(14 g., 19 a.) and Coach’s Award winner
C.M. Liotta ’09 (4 g., 9 a.) also helped
lead the scoring attack for Taft. The team
ended the regular season ranked 2nd in
Western New England, but the home ice
advantage did not hold in a first round
game against the Gunnery. Despite controlling
play, Taft dropped 2–1 decision
on a deflected shot that found the upper
corner with two minutes left in the
game. Next year’s team will be led by seasoned
players Thomas Freyre ’10, Mike
Petchonka ’10, and John Barr ’10.
giRlS’ hOCkey 9–11–3
After early wins over Lawrenceville and
Gunnery, Taft struggled to score goals,
though they played evenly with some
of the best teams in New England,
including an overtime loss to tournament-bound
Loomis (1–2). A key win
over Cushing Academy (1–0) led to the
team’s best games in the final two weeks,
as the Rhinos avenged earlier losses
by defeating very strong teams from
Choate (2–0) and Berkshire (3–2). In
those two games, co-captain and goalie
Becca Hazlett ’09 played a crucial role
with 41 and 33 saves respectively. She
finished the season with three shutouts.
Fellow co-captain Geneva Lloyd ’09 led
the team in scoring (16 goals, 9 assists),
and was a dominant player for Taft and
within the league at both ends of the ice.
Jess Desorcie ’11 (14 g., 6 a.) was also a
leading scorer for the team, and will be
part of a core of strong young players
who return for the ’10 season.