July 5, 2009
Loomis lands another Founders title
by Mike Zhe/
Loomis Chaffee defender Linnea Fulton is smart enough away from the field that life at Bates College awaits next year. And she’s smart enough on it to recognize she was part of a special team this spring.
For the second straight year, the Pelicans went 14-1 and won Founders League and Western New England titles. But crunch the numbers, and this recently concluded campaign stacks up pretty well against other successful recent editions.
“We had a stronger team this year,” said Fulton, a Bristol, R.I., resident. “We were a much deeper team in every aspect. There wasn’t as much individual effort; the whole team played really well together.”
“Stronger from end to end,” said coach Lisa Parsons. “We went pretty deep. We could switch kids in from the bench and not miss a beat.”
The numbers don’t lie: The Pelicans outscored opponents 290-73, putting up 52 more goals than they did a year ago and allowing eight fewer.
Part of that was a collective athleticism, honed in other sports, which the girls brought to the field this spring. In fact, the competition during preseason practice got so intense that coaches had to abandon the normal procedure of breaking up the squad into four competitive teams for drills because of the risk of injuries and pulled muscles.
Among the seniors, Fulton played two years of varsity soccer. Maggie Walsh is headed to Vermont to play hockey, and she was joined on the ice over the winter by Brooke Fernandez and Claire Francis.
Hannah Cashmon is an accomplished skier. Junior Kate McCarthy, the team’s leading scorer the last two years, is a national level-caliber soccer player. McCarthy and Fulton would earn All-America honors when the lacrosse season was over.
Mixed all together, that athleticism translated to an unending parade of transition goals — and wins.
“We were very fast all over the field and the kids were real competitive,” said Parsons.
Coming off last year’s 14-1 season, the Pelicans faced questions in goal after sending Britt Giacco on to North Carolina, where she saw action in three games for a team that reached the Division 1 championship game, losing to Northwestern.
“The goal, for sure,” said Parsons, asked about preseason concerns. “What really helped us was our strong defense and being able to limit the shots.”
The season’s best game may have been an 18-10 win over a Greenwich Academy team that would go on to finish 18-3-1. The Pelicans led 13-1 at halftime and made the last game the seniors would play on The Meadows a memorable one.
“We were psyched,” said Fulton. “It was our last home game. We came out really pumped. We had really great practices that week.”
The flip side was the lone loss two weeks earlier, 13-10 at Holy Cross against a Noble and Greenough team that’s proven to be the class of the Independent School League, losing just one game in three years.
For the Pelicans, it was a missed opportunity. Eventually closing out an eighth Founders League title in 11 years helped, but the loss still stung.
“I felt like we didn’t come out to play and we didn’t take them as seriously as we should have,” Fulton said. “I could tell from our warmup — it wasn’t our normal warmup. We definitely missed an opportunity there.”
Still, a pair of 14-1 seasons to close out her days in Windsor, Conn., is a nice memory for Fulton to bring up to Bates.
“What stands out,” said Fulton, “is how much fun we were able to have together, while at the same time taking every practice seriously.”
Rhode Island
St. George’s (15-3) — The Dragons finally cracked the top three in the Independent School League, finishing behind Nobles and Thayer and losing their three games by a total of seven goals. Holy Cross-bound midfielder Maddie Carrellas earned All-America honors, while fellow middies Megan Leonhard (Trinity) and Sydney Mas joined her on the All-ISL team. “We were midfield strong,” sixth-year coach Lucy Hamilton said. “We could get it done at both ends of the field and in transition.” Attacker Leigh Archer also was among the team’s scoring leaders, and the year was highlighted by a comeback from six goals down in the final seven minutes to beat Buckingham, Browne & Nichols.
Providence Country Day (8-5) — Senior Emily Bogan deposited 92 goals to finish with 197 for her PCD career. Bogan and classmate Tori Hill earned first-team All-SENE honors. Seniors Randelle Boots and Maizie Humphrey, and junior Grace Suttell also had strong years for the Knights.
Massachusetts
Williston-Northampton (11-0) — Williston crafted its second straight unbeaten season, but it was no cakewalk. Mixed in among the victories were overtime wins against Suffield and Choate. Seniors Katie Pettengill (Williams) and Katie Palasz (New England College) both averaged about four goals a game. In addition, junior S.A. Fogleman was an honorable mention All-American. “I would say our biggest strength is that these girls understand what it means to be on a team,” coach Jen Fulcher said. “They do not play for individual glory but instead for each other.”
Noble and Greenough (15-1) — After two years of going undefeated in ISL play, Nobles finally stumbled, 13-11 to Buckingham, Browne & Nichols in overtime. “They had a real good game, we didn’t show up to play and they were better than us that day,” coach Meghan Cleary said. Still, the year wasn’t short on high points. Brett Hayes (William and Mary), Lauren Martin (Duke) and Casey Griffin (Dartmouth) anchored a dominant midfield, with Griffin notching 47 goals and 74 points on her way to ISL MVP honors. The future will be led by players such as freshman Hope Hanley (32 goals) and sophomore Chelsea Landon (46 goals, 66 points).
Pingree School (13-4) — The Highlanders won the Eastern Independent League title for the sixth straight year, with the senior class members concluding their careers with a 40-0 record in EIL play. Midfielder Haley Thompson (Trinity) was named the MVP of the EIL, and attackers Brit Mscisz and C.C. Collier, middie Michaela Colbert (Middlebury), defender Cat Dioli and goalie Olivia Whitney (Trinity) joined her as league All-Stars. Defender Holly Noyes will play at St. Lawrence.
Governor’s Academy (12-4) — Maybe the only thing Division 1-bound outgoing seniors MaryLeah DiNisco, Becca Block and Linley Block would change about this season was the way it ended — three straight losses to the ISL iron, two by a single goal. DiNisco (Lehigh) finished her career with 633 saves. Becca Block (Syracuse) was the team MVP. Linley Block (Syracuse) led the team in ground balls and was third in scoring behind Becca Block and junior Ellie Clayman, who has verbally committed to play for five-time reigning Division 1 champion Northwestern.
Thayer Academy (12-2) — The Tigers came within three goals of finishing the year unbeaten and winning the ISL outright, losing 12-10 to Nobles and 10-9 to Middlesex, but finishing the season with nine straight wins behind Dartmouth-bound midfielder Kelsey Johnson.
Connecticut
Greenwich Academy (18-3-1) — Greenwich’s 10 seniors went out on a high note, winning another Fairchester League title. Princeton-bound Jackie Klauberg earned All-America honors with 77 goals, 115 points and 100 forced turnovers, as did midfielder Caroline Connor (Penn), who chipped in 48 goals and 96 forced turnovers. Other big contributors were attacker Eliza Ruggiero (Wesleyan), who scored 27 goals, Sophie Kleinert (Bucknell), who had 35 goals and 68 points, Sarah Phillips (Colorado College), who had 26 goals and 49 points, and defender Libby Miner.
Suffield (15-2) — Only two-goal losses to Williston-Northampton and Westminster kept the Tigers from going undefeated, but they still celebrated their best record under fourth-year coach Carter Abbott. Colby-bound center middie Kate Pistel scored 54 goals, set up 28 others, and led the team in forced turnovers and draw controls. Beyond that, the strength of the team was its juniors: Middie Mary Mitchell put up 73 goals and 25 assists, defender Melanie Watson forced 43 turnovers, and goalie Alyssa Palomba — who’s drawing Division 1 interest — stopped 53 percent of her shots and posted a goals-against average of 5.8.
