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Silver Lake football wins turkey day title

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Dominant is the best word to describe the Silver Lake High football team’s Thanksgiving day performance.

The Lakers hosted the Pembroke Titans on Thursday, Nov. 28 — and beat them with ease. The Lakers came up with a 54-0 victory.

At halftime, the Lakers led 21-0. Their first touchdown came on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Ben Lofstrom to Sean Waters in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, a 16-yard rush from Matt Gabra put the team up by two touchdowns. And then senior captain Will Hesketh, a center and linebacker, punched in a one-yard touchdown run later in the quarter; Hesketh broke his leg in the first game of the season, and this was his first game back. All three extra point kicks were good; during the game, both Waters and Drew Keiran kicked for the Lakers.

Midway through the second half, Owen Thompson scored on a five-yard touchdown run following a 30-yard run to put the team in scoring territory. Dylan Landers then intercepted Pembroke and had a five-yard touchdown reception from Lofstrom.

Shortly after, the Lakers got another defense stop and Lofstrom connected with Waters for a 30-yard touchdown. Before the third quarter ended, Bobby Shields also had a 14-yard touchdown catch.

In the fourth quarter, Lofstrom connected with Waters on one last touchdown: a 22-yard pass. It put Waters at over 1,000 receiving yards on the season. As a thrower, Lofstrom exceeded 2,000 yards passing.

The Lakers defense was sharp in the contest. They finished the year strong, producing back-to-back shutouts against Nauset and Pembroke.

The Lakers finish their season at 6-5 with this win. With the loss, Pembroke finished the year at 1-10. This also means the Lakers hold a 10-4 lead in the all-time series and have won four of their last five Thanksgiving Day matchups.

Winter sports refresher

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With winter sports season starting up this past Monday at Silver Lake High, here is a refresher of how each of the varsity teams fared last season.

Boys Basketball

The Lakers made it to the Division 2 South sectional playoff bracket, but fell to Tech Boston on the road 80-50. The senior-heavy team finished their season at 13-9.

Girls Basketball

The Lakers underwent a rebuilding year, going 5-15 on the season.

Gymnastics

The co-op with Pembroke had yet another strong season; they earned their fourth straight Patriot League title. Ava Dorsey, a freshman last season, earned the Patriot League MVP award.

Boys Hockey

For the third straight season, the Lakers made it to the Division 3 South sectional playoffs via the Sullivan Rule. They went 8-11-4 last season and lost their top two scorers to graduation.

Girls Hockey

The co-op with Whitman-Hanson had a down year, going 4-13-2. However, the team was on the younger side and showed growth throughout the season. After starting the year at 0-7-0, they went 4-6-2 in their final 12 games.

Swimming

On the girls side, Alexa Connors earned Division 1 State titles last season. She got one in the 200 (1:50.84) another in the 500 freestyle (4:53.14). A senior this season, she has an opportunity to defend those titles once again.

Track

Both track teams enjoyed positive results last season; during the regular season, the girls went 4-1 and the boys went 3-2. Each team had their share of contenders at the state meet and Riley Paskow went to All-States for the girls; she came in 13th place in the 600 meter at the event.

Wrestling

The Lakers sent a pair of wrestlers to the Division 2 state tournament last season, including Kyle Cipullo (195), now a junior.

Football rolls over Nauset Warriers

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The Silver Lake High football team might not be in the playoffs anymore, but they did have a strong performance against a playoff-caliber team.

Last Friday night, the Lakers hosted the Nauset Warriors and shined on both sides of the ball en route to a 28-0 victory. With the win, the Lakers improved to 5-5 on the season.

An early interception by Drew Keiran gave the Lakers the ball around midfield, and they capitalized on the field position. Ben Lofstrom capped off the drive with a short touchdown run and Keiran’s extra point made it 7-0 Lakers.

In the second quarter, Keiran had another interception, once again giving the Lakers solid field position. This time, they scored on a 35-yard touchdown run by Matt Gabra; Keira hit the extra point, putting the Lakers up 14-0.

Defensively, the Lakers had three first half interceptions; Owen Thompson got one on a deep ball as time expired.

The Lakers started the second half with the ball and Jake LaFerrara caught a touchdown pass from Lofstrom to complete a 60-yard drive. Nauset blocked the Lakers extra point attempt, making it a 20-0 game.

With Gabra excelling on the ground, the team also moved the ball downfield early in the fourth quarter. In the red zone, Lofstrom then hit Sean Waters with a short touchdown pass. The Lakers went for two and Waters caught another pass from Lofstrom, giving the Lakers a 28-0 lead.

The Lakers defense continued to shut down Nauset and Kyle Cipullo blocked a punt, giving the Lakers the ball back; with the game out of reach, they put in their second offense.

The Lakers have one last game left on their schedule: the annual Thanksgiving Day bout against the Pembroke Titans (10:00 a.m. start time).

Pembroke is the home team this year but surely, the Lakers have to be the favorite to win this one. Pembroke is 2-8 this season and coming off a 42-6 loss to Dedham, a team who did not make the playoffs this season.

Volleyball team rebuilding

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Once again, experience will not be on the side of the Silver Lake High girls volleyball team this season as they continue to rebuild, but opportunities for playing time will be abundant.

The Lakers are coming off a 4-16 season where they fared much better in the second half of the year than they did in the first; while they started the year at 0-8, they won four of their last 12 matches of the season. However, most of that team is no longer with the program as the Lakers graduated nine of their 13 players from last season.

That said, the majority of the roster will not have varsity experience for the Lakers this season. Even so, it will not be a completely new team.

The Lakers are expected to return four seniors this season who have varsity experience. Highlighting this group would be middle hitter Catherine Donovan, who led the team in both kills (80) and blocks (85) last season, as she played in 60 of the team’s 72 sets.

Outside of Donovan, setter Julia Tarantino, who led the team with 188 assists last season, and outside hitter Lindsey Bernasconi, whose 14 aces serving, were each regulars for the Lakers in 2018. The two of them both played in more than 50 sets as juniors. Plus, middle hitter Natasha Tierney gained some valuable experience on varsity, competing in eight sets for the Lakers last season.

The Lakers are scheduled to open up their season on the road against another rebuilding team: Bridgewater-Raynham. Last season, B-R went 0-19 and dropped 57 of the 61 sets they played. That game will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

The Lakers first home game of the season will come one week later on Wednesday, Sept. 11, against Pembroke at 5:15 p.m., a Patriot League team who went 12-8 last season.

Hughes commits to play Division 1 baseball for Fordham University

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Yet another member of the Silver Lake High baseball team will one day be an NCAA Division 1 college baseball player.

Halifax native Nolan Hughes still has another season as a member of the Lakers baseball program, but after that, he knows where he is going to play. Earlier this month, he committed to play college baseball at Fordham University in New York City’s Bronx borough. Hughes will be attending the school on a partial scholarship for baseball.

As a junior last season, Hughes was dominant on the mound for the Lakers. He went 7-1, posting a 1.02 ERA. He also tossed a one-hitter against Whitman-Hanson, helping the Lakers capture their Patriot League Keenan Division title.

Coming to the decision now ensures Hughes will not have to worry about it during the school year. For him, it was a long process. Initially, Hughes committed to Bryant last September. However, when Bryant’s coaching staff left for Rutgers University in New Jersey, Hughes decided to look elsewhere for a place to play.

The Lakers have had plenty of talented baseball players over the years, who ended up playing college baseball. Currently, Kingston native Anthony Videtto plays Division 1 college baseball at UMass Amherst, as does Halifax native Jason Johndrow, a member of the University of Hartford’s team.

Hughes is not the only active member of the Lakers baseball program committed to a Division 1 school either. His classmate Mike Quigley, another talented pitcher, is committed to UMass Lowell.

Fordham, where Hughes will presumably start his NCAA career in 2021, is coming off a strong season. They went 38-24 last season, including 20-4 during their home games.

Meanwhile, the Lakers baseball team went 15-6 last season, fell in the first round of the Division 1 South playoffs, but is expected to have a plethora of returning talent this season.

Experienced Lakers to watch for this fall

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Each and every season, high school sports rosters look different with teams losing some of their top talents to graduation. That said, here is an early look at a handful of the top returners to watch for at Silver Lake High this fall.

Field Hockey

Junior Abby Colton will be an asset to the Lakers as they continue to rebuild. She put up a team-high six goals in 18 games for the team last season.

Football

The Lakers will return many starters, including their quarterback: junior Ben Lofstrom.

Cross Country

The boys team will benefit from the return of a pair of Patriot League All-Stars: Chris Tilton and Ryan McCarthy. The now-seniors each had first place finishes for the Lakers last season.

Boys Golf

The Lakers will have an experience this season, highlighted by junior Tyler Brown. As a sophomore last fall, he established himself in the No. 1 spot, shooting, on average, a 39 over the course of the season.

Boys Soccer

The Lakers had six Patriot League All-Stars last season, but what matters now is the one they have coming back: senior midfielder James Gallagher.

Girls Soccer

Even though the Lakers lost some of their more experienced players to graduation, they do have a Patriot League All-Star coming back: senior Calliste Brookshire. Last season, she put up 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists). Holly Reeder-Morning, a senior who missed all of last season with an ACL tear, should also be a welcomed addition back; in 2017, she put up nine goals for the Lakers.

Girls Volleyball

The Lakers will be on the inexperienced side with the exception of senior Catherine Donovan. A four-year starter, she led the team with 80 kills on the season.

Halifax U10 All Stars are division champs!

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Although they trailed big late in the championship game, the Halifax 10U All-Stars rallied — and ended up taking home the crown.

The team hosted and defeated Norwell 9-7 on Sunday, Aug. 4 in the South River Baseball Minor Division Championship game, even though their chances of doing so were slim headed into the penultimate inning of action.

Down 7-2 to start the bottom of the fifth inning, Halifax rallied at the plate. They started things off by drawing a pair of walks and from there, their bats erupted. They knocked in seven runs on six hits and went up 9-7. The team then protected their lead on the mound in the top of the sixth inning to win the game.

“I have been coaching baseball for over 10 years now and have been with some great teams, but not like this one,” Halifax head coach Mike Nista said of this year’s team. “Every kid worked hard through the heat and played there best baseball today. I’m so proud and I’m going to miss it. I can’t wait until next year.”

The Halifax 10U All-Stars finish their season at 12-1. They went 9-1 in the regular season, earning the top seed headed into the playoffs. From there, they excelled. They got a first round bye and in the second round, they trounced East Bridgewater 12-0. In the third round of the tournament, they got revenge on Plymouth North, beating them 8-5. Previously, Plymouth North handed them their only loss of the season.

The championship team this season had a total of 13 players on it. They include: Marcus Wilson, Connor Martell, Jack Lynch, Max McEwan, Robert Crosby, John “JP” Palmer, Samuel “Bus” Laidlaw, Ryan Cyrus, Matthew Martell, Garrett Bodel, Tyler “T-Bone” Schmaling, Owen Graves and Brandon Nista.

In addition to Mike Nista, Scott Wilson and Steve Martell served as coaches for the team.

Kingston natives to help Harvard football this season

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A pair of Kingston natives are set to play roles on a local college football powerhouse this upcoming season.

The Harvard football team has not had a losing season since 1998 under the direction of Kingston native Tim Murphy as its head coach. For the third consecutive season, he is not the team’s only Kingston connection. Rather, junior defensive back Mike Silva hails from Kingston as well.

Murphy has been Harvard’s coach since 1994 and in that timeframe, his teams have won the Ivy League Championship nine times. His record at Harvard is an impressive 174-75 and overall as a Division I college football head coach, it stands at 206-120-1.

A 1978 Springfield College grad, Murphy got his start coaching at the collegiate level as a part time assistant at Brown in 1979. The next year, he hired on as an assistant offensive line coach.

The following year, he took the offensive line coach job at Lafayette before holding the same job at Boston University for three seasons. From 1985 to 1986, he served as the University of Maine’s offensive coordinator before taking their head coaching job in 1987. He held that post for two seasons before becoming the University of Cincinnati’s head coach from 1989 to 1993. He has been with Harvard ever since.

Meanwhile, Silva, a Milton Academy product who appeared in four games at Harvard last season and recorded a tackle, could see an expanded playing role this time around. After all, the team lost its two starting safeties to graduation following last season: Zach Miller and Cole Thompson. Plus, defensive backs Wesley Ogsbury and Tyler Gray, who each appeared in all 10 games last season, will be graduating. That said, Harvard will look a little different in the secondary and have spots up for grabs.

Harvard’s first regular season game this year will be Saturday, Sep. 21 on the road against the University of San Diego.

Lakers swim star earns national recognition 

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It is hard enough for a local athlete to earn the honor of being named a league All-Star or an All-Scholastic by a media organization. However, it is far more rare for one to be recognized at the national level — especially when they are not even a senior yet.

Even so, this was the case for Alexa Connors, a junior on the Lakers girls swim team this past winter. The standout swimmer was named to the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association’s All-American team.

Connors earned the cut in the 500 freestyle despite the list encompassing the entire country and being limited to just 100 spots. Overall, she was one of just two Massachusetts natives to earn the honor. Her 4:53.14 time in the 500 freestyle ranked 58th in the country and the highest of any New England high school girls swimming athlete since the other five states did not have anyone selected.

Last winter, Connors won the MIAA Division 1 state championship in both the 200 and 500 freestyle respectively (1:50.84 and 4:53.14). She also shined regionally, winning the 200 freestyle at the 2019 New England 15-18 Age Group Championship meet. That time, she finished it in 1:52.35.

As Swim Swam reported earlier this month, Connors will also continue her swim career after she graduates from Silver Lake next year. She is committed to the University of Richmond (NCAA Div. I) as of earlier this month. At the school, Connors has the potential to make a serious impact. Her personal-best time in the 500 freestyle would rank seventh all-time in the record books at Richmond.

While Connors has that to look forward to in the future, she also has a chance to shine for the Lakers once again next winter and defend both of her state titles.

Recent SL lacrosse grad earns regional honors

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A recent Silver Lake High graduate and standout player on the boys’ lacrosse team this past spring recently earned high praise within the region.

Sean Daly had a standout career for the Lakers as a four year varsity player, but it was his strong performance his senior year which landed him his most recent honor. The multi-time Patriot League All-Star was one of two players to earn Honorable Mention in Wicked Local’s MIAA South region Senior of the Year Award.

Ultimately, the award went to Will Kenney of Hingham and both Daly and Eddie Fettuccia of Norwell were the two runners up.

Over the course of his Lakers career, Daly helped establish the program as a perennial playoff contender. His freshman year, the team had a rough 1-17 where they only won the final game of the season against a winless Milton team. However, the program continued to improve and made it to the playoffs three straight seasons with him as a top scoring player in each of those years.

Daly earned the Lakers Team MVP award twice and finished his high school career with 249 career points: 146 goals and 103 assists. He also helped the team set a franchise win record this season (15). By the end of the season, the team was ranked 33rd in the state on MaxPreps. Daly was also a part of an attack which averaged 13.4 goals per game this past spring.

Although Daly might be best remembered for his lacrosse career at Silver Lake, he was also a productive soccer player for the Lakers.

Daly is committed to play lacrosse next season at Franklin Pierce, a Division II school in New Hampshire which competes in the Northeast 10 Conference. There were numerous teams interested in his services including the UMass Amherst, a Div. I program.