Weekly Athletic Update, 11/07/16
Regular season contests will come to a screeching halt for many in this the final week of our Fall Athletic season. NEPSAC fall tournaments will take place the week of November 14-20 (Cross country being the exception as their Championships will occur this Saturday, November 12th at Tabor Academy) and pairings and sites for WA teams involved will be announced on Sunday, November 13th. Congratulations to all our fall teams and coaches for their great work and accomplishments over the past 12 weeks!
- One team certain to be advancing in the Class A soccer picture will be our Girls Varsity, fresh off an impressive week with a 4-1 road win over Tabor and a 3-1 conquest of Exeter on Saturday. Junior striker Nilou Asdigha continues her scoring spree (18 team leading goals on the season) as she added a pair in Saturday’s big win. On a beautiful fall afternoon in Marion, MA, senior captain Gabby Diodati (Fairfield bound) scored three goals and led the way as the visitors pulled away in the 2nd half over a determined Tabor team. A rematch with last year’s 2015 Class A Championship team Phillips Andover, will take place on Wednesday afternoon in Andover at 2:45 pm!
- Columbia University bound Sam Hatem ’17 rang the bell with an unprecedented four-goal outing on Saturday afternoon at Morse Field as the Hilltoppers (15-1) ran away from the Brunswick School. Earlier in the week, the hometown team squeezed past a strong Phillips Andover team, 1-0 as – you guessed it – Sam Hatem tallied the lone goal on the afternoon. The Salisbury School will provide the opposition on Wednesday afternoon with a 4 pm match at Morse Field.
- Much of the legwork has been done and the week ahead will be a quiet one as our x-c teams prepare for Saturday’s New England Class B Championships at Tabor Academy (12 pm start). Under the watchful guidance of coaches Ricciardi and Perkins our boys and girls team respectively seem to be peaking at the right time. In Saturday’s quad race at the Pomfret School both squads edged the host Pomfret School and distanced themselves from Cushing and Wilbraham in fine fashion. Shiv Sharma ’18 placed 2nd overall and teammates Zhangeldy Rakhimbekov and Luke Vining-Recklitis broke the sub-20 minute milestone in pacing the Hilltoppers. On the girls’ side WA placed 5 runners in the top 10 and 4 in the top 6 on the rugged Pomfret layout. Coco Arcand ’19, Gabby Gavala ’20, Fiona Price ’19, and Yulia Borodavka ’18 led the way for the surging Hilltoppers.
- Field Hockey split two contests during the week dropping a well-played 3-1 contest to Tabor but bounced back on Friday evening with a solid 5-1 win over crosstown rival, the Bancroft School. Lily Dumas ’19 punched home the lone goal against Tabor and sophomore goalie Olivia Valery registered a whopping 15 saves to keep the contest within striking distance. Freshman forward Alexis Cagan scored the first and last goal in Friday evening’s win over Bancroft. Two critical contests remain this week as the team vies for a play-off spot in the Class B Field Hockey Tournament.
- Varsity Football dropped a 34-28 decision to Phillips Andover on Saturday evening under the lights at Morse Field. It was a great night for football and the two evenly matched teams treated those in attendance to a well played, entertaining game that saw Worcester Academy’s final drive stall just short of the tying touchdown. Both teams played hard and there were several eye-popping plays that kept the customers on the edge of their seats. It’s been a season of “almosts” for the team as just about every contest has come down to the final possession. The Hilltoppers will have one more opportunity to seize the moment as they travel to Cheshire on Friday eve to conclude the 2016 season. Game time is 7:00 pm.
- Rising juniors Georgianna Angelis and Michelle Yoon anchored a defense that kept a determined Marianapolis Prep team at bay as the volleyball team survived a marathon match in outlasting their rivals from Connecticut. The 5-set match saw the Hilltoppers surge to a 2-0 lead and hold on in the 5th and final game at 15-11. Dana Hall’s size proved to be too much for the visiting Hilltoppers to handle on Saturday, however, the win over MP will provide the team with a boost of confidence heading into their final contests of the 2016 campaign.
- JV Girls Soccer suffered identical 3-0 defeats at the hands of Exeter and Tabor and conclude their season on Wednesday afternoon, hosting Marianapolis Prep at 2:30 pm at New Balance Field. Our JV Boys team improved their record to 6-3-1 with a tidy 2-1 win over the Rectory School as Sam Thoreen ’18 and Tyler Martin ’20 scored for the Hilltoppers.
- JV Volleyball dropped a 2-1 contest to Marianapolis on Wednesday then fell to Dana Hall on Saturday, but demonstrated improvement in each game was clearly a plus for the team.
Athletic Tip of the Week
Many of our senior fall athletes are about to play their final contests representing our school and our programs and we will be recognizing them on Senior Days during the upcoming week (having already done so with our Football seniors on Saturday eve). It is an important time in their young lives and an opportune time for the coaches and Administrative team to tip our cap to them for a job well done. As an anonymous coach once uttered, “Unexpressed gratitude is like winking in the dark. You know how you feel about them, but they don’t.”
Less that be the case, a heartfelt thank you and congratulations to all of you for the great work you have done and for the accomplishments you have achieved!
Co-Athletes of the Week
Sam Hatem ’17 – Boys Varsity Soccer
Gabrielle Diodati ’17 – Girls Varsity Soccer
