The Milton Measure - Milton Academy

page 14 | January 15th, 2010 Sports The Milton MeasureBoys Hockeyby Nick SantangeloSports Editor ‘10Girls Hockeyby Katy BeanSports Writer ‘11Milton’s Boys’ Hockey is off toa great start this year having won fourof its first five games in addition to itsfirst two scrimmages. Senior CaptainsMike Megnia, Chase Davis, and JohnMleczko have done a great job motivatingtheir teammates in practice and put ongreat performances in the games. Somenew additions to the program includejuniors Woodruff Hudson, Pat McNally,Dan Merenich, and Sean Dougherty.Over break, the team hada strong showing in the Flood MarrTournament held at Milton and Nobles.On the first day Milton tied a very strongKimball Union team 2-2 and defeatedDeerfield 1-0. Unfortunately Miltonneeded a win the next day to advanceto the championship game but tiedSalisbury 2-2. However, Milton playedwell throughout the tournament andproved that they can compete with andbeat the toughest teams in New England.Milton then went on to winits second straight Tabor TournamentChampionship. In the first game againstGovernor’s, John Mleczko had a goal andan assist, Chase Davis had two goals andan assist, and George Pantazopolous hada goal and an assist. Dougherty played agreat game in net and the end result wasa 6-3 victory. Milton’s next opponent wasTilton and once again Mleczko led theway to victory with a goal and two assists.Dan Bowen recorded 20 saves in the 4-1win. In the championship game Miltondefeated a very strong St. Sebastian’steam. Mleczko, Hudson, McNally, andSean Okita (II) scored goals as Miltondefended its title with a 4-2 victory.Upon returning from break theteam lost a close game to Belmont Hill, 3-2.Despite the loss, Milton’s Boys’ Hockey islooking very strong and amongst the bestin the region this season. This squad hasthe talent, the drive, and the leadershipto have a very successful season.The Milton Academy VarsityGirls’ Hockey Team has had a successfulbeginning to the 2009/2010 season.Prior to the Exeter tournament, the girlsexperienced some tough losses againstTabor and Brooks, two very skilled ISLteams. Milton did pocket some notablewins against New Hampton and Exeter.At New Hampton goalie Natalie Chaves(II) had a remarkable game, earningher first shut out of the season. TheMustang’s capitalized with 4-0 victoryover the New Hampton Huskies. Thegirls had a fantastic game against Exeteras well. Milton’s defense played solidthroughout. Goalie Kate Couturier (III)had a great game in net. Senior captainKatie Haddad (I) upped the momentumof the game by scoring the first goal on apower play. Samantha Curran (IV) scoredher first goal as a Milton hockey playerto make the score 2-0. The final score ofthe game was 6-2. Other impressive goalsGirls Squashby Isabel LesterSports Writer ‘11were scored by Nicole Donato (III) andLauren Kee (II). Although the Mustangswent into the winter break tournamentseason off a rough loss against Brooks,the team seemed to pick up their intensityduring the New Year’s Exeter tournament.The Mustang’s played hard in each game,making it to the finals. The Mustangshad a fantastic victory against Gunneryin order to make it to finals. The gameended in a tie after regulation, and wentinto overtime. When overtime finishedin a tie as well, the game moved to ashootout format. After nine players hadtaken their shots, Sophia Tsanotelis (IV)scored the game winning goal, advancingthe Mustangs to the finals. Unfortunately,Milton lost in the finals; however, they didhave an impressive run to finish in secondplace. The Mustangs are off to a great startin the New Year and hope to continuetheir success against Southfield today.This year’s varsity wrestling teamhas proven to be no joke of a team. Theystand proud with an impressive record of 7wins and 2 losses to wrestling powerhousesBelmont Hill and Brooks. The team cameinto this season with high hopes and manyreturning starters. The few starters fromlast year who graduated consisted of DanaMolt (145 lb.), Jacob Jolis (125 lb.), andnationally ranked wrestler Kyle Roy (160lb.). Along with these graduates, the teamlost Jay Sharma (III), a talented wrestlerwho placed at ISL’s at 103 lbs. Despitethese loses, the wrestling team returnedwith the majority of last year’s wrestlersready to roll over the competition.The team came out for the firstmatch against Middlesex with confidenceand pride. Pin after pin, Milton dominatedthe mat and earned their first win. This firstmatch proved that this team is a strongforce that will be hard to slow down. In theweeks that followed, Milton won matchafter match until they met their firsttrue test of the season. The night beforewinter break, the team wrestled Brooks,knowing this match would be a battleuntil the last minute. Brooks came out onWrestlingby James WangSports Writer ‘12top, but Milton came out from the matchready to crush their next opponents.This past weekend, Miltontraveled to Governor’s for a tri-meetagainst Governor’s and Belmont Hill.Milton got the opportunity to watch thefirst match between Belmont Hill andGovernor’s and scout their opponentsin action. Belmont Hill proved to be thestronger team between the two, andMilton now knew who they would haveto beat. Once Milton took the mat againstBelmont Hill, the Mustangs couldn’tovercome the powerful team of BelmontHill. The only victors were Lukas Gaffney(I) and Nash Simpson (I). Angered by theirsecond defeat of the season, Milton cameout against Governor’s and crushed theiropponents. Non-wrestler Matt Chen(III) gives us an outsider’s opinion on thewrestling team. He says, “Although I’venever watched a Milton wrestling match,I’ve heard that the team is filled with talentled by well-known athletes Lukas Gaffney,Zach Perzan, Nash Simpson, and GustavoBrillembourg.” The team looks to improvetheir record as they travel to Noblesfor their next match. Wish them luck!The Milton Girls’ squash teamis off to a solid start this season. Aftergraduating five varsity players last year,the team had a challenge of rebuilding anew squad. However, at the beginningof tryouts, a whopping thirty-six playerstried out. Realizing that there were somany new players, the coaches stressed theimportance of a good attitude. The varsityteam has been dedicated and hardworkingthus far this season. The girls experienceda disappointing loss in their gameversus Deerfield this past Wednesday.Though this loss was a little bit upsettingconsidering the team’s incredible recordfrom last year, Mr. Kane and the girls usedtheir practices to continue improving.This year’s varsity volleyball teamhad quite a difficult task in replacing lastyear’s incredible seniors. With enormousshoes to fill, the girls worked their absolutehardest to prepare for the season. Startingoff with an away game at Pingree, the teamproved its potential with an impressivewin, beating Pingree 3-1. Continuingwith that momentum, the team playedan incredible game against Dana Hall athome. Having lost to Dana Hall last year,the players were a bit anxious about thegame, but showed no mercy when theybeat Dana 3-2. More success followed asthe team also beat Lawrence Academyaway in a dominating 3-0 victory. Witha mixture of confidence and talent, thegirls proved that making up for the lossof some fantastic players was not animpossible task. However, when it came toa major rivalry game, Milton fought hard,but let up at times, losing to Bancroft 0-3Volleyballby Audrey KeathleySports Writer ‘11After working hard in practice, Miltoncompeted against St. Marks on Friday.The girls were resilient in this game, andMilton’s varsity team won. Adapting tothe injury of Sophie Hoffman [III], the girlswere challenged to play up one seed onthe ladder. The Milton girls overcame thischallenge and soundly defeated St. Marks.Yuleissy Ramirez [II] had an incrediblematch, along with Kate Nimmo [I], andAlex Stratouly [II]. Captains Kate Nimmo[I] and Celestine Warren [I] continue tobe influential role models, getting theteam pumped up before each game. Thegirls squash program looks forward tovictories in their next several matches!at home. Bancroft’s skill was equal to thatof our own team, but consistency becamea slight issue at times. Given Bancroft’srecord however, Milton did extremely wellin the game, playing the best they had inyears against the team, losing the secondmatch by within 5 points. This teamis incredibly talented. Players include:Captain Becki Pearce-Probst (I), NiaPatton (I), Kristina Lee (I), Corina Ramirez(I), Caroline Owens (II), Rachel Black (II),Audrey Keathley (II), Rena Ogura (III),Sydney Sykes (III), Kiyon Hahm (III),Nicole Baker Greene (III), Silvia Wong(III). The team’s managers are MichaelAmmar (I), and Emily Perkins (I). Thisyear’s team is definitely a group you wantto keep an eye on. With strong hits, perfectsets, and the hardest working defense inthe league, Milton Academy’s volleyballteam is sure to have an impressive season.Photo: Boys Hockey (courtesy of www.milton.edu)