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ARROWS SPORTS
Vol LXIV, No. 2
St. Sebastian’s School November 2010
Football Wraps Up Season
By John Donovan ‘12
Led by two strong captains,
Connor Wiik and Brian Strachan, and
by the fierce coaches, Souza, Curran,
Flynn, Richter, Beilin, and Burke, the
young St. Sebastian’s Varsity football
team overcame several ISL forces, but
also experienced some heartbreaking
losses. The team’s record (3-5)
says nothing to the heart and the
spirit with which the Arrows every
drill, every practice, and every game.
With pride, Coach Souza was able to
say at the celebratory banquet that
the team, despite having a rough
season, never quit, that every practice
remained intense and focused, and
that in games we seceded nothing
without a struggle.
After nearly four weeks of
concentrated practices, centered
on learning new plays and perfecting
technique on the offensive and
defensive line, the team was able to
test its abilities in scrimmages against
the likes of St. Mark’s, Lawrence Academy,
and Tabor. The only school to
challenge the Arrows was Lawrence
Academy, infamously known for fielding
post-graduates (even though they
do not). In fact, their sheer size scared
off the St. George’s team, who forfeited
before the game. At this point
the season looked promising, but the
Arrows didn’t know what to expect in
their first game against Nobles.
On September 25th, the
Arrows shipped out to Dedham to
face the Nobles Bulldogs during their
Homecoming. From the very beginning,
the St. Sebastian’s dominated
the game in all aspects. The score
(12-6) doesn’t reflect the control the
Arrows had over the game. Since
the team was so much stronger than
Nobles, the refs seemed to favor the
underdog, calling back three touchdowns
(one from Brian Strachan
and two from Kendall Dardy-Jones).
Because the team lost nearly all of the
starters from last year, Nobles, along
with the rest of the ISL, wasn’t expecting
to see such a powerful force from
Soccer Awarded Blood Trophy
Falls Short of Playoff Berth with 9-6-2 Record
By Ryan Bacic ‘11
Since our last soccer update,
the Arrows have had to navigate
the remaining twelve games of the
season, beginning with a 2-0 home
win over Milton that saw senior captain
Dillon Kerr bury two goals, one
unassisted and the other off a feed
from target forward Charlie Callanan
’11. The three-game winning streak
Sebs had built up would soon be torn
down, however, as a tough Brooks
squad on their home field thrashed
the Arrows by a 3-0 tally on the back
of a hat trick by Brooks’s speedy junior
forward. A quick turnaround then
proved difficult to manage, as nonleague
foe Tabor came from a goal
down to surprise the favored Sebs
team 3-1 the next day in Needham.
At this point in the season,
the team had still not yet defined
what team they would be. While the
individual components of the team
were excellent, the Arrows could not
seem to live up to their sum, with the
only hitherto “quality win” coming at
home against last year’s ISL Champions,
BB&N. Rallying around inspiration
from their coaches and captains,
though, Sebs had the opportunity
St. Sebastian’s.
One week later, the Arrows
hosted their annual Homecoming
and battled against the ISL powerhouse
BB&N, who had last week
beaten Belmont Hill, another wellknown
force in the league. Although
the Arrows fought valiantly, it didn’t
prove to be enough to overcome
the Knights. After the tough loss, the
team moved on quickly; however,
and immediately began to prepare
for the upcoming game against
Milton Academy.
Under the lights at Bentley,
the Arrows set out to crush the Mustangs.
However, due to a few sloppy
plays and decisive mistakes made
by both the offense and defense,
they couldn’t hold their opponent.
Although the Arrows were equal to
Milton in regard to skill and talent,
fate was not with them that night.
Challenged to improve their execution,
the team once again looked
forward to the next week of practice.
The Arrows met disappointment
yet again in their fourth game
against Belmont Hill. It was apparent
from the first quarter that the Belmont
Hill team was more skilled on
both offense and defense, fielding a
more experienced team. After a brutal
three quarters, the Arrows were
down 35-0. It was only in the fourth
quarter, when sophomore Patrick
Healy stepped in as quarterback
that the Arrows were able to put
any points on the board against the
Belmont Hill reserves. In a lopsided
contest, therefore, the Arrows were
defeated by a powerful Belmont Hill
squad.
In the fifth game against
Middlesex, the Arrows seemed to be
on the verge of their second win of
the season. Good passing, running,
and defense in the first half gave the
Arrows a 20-6 lead. However, in the
second half, a humiliated Middlesex
pushed hard against the Arrows
defense and was able to put score
twice and tie the game. In overtime,
the Arrows were unable to stop the
to go a long way in carving out
their identity with an away match
looming against rival Belmont Hill.
In this heated matchup, Callanan
put two in the back of the net for
the Arrows—one from a brilliant
ball from right midfielder Nick
Creegan ’11 and another from the
ever-dangerous Kerr—enroute to
a glorious 2-0 victory. A goal from
captain Zane Stanton ‘11 in the 40th
minute at home versus Lawrence
Academy kept things rolling for Sebs
as a strong defensive unit of captain
Alex Spear ’11, juniors Chris Nadeau,
Kevin Dillon, and Tommy Allen, and
goalkeeper Ben Piersiak ’13 recorded
their sixth clean sheet of the season.
A 3-0 loss at Middlesex
soon brought the team back down
to earth. This second wake-up call
proved a powerful one, sparking the
Arrows to a 3-1-2 finish. The Arrows’
first victim of this stretch was St.
Mark’s on the road. Two goals from
Dill Kerr and a goal and an assist
from Charlie Callanan gave Sebs a
nice 3-1 win over a team that would
end up tied in the standings with the
Arrows at season’s end. Another 3-1
result, this time against St. George’s,
Zebras and lost 28-20.
Finally, after a month of
close matches and heartbreak, the
Arrows smoked both St. Georges
and Groton in consecutive weeks. After
their string of losses both teams
expected to see a weak showing on
the field from the Arrows; however,
they were gravely mistaken. Both
the Dragons and the Groton Zebras
were slain by the maturing Arrows
men. Both games were high scoring
with many big plays. Highlights
include Brendan Daly’s 59-yard run
to score against the unsuspecting
St. George’s defense, Tyler Sweeney’s
one-armed catch, which he snagged
just before the ball hit the ground,
Sam Hodgson’s pick six and then
within a minute of play his offensive
touchdown, Jack Connolly’s boneshuddering
hit on a Groton receiver,
which sent chills down the spines
of those watching, and finally Sam
Washburne’s three pivotal interceptions,
which kept the Zebras out of
the red zone. Like a shot of adrenaline
these wins electrified the Arrows
squad as they advanced into the
final game of the season against the
Thayer Tigers.
Unfortunately, despite two
fantastic wins, and a great week of
practice, the Arrows were unable to
overcome their final adversary. The
game was close throughout and no
one quit; however, Thayer proved to
be more fortunate in the match.
As I said earlier, the teams
record doesn’t reveal the dedication
of every team member and
the hard work that was put into the
season. Everyone grew as a player
and a person. I expect that in the
upcoming years the Arrows will
be extremely successful with more
experienced players and with the
constant incoming flow of talented
and devoted athletes. Next year the
team will be led by Captains Austin
Franchi (center), Sam Hodgson
(Outside Linebacker, Tailback), and
Jack Connolly (Inside Linebacker,
Fullback).
Captain Alex Spear ‘11 pummels the ball downfield towards the offensive unit.
was up next. Allen started the scoring
rout with a windblown cross that
had the St. George’s goalie nearly in
tears as the ball hit off his fingertips
and flew into the net, and goals by
left mid George Price ’13 and Dilligan
once more sealed the game.
A trip to St. Paul’s the following
Wednesday saw the Arrows
leave New Hampshire with a hardfought
2-1 win and some delicious
Linden Subs courtesy of Mrs. Spear.
For the second time this season,
though, Sebs failed to get over the
three-straight threshold, with a disappointing
1-1 tie at home against
Groton deflating what had been a
rising confidence level. A mid-week
date with an extremely talented
RL, led by one of the league’s topleading
scorers in Adrian Reifsnyder,
gave the team little time, however,
to dwell on what could have been.
After going down 1-0 in the 61st
minute, a lovely ball into the box
by left back Kev Dillon found Dillon
Kerr, who finished it with a clinical
cross-goal header to level the scoring.
Though a win would have been
ideal from a playoffs standpoint, this
come-from-behind tie nonetheless
Kendall Dardy-Jones ‘12 smokes number 33 as he tears up the field.
X-C Salutes Stalwart Seniors
By Will Adams ‘11
The 2010 Cross Country
Team finished the season with a
league record of 4 -11 and a total
record of 5 – 14. This left the Arrows
tied for eleventh place with Thayer
Academy and St. Georges School
heading into the ISL Championship
race. Great races from the seven
varsity runners led the team to
beat both these teams and claim
sole position of eleventh place.
The team also ran themselves to a
seventh place finish at Division III
New England Championship race
the following weekend.
There were 21 runners on
the 2010 Cross Country Team at
some point or another, making it
the biggest Varsity/Junior Varsity
team the school has had in several
years. Captains Will Adams ’11 and
Robbie Spencer ’11 finished each
of the final seven races as the top
two runners on the team. Tom
Murphy ’11, Andrew DeMatteo ’11,
and Terry O’Connor ’12 established
themselves as pack of runners and
finished close together in most of
the races in the second half of the
season. Sean Sullivan ’11 and Mike
Haley ’13 emerged as the final Varsity
runners for the team after some
other runners suffered injuries and
they had a string of good races
themselves.
Peter DeMatteo ’13, Anthony
McIntyre ’13, Matt Fachetti
’13, and Chris Warner ’11 always
seemed to alternate as the top
spoke volumes about the gritty,
never-say-die type of team our Arrows
had this season.
In their final game of the
2010 varsity soccer campaign, Sebs
traveled to Thayer to try to avenge
last season’s heartbreaking 2-1 loss
in which the Arrows’ 1-0 lead was
squandered within the last five minutes
of regulation time. Seb’s fought
valiantly throughout, and senior
James Cerra’s beautiful ‘meg pass to
George Price nearly resulted in the
equalizer, but unfortunately it was
déjà vu as Thayer once again came
from behind and escaped with a 2-1
win.
Though the Varsity Soccer
team fell just short of its goal of making
the playoffs, it nonetheless has
much to be proud of. Ending the
season with an 8-5-2 mark in league
play and a 9-6-2 record overall, the
team recorded its most league wins
in Sebs history, improving upon last
year’s seven. Now a team on the rise,
long gone are the days of one-win
and zero-win seasons for the Arrows.
More noteworthy than the number
in the win column, though, is the
way in which Sebs has competed.
Following the examples of the
so-called “classiest coaches in the
league”, Coaches Lynch and Schell,
St. Sebastian’s finished the year with
the lowest card total in the sixteenteam
ISL and was rightfully awarded
the Blood Trophy by the rest of
the league as the team that “best
exemplified the spirit of the game
of soccer through its enthusiasm,
effort, sportsmanship, dignity, and
competitiveness.”
All in all, the Arrows
enjoyed a memorable and highly
successful 2010 season. Much thanks
to all who supported the team. It’s
been a fun ride.
Junior Varsity runners. Mickey
Adams ’13 was running in the top
seven until he suffered an ankle
injury late in the season. He was
able to recover enough to run
with this pack in the Championship
races. Cam Kelly ’14 joined
the team at the end of the season
to prepare himself for the longer
races, and he finished in the middle
of this pack of runners in both
of the Championship races. Eddie
McCarthy ’13 and Luke Scotten ’13
finished many races close together
when Luke was healthy. Will Vietze
’11 and Sam Racine ’11 ran side by
side in many races rounding out
the Arrows running crew.
Halfway through the
season, Tom Keefe ’11 suffered a
hip injury that sidelined him for
the remainder of the season – he
had been a consistent top seven
runner before the injury. Nick Cortese
’11 suffered a foot injury the
week before the Championship
races and could not run in them
– he also was a contender for the
Varsity before the injury. Joe Tamburello
’13 ran into a knee injury at
the start of the season and was not
able to run in many of the races.
ISL Cross Country Championships
were held at St. Paul’s
School on a cold, wet day and the
course was covered in puddles.
The Varsity Boys competed in the
second race of the day. The St.
Paul’s course becomes narrow very
quickly, so all the runners knew
they needed a fast start so as not
Varsity
Results
Varsity Football:
@ Belmont Hill
@ Middlesex
Vs. St. George’s
Vs. Groton
@ Thayer
Varsity Soccer:
Vs. St. George’s
@ St. Paul’s
Vs. Groton
Vs. Roxbury Latin
@ Thayer
to get caught behind the back of
the pack. It was indeed a very fast
start. The leader of the Varsity race
completed in the first mile in under
five minutes and the other 110
runners were in a long pack right
on his heels.
In the end, W. Adams led
the way for the Arrows, completing
the course in 17:56, good for 26th
place in the league. Spencer was
next in 37th place with a time of
18:12. O’Connor and A. DeMatteo
finished 60th and 68th, respectively,
with times of 18:51 and 19:04,
respectively. Murphy rounded out
the top five scoring runners with
a 78th place finish and a time of
19:30. Sullivan was next with an
82nd place finish at 19:40. Haley
was the seventh Varsity runner in
90th place with a time of 19:47.
Adding up the places of the top
five runners left the Arrows just
three points away from a top ten
finish, but the 269 points were
enough to secure them eleventh
place.
The Junior Varsity Boys
race was the fourth and final race
of the day. McIntyre topped the
Arrows JV squad with a 54th place
finish among scoring runners in
20:26. In his second ever 3.1 mile
race, Kelly finished second for the
team in 70th place in 20:52. M. Adams,
in his first race back from an
ankle injury got 71st place in 20:53.
P. DeMatteo was next in 79th in a
time of 21:08. Fachetti
Continued on Page 7
14-35 L
20-28 L
22-16 W
34-21 W
13-27 L
3-1 W
2-1 W
1-1 T
1-1 T
1-2 L
Varsity Cross Country:
Dual @ Roxbury Latin 1 L
Quad @ Rivers 1 W, 2 L
ISL Championships 11th place
D-III NEPSTA Champs 7th place