Framingham State gets kick out of her
When Ashley Baker, the goalkeeper on the Framingham State women's soccer team, stepped onto the college's football practice field for the first time, a few players thought she was a trainer.
"It was a little nerve-racking at first because I'm a female coming into a men's sport," said the fifth-year senior from Mansfield, who will kick extra points and field goals (and possibly kick off) this season.
"My dad is pretty excited about this because he has two daughters and now one of them is playing football."
Baker had impressed Tom Kelley, Framingham State's athletic director and head football coach, when she scored three goals on free kicks last fall -- all from at least 50 yards out.
"I've been a goalkeeper for 12 years, and being able to position myself to kick a ball has helped me transition to football," said Baker, who practiced her kicking over the summer with new teammate Matt McRae of Pembroke.
"I felt it was worth seeing Ashley kick a football, and she's done the job," said Kelley, who is trying to turn around a team that hasn't had a winning season since 1986. He is beginning his second year as head coach.
Last fall, Baker's final soccer game was a 3-2 home loss to Bridgewater State, when a win would have qualified Framingham for its conference tournament.
A Framingham player was credited with a goal that she and the team felt should not have counted because the ball went through the side of the net. But after it was ruled a goal, Baker was told by her coach to allow Bridgewater to score -- a gesture that earned Framingham State an NCAA Division 3 sportsmanship award.
"So now I feel very fortunate to have the knack to keep kicking - on the football field," said Baker. "It's pretty awesome."
Weymouth Club heads to nationals
The Weymouth Club is celebrating a first among its team tennis programs. The 18-and-under intermediate tennis team won the New England Sectional title on Aug. 22 and became the first team from the Weymouth Club to qualify for the National Junior Tennis Tournament, which will be in October.
The team won 140 games in the two-day sectional tournament in Hartford, beating out a team from Maine (126 wins) and three other New England programs.
Maddy Altholtz of Cohasset, Roberta Bergstein of Hingham, Kevin Hadar and Danny Hajjar of Quincy, Katherine Kelley of Norwell, Kellie MacFarlane of Kingston, and Seth Shavers of Hyde Park made up the Weymouth Club's team.
Altholtz also walked away with the New England Sportsmanship Award.
On Aug. 11, the group won the state title to qualify for sectionals. Megan Campos and Max Staffa of Milton also played on the state title team but could not participate at sectionals because of a conflict.
Lady Crusaders qualify for finals
The Under-16 Lady Crusaders of the Mass Premier Soccer League earned a berth in the United Soccer League's Super Y-League North American Finals, a five-day tournament to be held in Tampa in November.
The Lady Crusaders are 12-0 in the regular season and are the Northeast Super Y Division Champions. The division includes teams from New York, New England, and eastern Canada. The team was the first team from Mass Premier to be undefeated in the regional league, coach Darren Gallagher said.
The Lady Crusaders scored 38 goals, while allowing six this season.
The team includes players who have been playing together the past three years.
After the high school season ends, the players will resume playing together for the national tournament.
The team includes Ellen Callahan of Weymouth, Allie Coppenrath of Marshfield, Sarah Coggins of Cohasset, Erica Donnelly of Weymouth, Casey Edwards of Marshfield, Chrissy Fancy of Orleans, Julie Foster of Dennis-Yarmouth, Jenna Goodwin of Weymouth, Maggie MacDonald of Whitman-Hanson, Amanda Megnia of Marshfield, Maggie McGoldrick of Cohasset, Andrea Nogueira of New Bedford, Lyndsay Pallotta of Hanover, Megan Penn of Dennis-Yarmouth, Devin Petta of Whitman-Hanson, and Jackie Squatrito and Kristen Tholen of Pembroke.
At Stonehill, some reshuffling
The fall season will begin at Stonehill College with a few changes. Paula Sullivan, Stonehill's director of athletics, was selected as interim commissioner of the Northeast-10 Conference effective Aug. 1.
Former commissioner David Brunk left after nine years to become the commissioner of the Peach Belt Conference in Georgia.
Other changes at Stonehill include Jim Seavey, the associate director of athletics and director of athletic communications, leaving after nine years. He now will be the sports information director at Suffolk University.
Seavey, who lives in Bridgewater, initially resigned from Stonehill in June to take a position with an insurance company. Now he will also handle public relations for the 13 athletic programs at Suffolk.
Kevin Anderson replaced Seavey at Stonehill. He is a 2001 Framingham State College graduate.
Monique Walker of the Globe staff also contributed to this report. Marvin Pave is a Globe correspondent.
