Holliston August 2016

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Page 20 Local Town Pages www.hollistontownnews.com August 2016 Sports Continuous Improvement Key for Holliston Field Hockey Team By Ken Hamwey The first day of pre-season practice for the Holliston field hockey team, which won the Tri Valley League championship last fall for the first time in 22 years, is Aug. 25, but don’t expect third-year coach Alyssa Wesoly to deliver any rousing pep talks or offer any strategic tidbits on how the Panthers must proceed to repeat as the conference’s No. 1 squad. There’ll be no talk about targets on the players’ backs or opponents saving their best effort for Holliston. Wesoly’s approach will be low-key, even for a squad that got a taste of tournament play last fall for the first time in 11 years. “We haven’t set any longrange goals, like winning the TVL or qualifying for the tourney,’’ said Wesoly, who was the junior-varsity coach at Dover- Sherborn before taking the Panthers’ reins in 2014. “Our goals are all about preparation Classes offered in: Calculus Pre-Calculus High School Geometry Algebra I, II MATH 360 Visit Us at Our New Location! 781-647-7973 235 E. Main St., Milford and motivation. If our motivation and preparation are under control, then the league championship and a tourney berth will take care of themselves. We have to focus on our theme of continuous improvement and pick up where we left off.’’ The Panthers’ second campaign with Wesoly last year was a season to remember. The squad posted a record of 12-3-3, then won two playoff games to advance to the sectional quarterfinals where it lost to Hanover, 1-0. Holliston’s two playoff triumphs came in overtime, against Scituate and Falmouth. Wesoly, whose first year on the job produced a four-win season, employs a style of field hockey that’s refreshing. Instead of a deliberate, patient attack, she favors an up-tempo offense that emphasizes crisp and accurate passing. “I want us to play with finesse but I also want to apply pressure on defense,’’ she Who is Math360 for? A math learner who wants to learn from an experienced high school Math teacher Small classroom, big impact. Personalized attention. 508-309-6398 Math360us@gmail.com We aren’t just car batteries - we have batteries for all your needs. 20% ALL ACCESSORIES Present this ad at time of purchase. ad expires: 8/31/16 said. “What that creates is more offensive opportunities.’’ When the 27-year-old coach, who started for four seasons on defense at Westfield State, greets her returning veterans and newcomers in three weeks, the likes of goalie Cat Berg, defenders Genevieve Kent and Marissa Leger and midfielder Annie Croke won’t be on hand. “Those four senior captains gave us terrific leadership on and off the field,’’ Wesoly noted. “But, we’ve got another group of quality captains and other talented returnees.’’ This year’s captains are all seniors — center midfielder Meg Burke, the TVL’s MVP last year; Kate Naughton on defense; and forwards Addie Datz and Betsy Hamre. Other keys are forward Jill Danis and topnotch defenders Haley Hanstad (TVL second-team all-star) and Chloe Londono-Ayr. “Meg is a special player,’’ Wesoly said. “She’s a great passer and very unselfish. Kate leads by example and is strong defensively, Addie is athletic and fast and Betsy is the voice of the squad. Jill was one of our top scorers last year and Haley and Chloe are very effective defenders.’’ Wesoly gives her captains lots of responsibilities and expects them to be extensions of the coaching staff, which includes jayvee coach Paul Hickey, his daughter Kate, the goalie coach, and volunteer assistant Nikki Perregaux, a teammate of Wesoly’s in college. “The captains are communicators who set the tone at practice and determine the culture of the team,’’ Wesoly emphasized. “They ensure that our culture is close-knit and I go to them when I need our intensity to pick up.’’ Wesoly already is able to judge her team’s strengths and areas of concern, listing Holliston’s assets as a strong work ethic, knowledge of the basics, athleticism, leadership, team chemistry and experience. Holliston Field Hockey Coach Alyssa Wesoly’s theme for her players: continuous improvement. “We can improve our depth,’’ she noted. “And, we’ve got to be able to deal with potential bumps in the road. We were resilient last year and need to have that quality again.’’ Looking past pre-season scrimmages and practice, Wesoly believes Dover-Sherborn, Hopkinton and Medway will contend with Holliston for the TVL title. “Dover-Sherborn has many veterans returning, Hopkinton is fundamentally sound and Medway is very respectable, a team that beat us last year,’’ Wesoly recalled. At Westfield State, Wesoly was a captain and also an allstar in the MASCAC. A phys-ed major, she graduated in 2010, and later earned a masters degree from Cambridge College in health education. As a veteran coach who’s now linked to a championship, Wesoly knows what it takes for athletic success. She wasn’t surprised that it took Holliston only two seasons to get the program on track. “The girls bought in quickly and understood they had something special,’’ Wesoly said. “They had good team chemistry, strong veteran leadership, and their talent surfaced. That’s why I don’t need to make any speeches about our objectives when we meet later this month. The players know what they’ve done and what they have to do for continued success.’’
August 2016 Local Town Pages www.hollistontownnews.com Page 21 Sports Holliston Native, Freshman Elkinson Proves His Worth at Hartford By Christopher Tremblay It wasn’t that long ago that Zach Elkinson was patrolling the lacrosse field for the Holliston Panthers. One year later, after just completing his freshman season at the University of Hartford, the Holliston resident has taken his game to the next level playing for the NCAA Division 1 school. Under Head Coach Peter Lawrence, the Hawks posted the second most wins in the programs history during the 2016 campaign and was the first team in the American East Conference to win the conference championship as a four seed. After earning the fourth and final seed in the conference tournament, Hartford shocked everyone by defeating Albany, the top seed and fourth in the country. And when number 3 Vermont upset the two seed Hartford would get a chance at revenging an earlier 13-4 loss during the regular season to take the title. Although Elkinson never thought that he’d be a major contributor to the Hawks’ success this past season, things changed once he stepped foot on the Connecticut campus. “I did not expect to start, never mind play at Hartford my first year. It’s a Division 1 program making it tough for any freshman to break into the lineup,” the Holliston native said. “I was unsure to how Hartford was going to do, but upon my arrival it was obvious that everyone on campus was positive that we’d be contenders, and I bought into it.” Once at Hartford, Elkinson began playing fall lacrosse as a midfielder, but soon after was sidelined with mono. The illness caused him to miss a lot of playing time and immediately put him behind the eight ball as an incoming freshman. The first year midfielder began to work hard to regain his stamina to play college lacrosse. In Hartford’s first game of the season against Boston University he saw limited playing time against the Bulldogs, but made the most of it by notching a goal and 2 assist. By the third game of the season he was starting. “As a high school football and lacrosse player, he was most successful playing against Division 1 schools,” Coach Lawrence said. “Zach was able to translate that athleticism to the collegiate level. There may be more gifted athletes, but he made the most of his abilities.” Like a good number of athletes starting for the first time, the freshman was a bundle of nerves prior to the game, but seemed to ease into it after it started. “I was extremely nervous, this was my first ever Division 1 college start,” he said. “It was a good opportunity to prove to Coach Lawrence and the rest of the team what I could do. A lot of freshmen just don’t get put into that type of situation.” Coach Lawrence, who stepped down following his 11 th season with Hartford and was replaced by assistant Ryan Martin, saw talent in the defensive midfielder. “Elk (as he was called on the lacrosse field) was playing at a high competitive level and used his speed to his advantage,” Lawrence said. “They say speed kills, and we soon found out that Elk was a killer. A big part of his speed is his athleticism and he was able to make the necessary adjustments to be successful on this level.” Becoming a successful freshman athlete on college level is few and far between. According to Coach Lawrence, there are about 10-12 freshmen making the team every year, but only 3 or 4 of them that have that unique ability to contribute right away – Elkinson was one of those individuals. Playing alongside of junior Conor Daley and sophomore Dylan Protesto the trio worked well together and started to make a name for themselves throughout the county. The Holliston native found himself in the top five in the conference when it came to ground balls grabbing 54 in 17 games for a 3.18 average which ranked him 70 th in the country. Elkinson’s 54 ground balls were second on the team behind Protesto’s 131. “I didn’t expect this,” Elkinson said. “I knew that Dylan was a top notch at face-offs, but never thought that we’d be as dominant as we were.” Having taken part in his first collegiate lacrosse season, Elkinson knows that although he has had some success he cannot just sit back and enjoy the year, he needs to move on. “I believe that I had a great season, one much better than I could have imagined, but I couldn’t have done it without Dylan,” he said. “I definitely had my ups and downs and need to work on my shooting if I want to take my game to the next level. I had 2 goals and 3 assists this year, but I missed the net a lot.” Elkinson plans on playing club lacrosse with the Fighting Clams out of Acton while he is home, so that when he returns to Hartford in the fall he will be more than ready to take the field during his sophomore year. “College lacrosse was so much different that high school,” he said. “It was not only a much faster game, but everyone knew how to catch and throw with the best of them. I feel that I am on that level, but I still need to work on my game.” Zach Elkinson has had unusually great success as a freshman playing lacrosse for the University of Hartford.
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