2014 Varsity Fall Team Reviews
By Walter Sharon
2014 Season Review Varsity Cross Country
Across the board it was an exciting year for both Girls and Boys Cross-Country teams.
Led by four seniors Lexi Madrid, Margot O’Brien, Johanna (Jo-Jo) Nathan, and Olivia Chen, the Girls team showed consistency and promise throughout the year.
“We made it known that it is not necessarily the size of the team but the quality of the runners that matters for competing in a race,” said 1st year coach Christopher Simpson.
A few highlights for the girls squad were a win over Bancroft for LCA’s Homecoming as well as an important Senior Day victory in front of supporting families and peers.
Their 11th place finish at the NEPSTA Championships is clearly something to build off of for next season.
The Boys team had a promising year as well, raising awareness throughout the league with a string of consecutive wins in the middle of the season.
“Our strong finish at Homecoming carried momentum right into the EIL Championships where we placed 6th overall,” said Coach Simpson.
Co-captain Connor Meaney (‘16) and Stephan Wallace (‘18) were selected to the EIL all-league team.
The future is bright for LCA Cross-Country, and future years will be highlighted by returning runners including young talent in Stephan Wallace (‘18) and 8th grader Alex Cravens (‘19), who broke the LCA course record this year running for Middle School.
2014 Season Review Varsity Golf
This year, the Varsity Golf team experienced a plethora of emotions throughout the course of the season, making for an exciting and meaningful year on the course.
Led by seniors Peter Cusanello and Tom Segreve, the squad grew in skill and mindset as the season played out.
Coach Mark Getchell helped the team learned how to improve and grow each player's personal skill set as well as team spirit and camaraderie.
This season ended with a 1-8 record, as success , failure and an improvement of skills were visible themes throughout the year.
“We learned team unity by what worked and what didn’t,” said coach Getchell, “and we are much stronger for the experience. The theme was improvement and we crushed it!”
Senior captain Peter Cusanello received all-league recognition.
Going forward, this season can be viewed as a valuable experience for everyone involved, and there will be many returning golfers in coming years.
2014 Season Review varsity Field Hockey
This year for the Varsity Field Hockey team opened with excitement and promise, despite a significant number of inexperienced players. However the young team rallied around the leadership of seniors Heather Baba, Helen Kwon and Alex Johnson, for whom it was her first season playing for LCA.
As the season progressed, coaches Deborah Cioffi and Irene Campbell pushed the team to grow in skill and unity, leading the way to a strong finish in early November.
The team’s true development was revealed in the last few games of the season, including an exciting overtime win against a formidable Pingree squad as well as a hard fought draw against Winsor.
The talent of the team leaders did not go unrecognized, and Helen Kwon (‘15) received EIL all- league recognition while goalie Hether Baba (‘15) was an honorable mention.
“Our team started off the season pretty inexperienced,with many first time players,” said coach Cioffi, “but we finished strong with memorable wins to close the season.”
Despite losing significant presence on the field with the departure of the seniors, the promising skill of returning underclassmen is something to look forward to next season!
2014 Season Review Varsity Boys Soccer
This past season was an exciting year for Boys Varsity Soccer, headed for the first time by long time assistant coach Dave Reid. The team learned unity and worked hard to improve each other every day in practice.
Led by senior captains Matt Figucia, Thomas Munch and Dara Falaye, there were many ups and downs over the course of a challenging season.
“We talked about a standard of play for ourselves every day,” said coach Reid, “and our goal was to match that standard no matter the opponent or the situation.”
The year started off relatively slow with mediocre start. At the heart of the season the team lost a few close games to the teams of Concord Academy and Portsmouth Abbey, but LCA began to show a an increasingly clear strength in the NEPSAC standings.
In addition to the other struggles, a series of injuries and a shallow bench hampered the overall growth of the team as the year went on.
A few notable games were a come-from-behind win at Bancroft’s Homecoming as well as two crucial victories against league rival Berwick.
The team qualified for the NEPSAC class D bracket, but fell to a talented Christian Heritage School in the first round by a narrow 2-1 differential.
Dara Falaye (‘15) and Matt Figucia (‘15) received All-League honors, and Thomas Munch (‘15) and Walter Sharon (‘17) receiving honorable mentions. Dara Falaye was also named to the 2014 Senior All-League team this year.
The next few years look bright for the program as young talent is visible on the squad including 8th grader Ben Mollenhauer who started on the Varsity team this year at left back.
2014 Season Review Varsity Girls Soccer
This year was yet another fantastic season for the Girls Varsity team at LCA. Expectations were high following last year's heartbreaking overtime loss to Brewster Academy in the NEPSAC Tournament, but this years squad quickly surpassed them.
Led by captains Caroline Nyland ('15), Kesha Porter ('15), and Amanda Namchuk ('15), the team quickly became a focused unit with one goal – success.
The season started quickly with wins all across the board, promising an even more promising season than last year.
LCA faced league rival Pingree towards the middle of the season, going in at 6-0. A long and physical battle ensued with Pingree coming out on top, 4-1.
The loss deepened the drive for the team however, as they handily took care of the rest of their games in dominating fashion.
The team rolled through the first round of NEPSACs, handily defeating an impressive St. Lukes squad.
The semifinal round scheduled a matchup with league foe Pingree yet again.
"After talking to the Pingree coach after the game," said coach Ryan Patrie, "we agreed that that game was ultimately the NEPSAC final game."
A physical and grueling battle was drawn out on a cold day at Pingree, with both teams trading blows and breakaways. Goalkeeper Caroline Niland ('15) and winger Shae Roys ('16) impressed with their play, but the final whistle capped a narrow 1-0 loss.
The team was clearly unified, talented, and they showed a lot of heart even in their losses. The future is bright for the Girls program.
Caroline Niland (’15), Kesha Porter (’15), Shae Roys (’16), Courtney Teehan (’16) received All-League honors and Amanda Namchuk (’15), Katie Braga (’16), Meaghan Hayes (’16) received honorable mentions.
This past season showed the strength, unity and talent of the team through adversity, and the hard work and leadership of all six seniors made for a truly memorable season.