Globe South Sports Notebook

Norwell soccer MVP a steady force at BU

By Marvin Pave

September 12, 2010

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Colin Henry has started every game he’s played for the men’s soccer team at Boston University — 42 and counting since he arrived from Norwell High.

The junior defender, an all-America East second team pick last year and a conference all-rookie selection in 2008, has helped BU shut out 18 opponents in his two-plus seasons, including blankings of Hartford and Columbia in the early going this year.

“He’s super athletic and very fast, and we thought he’d be a very good one-on-one defender,’’ said BU coach Neil Roberts, a Braintree native whose team was 2-0-1 going into last Friday’s game at Seton Hall.

“Colin’s very good in the air, and even as a freshman he was marking some of the best players in the country. He has the potential to play after college if he keeps developing at this pace.’’

A four-time South Shore League and two-time league MVP at Norwell High, Henry was an Globe All-Scholastic and all-state selection as a senior.

“I played midfield in high school and after I got to BU, coach Roberts switched me to defense. It’s not as much fun as attacking, but there’s a lot of pride and a good feeling when you hold the other team down,’’ said the 5-foot-8, 170-pound Henry, who played club soccer 10 years for the South Shore United Blazers and played five years with the Massachusetts Olympic Development team.

Henry was part of Norwell’s 400-meter relay team and also qualified for the state meet his senior year in the 55-, 300- and 600 meters. His brother Ryan was on the track team at Boston College and another brother, Shaun, ran cross-country at Bridgewater State College.

Two gain tennis, field hockey honors

Nichols College junior midfielder/goalkeeper Krista-Jean Forand of Plymouth and sophomore Jillian McQuiggan of Weymouth have won honors in the Commonwealth Coast Conference — Forand as Field Hockey Defensive Player of the Week and McQuiggan as the Women’s Tennis Player of the Week.

Forand made two saves in a season-opening shutout of Becker and scored her team’s final goal of the game after moving up to midfield with eight minutes to play.

A three-sport captain at Hebron Academy, she was honored as Nichols’ Sophomore Female Athlete of the Year for 2009-10 after backstopping the field hockey team to its first NCAA appearance while posting the conference’s lowest goals against average (1.04) and seventh-best in the nation. She also set the women’s lacrosse single-season records for goals (53), assists (12), and points (65), and also played 20 games with the women’s ice hockey team.

McQuiggan starred in her season’s first two matches, winning twice at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles in wins over Rhode Island College and Curry College. A former Catholic Conference All-Star at Notre Dame Academy of Hingham, she was conference Rookie of the Year.

N. Easton runner a hit in Chicago

North Easton’s Liz Lawton, a senior at The University of Chicago who won the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Division 3 Outdoor Track & Field Championships last spring, is off to an impressive start for the UC women’s cross-country team. The Thayer Academy graduate topped a 156-runner field at the Elmhurst (Ill.) College Earlybird Invitational last weekend with a time of 14:24 over four kilometers to help Chicago take first place at the event. She was named cross-country Athlete of the Week by the University Athletic Association.

Coyle-Cassidy grad showing promise

Caitlin Fahey of Bridgewater, a sophomore on the Bentley University women’s cross-country team, is regarded by head coach Ed Lyons as “a solid track athlete who will run in our lead pack this season. She competes real hard, has a great finishing kick and had some nice freshman races.’’

The Coyle-Cassidy graduate earned second-team All-Northeast-10 honors in indoor track with a second-place finish in the 1,000 meters, and had a second-place finish in the 4x400 outdoor track relay.

Here and there

Members of the New England Sectional Championship team who will play in the United States Tennis Association League 4.0 Championships at the Reffkin Tennis Center in Tucson on Oct. 22-24 include Lynne Smith, Terri McAuliffe, and Brenda Farley of Walpole and Judith Pevear of Milton. The women will compete against 16 other recreational league teams from across the nation. . .Junior Nick Clarke of Plymouth (Cape Cod Academy) fired a one-under-par 71 in his collegiate debut to pace the Bentley University golf team to a second-place finish in the season-opening Assumption College Golf Invitational last Tuesday at the Blackstone National Golf Club in Sutton. Bentley senior Terrence Tedeschi (Duxbury High) carded a 79. . .University of Massachusetts Dartmouth sophomore Mike Phelan (Carver High), was named Little East Conference Goalkeeper of the Week after making six saves in a season-opening soccer victory against Salve Regina . . . A pair of Mansfield High grads, senior Michaela Ross and sophomore Chelsea Ballard, are returning all-conference players for the Wheelock College field hockey team, which lost in overtime at the New England Collegiate Conference championship game last fall. The Wildcats return all 11 starters under third-year coach Kyoungho Koh.

Ursuline Academy girls’ basketball coach John DePasquale is hosting the Bear Essentials Basketball Clinic on the school’s Dedham campus Saturdays this fall. The clinic is open to girls in grades 9 through 12, from any town or school, 3-5 p.m., tapping off on Sept. 25. Clinic fee is $90 and enrollment is limited. Contact DePasquale at johnd@sokolovelaw.com or at 617-244-4901.

Marvin Pave can be reached at marvin.pave@rcn.com.