The week of Jan. 19 proved to be rather extraordinary for the Cougars. In two days, NDA claimed two championship titles, including our first ever Dual County League title.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, NDA headed to Reggie Lewis Center for matchups against Weston and Concord-Carlisle. Greeted by the electrified cheers from the Boston Public Schools meet, the Cougars prepared to improve their winning record and capture the season’s first title.

Ten personal records helped the Cougars defeat Weston, 67-28, and Concord-Carlisle, 70-24.

The field events helped boost NDA to victory. In the long jump, junior Julianne McGowan jumped a distance of 15 feet, 8.5 inches. In addition to being a personal best, the jump is also a league best for the season.

The throwers had a great day, sweeping both meets for NDA. Freshman Jamie Granskie and junior Elizabeth Do both improved their personal records, throwing 25-2 and 24-7 (almost three feet more than her previous best), respectively.

Freshman Lauren Varela continued her winning streak in the 55-meter dash, placing first in the Concord-Carlisle meet and second against Weston. Fellow sprinter Elizabeth McManus placed first in both meets in the 300 with a time of 43.09.

In the 600, junior Ari Kenyon and senior Elizabeth Arens ran well, placing first and second in both meets. Ari finished with a time of 1:45.87 and Elizabeth crossed the finish line in 1:48.14.

Senior Ellen Callahan placed first in both meets as well, finishing the 1,000 with a time of 3:14.16.

Freshman Kelsey Whitaker contributed two wins in the 2-mile run. Kelsey finished with a time of 12:54.91.

The 4x400 relay capped off the day for the Cougars, adding two more victories with a time of 4:18.90.

Freshly crowned champions, the Cougars went back to work on Thursday in hopes of winning their second straight Catholic Conference championship.

The 55 hurdles set the tone for the DCL champs. Four NDA runners scored points, with Julianne McGowan finishing just behind Jillian Hathaway of Mount Alvernia. McGowan’s time of 10.27 seconds was good for second place, four tenths of a second away from the first place time of 10.23 seconds.

In the 55, freshman Tori Kenyon took first place with a time of 8.01 seconds. Senior Elizabeth McManus placed third with a time of 8.07 seconds.

Next up for the Cougars was the mile, where senior Lindsey Bouzan finished fourth with a time of 6:15.08, followed by the 300, where senior Elizabeth Arens placed second with a time of 45.93 seconds and freshman Lauren Varela placed fourth with a time of 46.70 seconds.

In the 600, senior Ellen Callahan placed first, crossing the finish line in 1:42.63. Fellow distance runner Ari Kenyon also placed first, with a time of 3:19.19 in the 1,000.

Both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays had first-place finishes as well.

In the long jump, juniors Larkin Beecher and Julianne McGowan took first and second place. Larkin jumped 14-9.75 and Julianne jumped 14-7.25.

The strong NDA performances added up to 76 points for the Cougars, who defeated Ursuline (57 points), Mount Alvernia (24 points) and Fontbonne (11 points) to claim our second-straight CCL title.

After the string of victories in the middle of the week, NDA looked to carry over their success into the weekend.

In the Division 2 State Relays, the Cougars placed fifth overall out of 38 teams, finishing with 20 points.

The 4x800 relay team of Ari Kenyon, Ellen Callahan, Elizabeth Arens and Kelsey Whitaker placed second with a time of 9:52.49.

The 4x400 relay team of Ari, Ellen, Elizabeth and Elizabeth McManus placed third overall with a time 4:10.14.

Julianne McGowan, Ashley Mason and Larkin Beecher combined for a distance of 44-4 in the long jump relay, good for a third-place finish and six points for the Cougars.

Despite the less than cooperative weather, the Cougars pulled through with two titles to show for their consistent effort and determination.

The Cougars are officially halfway through the indoor track season, but aren’t slowing down yet. This past weekend, NDA competed at both the Dartmouth Relays and the MSTCA Winter Festival. The Cougars had great performances from many team members and had a total of 16 personal bests over the weekend.

Seventeen team members traveled to Dartmouth College on Jan. 9, to compete in the 40th Annual Dartmouth Relays. Overall, the Cougars performed very well, with standout performances from senior captains Elizabeth McManus and Ellen Callahan. Elizabeth placed fourth in the 400-meter run, with a time of 1:00.57. In the 1000, Ellen placed eighth, crossing the finish line in 3:09.35.

Freshmen Tori Kenyon, Junior Ariel Kenyon, Ellen and Elizabeth ran the 4x400 relay for the Cougars, coming in fifth with a time of 4:11.25.

The distance medley placed 12th with a time of 13:23.94. Ellen ran the 1200 leg, Tori ran the 400, Ari ran the 800, and junior Corrina Lucini ran the mile.

The sprint medley also ran well, placing 17th overall, with a time of 4:49.55. Freshmen Lauren Varela and Kaleigh Erikson ran the 200 legs, senior Elizabeth Arens ran the 400, and junior Haley Lipinski ran the 800.

Also competing in the Dartmouth Relays was coach Nicole O’Neil. After winning the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 5.5 inches, she went on to place fourth in the women’s college/open pentathlon.

Despite getting snowed in up in New Hampshire for an extra night, the Cougars had a great weekend at Dartmouth with fantastic performances from several team members.

The Cougars that competed at the Reggie Lewis Center on Jan. 10 shared in the success their team members had. Fourteen girls had personal bests at the MSTCA Winter Festival.

Freshman Sarah Brennan cut 16 seconds off her best mile time, finishing the race in 6:06.78. Fellow miler Rachel Pedro also had a personal record in the race, finishing in 6:14.86.

The hurdlers had another great meet, with three more personal records to go with the three from the Jan. 7 meet. Sophomore Kailia Delfalco had an awesome race, shaving another few tenths of a second off her personal record for a time of 11.01 seconds. Sophomore Moira Welch and junior Madison Baker had personal bests as well, with times of 11.43 and 12.88 seconds.

Senior Kristina Quirk, junior Nora Henry, sophomore Hannah Poliseno and freshman Chrissy Wojner all had personal bests in the 300. Fellow sprinters Meaghan Sullivan and Jenna Reece, both freshmen, ran well in 55, finishing the race with personal bests.

In shot put, freshman Jamie Granskie improved her personal best by nearly three feet with a throw of 25 feet, 2 inches.

The Cougars made the most of a calmer schedule this week, with only one meet. Eighteen girls had personal bests on Wednesday night at Milton High.

Next week, NDA has three big meets, starting Wednesday with a Dual County meet against Concord-Carlisle, followed by the Catholic Conference League Meet on Thursday. The Cougars finish the week with the Division 2 state relays on Sunday.

The young stars have certainly proven themselves at the past two meets. The future of NDA track seems safe in the hands of several talented freshmen and sophomores.

On Jan. 4, NDA competed at the MSTCA Freshman/Sophomore Invitational. Five Cougars had personal bests. Freshman Lauren Varela improved her 55-meter dash time, crossing the finish line in 7.97 seconds. In the 55 hurdles, sophomore Jessica Roach recorded a new PR, with a time of 11.33 seconds. Freshman Kaleigh Erickson ran the 300 in a time of 48.55 seconds. Sophomore Sophie Love finished the 600 with a time of 1:56.83. Freshman Madison Caron cleared the bar at 4 feet, 6 inches in the high jump, improving on her previous mark of 4 feet, 3.25 inches. Overall, the meet was very successful for the Cougars.

On Jan. 7, the Cougars faced their second Dual County League opponent, Arlington, and won, 64-31. Twelve personal records helped NDA win their second straight league meet.

Freshman Lauren Varela continued her success in the 55, shaving off another tenth of a second for a new personal best of 7.89 seconds. Fellow freshmen sprinters Tori Kenyon and Kaleigh Erickson improved their times in the 300 dash. Tori crossed the finish line in 44.89 seconds, while Kaleigh finished in 47.30 seconds.

Three hurdlers had personal bests. Sophomore Jessica Roach completed the 55 hurdles in 11.31 seconds, followed by sophomore Kailia Defalco in 11.36 seconds and sophomore Moira Welch in 11.44 seconds.

Four Cougars recorded personal bests in the field events. In the long jump, junior Larkin Beecher jumped 14-8.25, finishing in fourth place overall behind teammate Julianne McGowan, who placed third with a jump of 15-3.5.

In shot put, freshman Jamie Granskie and sophomore Rachel Laiosa both had personal bests, throwing 22-11 and 21-2 respectively.

The distance runners also continue to perform well. In the 1000, freshman Kelsey Whitaker finished with a time of 3:23.50, just ahead of teammate Corrina Lucini, who came in with a time of 3:23.94. Kelsey and Corrina both ran hard in order to take away an early lead from a Weston runner. Their competitive spirits drove Kelsey to second place overall, while Corrina placed third.

In the mile, senior Rachel Pedro finished with a time of 6:23.44, a new personal record. Also running the mile for NDA was senior Ellen Callahan, who placed seventh overall with a time of 5:57.71.

Once again, the juniors led in point scoring, finishing the day with 27.25 points. The freshmen continued to impress with 18.75 points scored by the youngest members of the team.

NDA athletes will be competing along with over 2,000 other athletes from around the state Saturday at the MSTCA Winter Festival. Also this weekend, NDA runners will be competing in the Dartmouth Relays on Jan. 9 -10.

The Cougars are hoping even as the weather gets colder their hot streak of great performances continues, particularly from the younger team members.

The NDA Cougars were hard at work over the school vacation, with four meets over the two-week break.

Originally, NDA’s second Dual County was scheduled for Dec. 20, but thanks to a snowstorm that left many schools closed on Friday, the Saturday meet was postponed.

Next up for the Cougars was the Boston Holiday Invitational, held at the Reggie Lewis Center on Dec. 27-28. Notable performances from Day 1 included senior co-captain Elizabeth McManus in the 400-meter dash, running a time of 59.84 seconds that was good for second place. Junior Corrina Lucini placed third in the mile with a time of 5:57.42, while sophomore Kelsey Steeves placed fifth in the same event with a time of 6:15.71. In the freshmen mile run, Kelsey Whitaker came in fifth, with a time of 5:49.53.

On Dec. 30, NDA competed in both the freshmen/sophomore team pentathlon and the MSTCA Open Invitational. The pentathlon team placed sixth overall, with Jessica Roach competing in the 55 hurdles, Jamie Granskie throwing shot put, Tori Kenyon jumping in the long jump, Madison Caron in the high jump, and Kelsey Whitaker running the 800.

In the open events, senior co-captain Ellen Callahan placed second overall in the 600 with a time of 1:41.04. Junior Ashley Mason came in fourth in the long jump, with a jump of 15 feet, 8.75 inches. The 4x200 relay ran a time of 1:54.44, good for sixth place.

NDA is looking to ring in the new year with strong performances from the younger team members in the MSTCA Freshmen/Sophomore Invitational on Jan. 4 and a win in a Dual County meet against Arlington on Jan. 7.

Hi all, sorry I haven't written since field hockey ended but I've been so busy with college applications and stuff. I'm back in the full swing of things to update you with the Westwood girls' indoor track team.

We are 2-0 with wins against Millis and Norton. In both meets, Westwood had people with personal bests. We are back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 30 against Holliston at Holliston High School to stay undefeated. We return most of last year's team and bring in some new additions who we will need to contribute, along with many good freshmen that will spark our wins.

Let's go, girls.

A phenomenal cross-country season that saw the Cougars capture their 20th straight Catholic Conference League Championship was the lead-in for the 2008-09 indoor track and field season.

The week after Thanksgiving arrived and with it a little bit of cold weather, some new faces and the beginning of a new start for the Cougars. Only 10 days of practice prepared NDA for its first meet, a Dec. 12 contest against Wayland at the Reggie Lewis Center.

The Cougars started off the season on the right foot, defeating Wayland 66.50-28.50. Helped by 12 personal bests, NDA formed a strong foundation to build off of in the weeks ahead. The win was a team effort, with 12 members scoring points for the victorious Cougars.

Members of the junior class scored the majority of the points. Julianne McGowan and Ashley Mason had standout performances, scoring 13 and 8 points respectively. Julianne placed first in the 55-meter hurdles, with a time of 10.21 seconds, and the long jump, with a jump of 15 feet, 3.5 inches. After clearing the bar at 5 feet, Ashley took first in the high jump and also finished second in the long jump with a distance of 13 feet, 7.25 inches.

The mid-distance and distance runners also turned in solid performances. Junior Ari Kenyon, senior captain Elizabeth Arens and Haley Lipinski, also a junior, took the top three places in the 600-meter run. Ellen Callahan, a senior captain, placed first overall in the 1000-meter run, with a time of 3:10.91. Junior Corrina Lucini placed first overall in the two-mile, with a time of 13:05.00. The 4x400-meter relay team, comprised of Ari Kenyon, Elizabeth Arens, Haley Lipinski and Ellen Callahan, combined for a time of 4:25.87, good for second overall.

In the 300-meter dash senior captain Elizabeth McManus and freshman Tori Kenyon placed first and fourth overall. Elizabeth completed the race with a time of 43.70 seconds, while Tori crossed the finish line in 45.49 seconds.

NDA also had strong performances in shot put, with two throwers beginning the season with personal bests.

On Dec. 17, the Cougars competed in a JV meet at Milton, which gave some of the new members of the team a chance to show off their ability. Everyone raced well and the team finished with several personal bests and a good starting point for many of its members.

NDA is off to a good start. The promise of new talent and powerful veteran performances bodes well for the Cougars, who this season hope to improve their record and run well at the Dual County League Meet.

Next up for the Cougars is a meet at Newton South against Weston High School on Dec. 20, followed by the Boston Holiday Invitational at the Reggie Lewis Center on Dec. 27-28.

The old adage “practice makes perfect” seems to be the slogan for this year’s XC team. Increased mileage and tough workouts at practice are making all the difference for the Cougars. On Tuesday, a win over Mount Alvernia gave us our sixth straight win in our last home meet of the season.

We started off the month of October at the Bay State Invitational at Franklin Park, this coming off a strong September. Our freshmen runners continued to race well. Kelsey Whitaker came in 12th place overall in the freshmen 3K race, with three other NDA runners -- Jessica Bouzan, Sarah Brennan and Meagan Casey -- placing in the top 50.

Next up for the Cougars was a home meet against Our Lady of Nazareth, the newest member of the Catholic Conference. Eight runners in the 5K race had personal records and NDA won the meet with a perfect score of 15.

At the South Coastal XC Challenge in New Bedford, Whitaker continued her streak of excellent performances, placing third place overall in the 5K freshman/sophomore race.

On Tuesday, the Cougars faced Mount Alvernia. The weather was perfect for racing and NDA’s runners were ready to take on Washington Town Forest for the last time this season.

In the 3K race, NDA runners Hailey Chalhoub, Meagan Clark and Nora Henry took the top three places, all finishing the race with personal-best times. One Mount Alvernia runner and six more Cougars rounded out the top 10 finishers. Ten NDA runners ran their personal bests in the 3K race.

The 5K race also proved to be successful for NDA. Corrina Lucini placed first, followed by Maggie Mackenzie of Mount Alvernia. Sophie Love, Adrienne Lohe and Kelsey Steeves took spots Nos. 3-5 for the Cougars. Adrienne and Kelsey both had personal records, Adrienne for the third meet in a row. Five more NDA runners placed in the top 10 and four more runners recorded their personal best times.

This weekend the Cougars will be competing in the Brown Invitational at Goddard Park in Rhode Island, followed by the Catholic Conference league meet at Cunningham Park in Milton on Oct. 21.

After an incredible start to the season, peaking at No. 10 in the Globe rankings, we have hit an October roadblock. We went 8-1 in September, with our only loss coming in our first game of the season. October, unfortunately, has been less than impressive.

On Oct. 4, we faced fourth-ranked BC High in the most highly anticipated game since last year's playoff loss. The game had all the makings of an upset victory, however, we could not seem to find the back of the net. Both teams came out hard, knowing that it would not only be a key win record-wise, but also for pride, as BC High has become a big rival over the years. The first half opportunities for both teams were few and far between, with BC High outshooting Hingham, 4-3, none however, testing Hingham keeper Ryan Driscoll. After the first half, we knew we could play with them and tried to up our intensity. With the game being played in the middle of the field, opportunities were slim yet again. About 15 minutes into the second half, a BC High player slipped a throughball past our defense and its striker netted the first and only goal of the game. The game remained extremely even after the goal, with our team having a couple more opportunities at the end. But it was to no avail. We lost, 1-0. Although we fell, we were all pretty content with how we played. We lost by one goal to the fourth best team in the state, playing about as even a soccer game that can be played, with each team having 6 shots on net, none really testing the opposing keeper (excluding the goal).

After the weekend loss to BC High, we got right back on track against Pembroke, beating the defending Patriot League champions, 2-0. Senior midfielder Jonathan Scott scored the games first goal just three minutes in, with a pass from Federico Kelly. Soon after, Brett Canepa found the back of the net for his 16th goal of the season, on Kelly's sixth assist of the year. Those two goals proved to be all we needed, as Ryan Driscoll recorded his sixth shutout of the season. Although the game got very chippy at times, we were able to maintain our cool and come away with the victory.

On Wednesday, we faced a surprising test at home against North Quincy. We played possession soccer and managed to pepper NQ goalie Ryan Louis, yet he managed to make outstanding save after outstanding save, holding us scoreless at half for only the third time all year. We did not let it get to us because we knew that eventually one of our many shots had to go in. And one did. In the 68th minute of the game, Kelly sent a strike to the top right corner of the goal, an impossible shot to save. That was enough for our defense, which held yet another team scoreless. Although the score looks close, the game was anything but. We outshot NQ, 27-1, with its only shot coming from outside of the 18-yard box, ultimately soaring high and wide of the goal. We only managed to score once, but we knew that we faced one of the best goalies in the state and did not let our frustration get to us.

Friday was a totally different story. We traveled to Duxbury hoping to pick up our tenth win of the year. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Duxbury just wanted it more. We led off the scoring when Joe Eisenbies volleyed a header from myself past the Duxbury keeper, about 25 minutes in. We played an OK half, yet we still recognized the fact that Duxbury was beating us to the ball a lot of the time. Things did not really change as the second half moved on. Duxbury lead a counterattack that resulted in a breakaway goal for a Dragons striker, tying the game at 1. They then took the lead soon after, when a Duxbury forward netted a strike from just inside the 18-yard box. After that goal, we knew we had to start playing Hingham soccer; keeping the ball on the ground and making quick passes. We scored about halfway through the second half when Kelly converted a perfect through ball from sensational junior midfielder Terence Morrisey. However, with about 10 minutes left in the game, Duxbury striker Daniel Sangster fired one from outside of the box that ended up rebounding off one of our defender's back and past Driscoll for the deciding goal.

It was a disappointing loss, especially for the seniors on the team. It is the last regular-season match that we will play against them, and we failed to give it our all. We hope to win out for the season, hopefully capturing the Patriot League title along the way. Thursday we have Whitman-Hanson and Friday we have perennial rival Hanover.

The Cougars finished off September on a high note with two strong performances in the last week of the month, one at the New Balance XC Invitational in Rhode Island and the other at a league meet at Cunningham Park in Milton against Fontbonne and Marshfield.

At the New Balance Invitational, the freshmen runners, racing on the 1.8-mile course, placed second overall. Three of the freshmen -- Kelsey Whitaker, Sarah Brennan and Jessica Bouzan -- placed in the top 25. The varsity and JV runners also competed well, placing 11th out of 36 teams, and eighth out of 20 teams, respectively.

The following Tuesday, NDA traveled to Milton to race against Fontbonne and Marshfield. In past years, Marshfield has typically come away victorious in meets against Notre Dame, but this year started out different. The Cougars outraced Marshfield in the first meeting between the two teams this season and were looking to continue their winning ways at Cunningham Park.

The 3K race took place first. Notre Dame runners continued to achieve their personal bests, with 11 runners recorded personal records for the race, some by almost two minutes.

The varsity runners then got their chance at the course. Corrina Lucini and Brittney Potter from Fontbonne stayed in the lead the whole race, with Britney eventually beating out Corrina by eight seconds. Sophie Love placed third, followed by two Marshfield runners and senior NDA captain Adrienne Lohe. Marshfield’s third finisher and three more NDA runners rounded out the top 10 overall finishers.

The varsity runners really held their own on the course, with Adrienne and freshman Sarah Brennan recording 5K personal bests. In addition, 12 runners recorded times that placed them on the all-time best list for NDA runners at Cunningham Park.

NDA added two wins to our record, beating Fontbonne, 20-43, and besting Marshfield, 23-36.

The Cougars are continuing to work hard every day at practice, in hopes of a strong showing at the Division 2 championship in November.

Up next for NDA is the Bay State Invitational at Franklin Park on Oct. 4. Our team is looking to start the month on the right foot, hoping our fantastic September performances will carry over into October.

After our biggest win of the season against Duxbury, we continued to play strong soccer, winning our last four games. We are now 7-1, already surpassing our win total from last year, and are ranked No. 10 in the state.

After the Duxbury game, it was important to not let the win get to our heads and to continue to play team soccer. We faced Quincy in our next game and won convincingly, 6-0. Quincy played hard and fought until the end, yet we played our game for all 80 minutes and it proved to be too much to handle. This game was important because we were able to rest the starters and gave some kids who normally get to play, quality minutes. Our defense played outstanding yet again, letting up only four shots.

We played Middleboro Wednesday at home. Our team played really well winning, 9-0. Our goal was to put it away right away and we did just that. We had many chances in the beginning, finally putting one away a few minutes in. We played well as a team and had another chance to rest our starters early, while also gaining our fifth straight shut out.

Our game against Hanover on Friday and our homecoming game against North Quincy on Saturday were both canceled due to the rain storm, disappointing everyone. Last year we weren’t able to have a homecoming game either, due to a scheduling conflict, so never playing in one was a little disappointing. However, we were still riding a five game shutout streak which kept our spirits up.

We played Rockland this past Monday, winning 5-1. Things started off quickly as we knew Rockland would be a tough opponent. Boston Globe player of the week Brett Canepa continued his scoring streak with his 11, 12, and 13th goals of the season. Federico Kelly also continued his outstanding play, netting goals 8 and 9 on the year. Joe Eisenbies anchored both the midfield and our team, assisting both Brett and Fede, while creating a number of other opportunities. The goal that we let up does not take away from our defense’s outstanding effort, holding Rockland to under 10 shots. Nick Perry continued to play like a league all-star, keeping the defense together as one unit. We gave up a goal with under 30 seconds left in the game when one of our defenders made a lazy pass back to our keeper which was read perfectly and stolen by a Rockland forward. It was disappointing to give up our first goal in six games; however, we played perhaps our best game of possession, keeping the ball on the opposite side of the field and on the ground.

Thursday we traveled to Randolph to face the Blue Devils, who beat us in a major upset last year, 2-1. This year, we scored in the first three minutes and did not let up. We scored seven goals in the first 17 minutes, stringing together perfect passes and going strong to the ball. Canepa scored his his 14 and 15th goals of the season, while Kelly also added goals 10 and 11. Joe Eisenbies, Terence Morrisey, and Jack Boland all added one apiece and we eventually won, 8-1, letting in another unfortunate goal with our subs in. However, not much complaining can be done after an 8-1 win.

We will face our second big test of the season when we face fourth-ranked BC High on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at home. We lost to them, 1-0, last year on their turf. Hopefully this year it will be a different story.

Since my last post, we have lost some of our games. Although we lost them, they were still very hard-fought battles. We lost an important player on our team due to a school change. Justina Germano transfered to Cushing Academy. This had been a hard change for us.

After coming off a 4-0 win over Medway with Justina, we couldn't piece together the parts that we needed to beat King Phillip. We had a penalty stroke which Kerri Harrington connected to put us ahead. But KP answered with three quick goals of its own. It was a hard-fought contest, but KP prevailed in the end.

Next game we played Tri-Valley league opponent Medfield. We also lost to them 3-0. We had the momentum to beat them throughout most of the first and second half, but just couldn't make it up into the circle to score. This game we played with a new formation and it really didn't work, so we changed back. We still all played hard and tried to do what we had to. We put forth our best effort.

Our most recent game was against league rival Dover-Sherborn. This game just happened on Oct. 1 and it was a weird match. We were in the game the whole time until there was 12 minutes left. Then the ref saw a strike of lightening. So we had to go inside and wait 20 minutes to see if we could play again. Even if we didn't, we could have called it at tie because we played the first half already so we had an official game played. The refs decided that the game would go on and we resumed play. D-S scored two goals in that 12 minutes that we were back on the field. We had the momentum to score. We had many chances with one goal getting called back because no one touched it inside the circle. You just don't know whats going to happen in 12 minutes.

So that's how our last couple of games went down. We are back again vs. Ashland in our second half of the season on Friday at 6:30 at Flahive Field in Westwood. We hope to win this game and get more points towards the postseason tournament.

Keep up the good work girls. We got this. Keep your heads up!

FIGHT, SCORE, WIN, WESTWOOD!

The thoughts of an undefeated season had been on all our minds going into the first game of the season. But then again, isn't that everyone's goal? Unfortunately, we lost our first game of the year, losing 3-2 at Silver Lake.

We came out flat at first, however, things started to get going as junior striker Brett Canepa put away a cross from left midfielder Daniel Stein. We kept the energy up, only to have a penalty called on us granting the Silver Lake team a penalty kick. We scored yet again off the foot of Canepa, but Silver Lake answered in the second half. With every call seemingly going against us, the refs gave Silver Lake a second penalty kick with 13 minutes left to play in the game. They converted, ultimately holding us off for the win.

Everyone on the team was disappointed, but we knew that we played well, especially for our first game (Silver Lake had already played three matches). We were all pretty agitated with the two penalty kicks, considering our coach had only one called against us in the previous eight years. However, both good and bad calls are part of the game, and that only added to our intensity for the upcoming match against Whitman-Hanson.

With the thoughts of an undefeated season out of our heads, we were able to fully concentrate on Whitman-Hanson. The Panthers, being new to the Patriot League, were foreign to us. We arrived at Whitman-Hanson with full intensity, and we did not let down. We came out firing, with Canepa scoring from a feed from Jonathan Scott within in the first 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, the goal was called back on a controversial offsides call. This call only added to our fire, as we scored soon after that. Joe Eisenbies put in a flawless ball from outside of the 18-yard box, with Federico Kelly netting his first goal of the season. Our defense played perfectly, letting up only one shot in the first half. Canepa then scored in the second half, putting the game out of reach. We were extremely excited with the way we played. In the second game of the season it seemed like we were playing as a team who was 10 games in.

On Thursday of this past week, we played Scituate, a team whom we tied and beat last year. This year was much different. It was our first home game and we came out really flat, but fortunately for us, Scituate did not capitalize. We got it together, scoring two goals in the middle of the first half. As the first half moved on, we were able to net two more goals, making it 4-0 at half. Scituate came out strong during the second half, stringing together passes and using their fast forwards to try to get some chances. However, our defense played yet another flawless game, holding the Scituate team to zero goals and almost an equal number of shots. Fede Kelly capped off the game with his second goal, scoring in the second half, finalizing the game at 5-0. With a game like this, we were ready for Duxbury.

Our two most-anticipated games of every year are against Duxbury, with every game containing a lot of animosity. This year we needed to prove ourselves, with Duxbury ranked 19th in the state and our squad being unranked in the Globe's preseason poll. Adding to that was the fact that Duxbury ended up beating us and tying us last year. We had been waiting for this game since the start of the season. With a few of our best players playing sick, things were not looking good before the game. However, we came out hard to start the game, winning every 50/50 ball and playing completely as a team.

Throughout the first half, we peppered the Duxbury goalie with chances from both inside and outside of the box. With solid play from our defense, we kept the Duxbury forwards at bay for the first half and throughout the entire game. But it was during the second half that we started taking advantage of Duxbury's tired legs. Our first goal came in the beginning of the second half off of a cross from Kelly to Canepa, who scored his fifth goal of the year. We scored again about halfway through the half when captain Joe Eisenbies scored off a free kick, striking a low shot into the bottom right corner.

Duxbury still did not let up, trying to put it over the top on our defense. However, Nick Cavalieri shut down their star striker, while Garrett Lincoln, John Ripple, and Nick Perry provided support and took care of the other equally talented forwards. Midfielder Jack Boland scored the finisher with five minutes to play, slipping a rebound past the goalie. We shut out yet another team, except this time it meant a little more. We beat our biggest rivals in Duxbury, with not just one player, but an entire team.

We are now 3-1, with four games to play this upcoming week. It will be pretty hectic playing four games but our outstanding conditioning and deep bench will be the deciding factor through this difficult stretch.

Starting off the field hockey season, Westwood didn't know what to expect from Tri-Valley League teams because last year we were so-so in our league. Although we have seen what the teams had to offer in the previous season, that didn't matter to us. We knew that this was our season to be known in the Tri-Valley League.

With only three starters returning on the team from last year we knew there were shoes to fill. In our front line, we only had one returner from last year's team and that was Betsy Groton. She will provide us with some spark in the offense, where she is joined by her teammates Kerri Harrington, Justina Germano, and Kathleen Lally. We have a talented team of subs on the bench also to fill the offense.

Now to the back field, we have two returners Lauren Hillberg and myself. Lauren provides us with a huge strong hit to the opposite end of the field. Although the rest of the backfield is inexperienced, they will play a huge roll in our success.

So our season started with playing a nonleague game vs Stoughton. We played a long, hard-fought battle against them and came out victorious. Our next game was against another nonleague team, Scituate, which we won, 4-1. It was a pretty good game on our part.

Finally, we got on to playing a Tri-Valley team. The team was Ashland, but last year they beat us in a game because we got two goals taken away from us. So this year is kinda revenge for that. We started off weak, then started to focus and ended up winning.

Now on to the Bellingham game where we lost, 2-1, but it was a very had long battle of two teams trying to dominate the field. Next, we had a night game in Holliston. We got on the board first and came out with the win even though it was a evenly matched game.

Our most recent game was against Medway, who we were dead even with until the first half was almost over, then we scored three consecutive goals to take the lead at halftime. We came out fired up in the second half and scored again with what became the game-winner.

So as of right now, the Westwood field hockey team is 5-1. This is a tremendous season so far and we are working very hard to make it to tournament. We practice very hard each day that we don't have a game and were trying to finesse our skills and just basically keep up the good work. Everyone on the team has good work ethic and loves to play the sport so we all mix well and create an amazing team.

Coming into the start of the season, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Sure, I’d seen the cross-country team running down Main St. on fall afternoons after school. Of course, I knew it was a lot of running. And we do run. A lot. But after a few weeks of practices, I have discovered that the sport of cross-country is much more than running.

The mental toughness that runners must possess is astonishing. Positive thinking can mean the difference between a faster time or a defeat. The strongest runners on NDA’s team always keep a optimistic attitude during their runs and are often rewarded for their hopeful way of thinking.

While cross-country is an individual sport, the role the team plays is huge. Encouragement from the team is a large part of success in the races. Knowing that all of your teammates and coaches are there to support you helps even the longer runs seem short. Through secret psyches and constant cheering, the team’s presence is made known each day at practice and especially on the days of meets. The supportive attitude of the team stems from the attitudes of our three coaches, who give every runner motivation every day at practice, regardless of skill level.

The Cougars are off to a great start this season. The first meet of the season was at Marshfield’s 2.8-mile course. Despite falling twice, Corrina Luccini, a junior cocaptain, placed second overall, followed by Sophie Love, a sophomore, in third place. Corrina and Sophie led their fellow top NDA runners who placed fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth and 10th.

NDA beat Marshfield 24-35 (in cross-country, the winner is determined by the lower score).

At the Martha’s Vineyard Invitational, NDA placed second behind Fitch (Conn.) High School. Seven NDA runners completed the 3.1-mile course in under 22 minutes, a great success for our team. On Tuesday, NDA raced against Ursuline Academy. The Cougars once again came away with the victory, beating Ursuline 27-28. Corrina and Sophie again took first and third, with Allison Wotton (6th place), Kelsey Steeves (8th place) and Adrienne Lohe (9th place) rounding out the top finishers for Notre Dame. In the JV race, every NDA runner recorded a personal best, some by two or three minutes. Molly Kincaid placed first overall in the JV race for the Cougars.
In the week ahead, our team looks forward to a JV meet on Friday at Newton Country Day and our first home meet of the season on Tuesday against Mount Saint Joseph.

As the 2008 season goes into full swing, we've invited a handful of local standouts to write about their seasons on our Player Diaries blog.

I'll allow our contributors to introduce themselves:

Abbie Brown, Westwood, Field hockey

So, two years ago, Westwood field hockey wasn't the best team in the state, nor are we now, but we are working our way to tournament again. Last season, we went to the tournament for the first time in nine years which was a big accomplishment for the us. This year we hope to do the same thing and get further than last year. As of right now, the Westwood Wolverines field hockey team is 2-0 from beating Stoughton and Scituate in two nonleague matchups. We still have a long way to go until we make the tourney, but our team is willing to do whatever it is to make it again.

I play field hockey and lacrosse, and run winter track. This past spring my team was the 2008 Division 1 girls' lacrosse state champions.

Mike Savery, Hingham, soccer

My name is Mike Savery and I play midfield for the Hingham boys' soccer team. We were 6-6-6 last year, making the playoffs for the ninth straight time under our coach Ken Carlin. However, our worst season under coach Carlin ended just as horribly, losing to Oliver Ames in the play-in round, 1-0. This year, however, will be much different. We are returning eight starters, and have 15 senior players, myself included. I will be looking to split some time this year on the right side, as we have yet to figure out the winning formation. Along with playing on the soccer team, I am a four year varsity skier, two of those years as captain.

Kara Dunford & Gabrielle Ferro, Notre Dame Academy, cross country

Kara: I'm at senior at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham. I'm running cross country in the fall for the first time. Besides cross country, I am one of the captains of the indoor and outdoor
track teams. I am also editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and I am interested in pursuing a career in Journalism in the future.

Gabrielle: I am a sophomore in my first year at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham. I have just started my fifth season of cross country. In my first year of high school I ran varsity cross country for Canterbury School in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. My family has since been relocated to
Massachusetts. I was fortunate enough to start my cross country career in grade school, and since then I have fallen in love with the sport and realize the importance and lifetime benefits of it. I enjoy writing and feel that this is a good opportunity to become more involved in my new
community.

Check back for much more from this trio as the season goes on. If you're interested in writing for us, drop us an email with your name, school, sport, and a quick note on why you'd like to contribute.

I just got back from Hudson High School, home of Massachusetts’ volleyball state championship games. Sadly, I was not there as an eager player, but rather as a lamenting observer.

Walpole High School was packed last Tuesday night. The orange and blue gym was washed away by a sea of green, the color of both opposing teams in a Division 3 state semifinal, Ursuline and North Reading.

The UA Bears got off to a pretty shaky start. We were playing well, but we were not controlling the court. We lost the first two games. It was really aggravating, but we were determined to do better. We came out strong in the third game and went on to win this game and the next. The final set started out neck and neck, but eventually the Horents took advantage of our mistakes and won the game, 15-10.

It was a really upsetting loss. We played hard, but things just did not go our way. Juniors Kelsi Clement and Grace Handy hit so aggressively; it was amazing to see their improvement since the beginning of the season. I should say the same about all the other players on my team, too. Everyone worked so hard and was so committed to the team this fall.

Although we did not head back to Lowder St. with state championship medals as we had hoped, it was still an amazing season. It was the best team that I have ever been a part of at Ursuline Academy. I feel blessed to be able to say this about my senior year season.

Ursuline girls make up a whopping quarter of the Divison 3 all-state team (me, Kelsi, and Grace). With these two junior superstars, many other returning players, and the continued commitment of our four unbelievable coaches, I know that only good things are to come in the future for the UA Bears. Although I am supposedly off to bigger and better things playing volleyball at the collegiate level, I truly hope that sooner than later the Bears will overcome that state semifinal slump and bring home the crown for me.

After our dominating Old Colony win, we, the UA Bears, swept Holbrook on Wednesday night in the South sectional semifinals. Although we had some serving trouble, we were able to pull it together and take it to them. Holbrook did not know how to handle our offense. I was really proud of the team. Everyone made great contributions whether it was perfectly passing a free ball to our setter or cheering loudly from the bench.

Our win against Holbrook advanced us to the South sectional finals, which was this past Saturday. We entered the Wareham Gymnasium extremely confident. Personally, the gym has a really homey feeling for me. I have greatest memories there with the win of three other South sectional championships, so it was great to be back!

After a shaky start, senior co-captain Meredith Dewey gave us a confidence boost while standing on the service line for 18 points. It was incredible! In that game, I never even rotated to the front row! Our hitting was outstanding. Kelsi Clement's hitting has all of a sudden clicked in the tournament. She was listed in one of the newspapers as "Kelsi 'The Elevator' Clement"; she seemed to jump over the net pounding balls at the Westport team. Sara Wojda set the ball perfectly to me and Grace Handy on the outside. Once again everyone was able to contribute to the match with all of our 14 players getting court time.

That win pushed us forward to the state semifinal match!!! Although the UA Bears have never been able to overcome this semifinal game, I truly hope this is the year. As a senior, it would be a dream come true. We play North Reading. We have practiced hard and know that the game will be much more competitive than our past few tournament matches.

Wish us luck and cheer us on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Walpole High School.

The Ursuline Bears were victorious Monday night over Old Colony.

As the higher ranked seed, we were given a “home-court advantage." Since our tiny gym is too small to host a tournament crowd, Old Colony and the Bears traveled to Xaverian High School in Westwood. Despite the court being unfamiliar to both teams, it felt like home; the gym was stuffed with noisy green and white fans. It was awesome!

We warmed up aggressively and stepped onto the court confident and ready to go. Within the first few plays, it was obvious Old Colony couldn’t handle us. We took them in three quick games. Everyone contributed and played really well. Varsity newcomer, freshman Jill Lawlor, took advantage of joining the varsity team for the tournament and pounded down many aces.

We travel to play second-seeded Holbrook Wednesday night in a Division 3 South semifinal. We had a great practice Tuesday and we are ready to perform. I should apologize to my teachers ahead of time... school will probably be the last thing on my mind today.

After a terrible game last week against King Philip, we knew that, with North coming into our home, we would need to give everything we had this week.

In the back of our seniors' minds, we remembered two years ago on our homecoming, when North Attleboro embarrassed us and ruined our perfect season with a 26-0 win.

We knew if we won this year's game with North, we could wrap up the league up next week against Sharon. This was the biggest game of the season and we knew if would be an all-out war. Realistically, whoever won this game was likely going to the playoffs.

The first play of the game was one I will always remember, the first time I touched the ball in my high school career. North's kicker eyed me out and kicked it to me on the game's first play, but what he didn't know is that I am actually a wide receiver in a lineman's body. I scooped the ball up and got about 8 yards.

On our first drive, we used our size to run it down the field and get on the board first with a touchdown by Mike Morrill, who was the biggest contributer to our rushing attack. North Attleboro was able to answer with a touchdown and that would be the final points of the first half.

Coming out of the locker room, we stressed that if we gave Mark Gilson enough time to throw, we would be in great shape in the second half. Unfortunately, North was able to put together a drive and we were behind, 14-7.

When the fourth quarter came around, we were still relaxed and knew we could win. We were able to even up the score as our bull, Mike Abany, plunged in the end zone from 1 yard. After a a great play on a fourth down by Abany, we had the ball back with about three minutes to win the game.

On a key third down, Dave Westhaver made the Play of the Year on a diving catch at the 1-yard line and, once again, Mike Abany was able to bulldoze in for the score. North had the ball back, however, and was moving pretty well until Sean Whiting made a play on a pass and intercepted the ball to seal the deal.

The North Attleboro game from a year ago was the best game I had ever played until this past weekend. This game was a total team effort and we never gave up. We are still undefeated in the league and will be playoff bound as long as we take care of business next week against Sharon.

After a dominating Senior Night victory last week, the Ursuline Bears ended the regular season with an overall record of 16-4.

With this mark, we received the third seed in the Division 3 South bracket. Monday night, we play sixth-seeded Old Colony in a quarterfinal matchup at Xaverian High School at 7 p.m.

Our main focus as a team is to play aggressive UA volleyball because from now on it is do or die. Let the games begin!