Sports 12 - September 2, 2011


Pelham~Windham Sports Golf, Boy’s X-Country Looking to Lead PHS Fall Sports


by Marc Ayotte Pelham High School athletics began the 2011-2012 campaign during the last week of August, highlighted by the boys’ varsity soccer team’s home opener against Sanborn Regional. Most of the combined thirteen JV and varsity teams competing this fall for Pelham are not scheduled to begin their respective seasons until the first full week of September. A.D. Todd Kress was pleased to announce that there was enough participation by Python athletes to field teams in every JV and varsity sport offered at the high school. After very successful seasons by last year’s boys’ basketball and lacrosse teams, which found them appearing in their respective sport’s state semi-finals, Python teams and coaches are hoping to continue the trend this fall. After finishing with a 17-4 record last season and seventh overall in the state, golf coach Joe Vaiknoras has his sights exclusively on a state title for this fall. The third year Python coach speaks highly of the athleticism and competitiveness of his players, also adding that “the boys seem to have a better attitude (this season), I’m excited about that”. With a solid core of returning golfers in Jake Vaiknoras, Alex Newton, Nick Neary, Doug


‘Milk’ Carton and Alec Surprenant, the Pythons have a tremendous opportunity to bring home the heavy hardware in October. Pelham Athletic Director Todd Kress shares in the optimism; “our golf team will be fantastic. I expect them to be in the top three or four.” Sophomore co-captain Jake Vaiknoras shared his views; “last year we had our best season ever and lost one player (to graduation). Even though that one player was our captain, we look to be better. Our team goal is to win the state championship. We have the capability; everyone on the team has the potential to shoot a great score.” With the addition of Lowell Catholic transfer Brad Parmeleau to the already lethal Python lineup, Co-captain Alex Newton assessed the team make up and chemistry: “I’m excited about the new additions of upper and lower classmen who should contribute from day one. This will complement the returning core nicely, giving us depth that will make us tough to beat. We’re looking forward to a promising season.” A.D. Kress will again where two hats this fall with the other one being that of the boys’ cross-country team. Kress, who is in his second year as


PHS athletic director and fourth year as head coach of the cross -country runners, expects his to team to show continued improvement. According to Kress, three years ago his team finished 23rd out of a 23 team division. Obviously, there was nowhere to go but up in the standings, but it’s the quickness in which his runners have slithered up the ranks. Last year, the Pythons finished an impressive 10th in the overall standings. This year, the Pelham coach acknowledges he has “five very, very solid runners” to compete in the 5K races. With those five runners expected to produce sub 18:00 times over the 3.1 mile tracks, Kress notes that in particular, senior Steven Hammer and junior Jake Wormald have great potential to consistently post better than 17 minute times. Junior Brandon Hannon has impressed Kress with his improvement and is expected to play an important role in the success of this year’s team performance. With ambitious goals, Kress hopes his team’s next big stride forward will come in joining traditional top cross country teams like Coe Brown, Oyster River, Souhegan and Hanover with a top five finish of his own in the division.


On the gridiron, head football


coach Tom Babaian, is still feeling the lingering effects of a divisional move up that occurred prior to last season. After a very successful stint from 2004 through the 2008 season where Pelham won two Division V state championships, Babaian has been handed the unenviable task of now playing Division 3 football. Having to face the likes of perennial powerhouses Souhegan and Portsmouth, who are blessed with larger student/athlete enrollments, eventually takes its toll on a short-manned Python squad. As Babaian discussed, it’s simply a case of numbers. Participation in the football program has dwindled over the past few years. As a result, coaching philosophy, practice sessions as well as game-time execution become severely impacted. As Kress noted, each sport seems to have its time experiencing a decrease in player numbers. “It goes in cycles” added Kress, “this time it’s football.” Despite the adversity facing him in the depth chart, coach Babaian continues to strive for position specialization on both sides of the line of scrimmage. He cites his defensive line along with a strong running back group as being key ingredients to the team’s success this season. Defensive line coach Chris Thomas likes where


Lady Jags Jolt Pythons in Field Hockey Opener


by Marc Ayotte The Windham Jaguars with a tenacious and suffocating offensive


attack blanked Pelham, 6-0 in girls Division II opening day field hockey action in Pelham on Tuesday, August 30. The Jags with a game long assault on beleaguered Python goalie, Ashlyn Farwell, fired 24 shots on net as a young Pelham defense could not keep the aggressive Windham offense at bay. Senior forward Ashley Adamson led the visitor’s offense with two goals, scoring what proved to be the game winner at 11:03 of the first half. The well-balanced Jag attack featured single goals by one player from each class; Courtney Sweeney, freshman; Nicole Croteau, sophomore; Colleen Cooney, junior; and senior Laura Viel. Just two minutes after her first tally of the afternoon, Adamson scored her second goal, causing Pelham head coach Pattie Stilphen. Up to that point the Python offense appeared lethargic and laid back, but as the game proceeded it was simply a case of a more assertive and experienced Windham offense that dictated the flow of the action. In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Windham goals by Croteau and Sweeney propelled the Jags to a 4-0 lead, heading into half time. Pelham was able to hold off Windham until the 9:43 mark of the second half when the Jags upped their lead to five goals when


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by Chris White Both of Windham High’s varsity soccer teams kicked off the 2011 season against Manchester West last Friday. The boys beat the Blue Knights 4-1 at home, while the girls constructed a 4-2 victory on the road. Alex Whitehead scored the first goal of Windham’s season off an assist from Casey Coupe about 25 minutes into the game and the Jaguars took a 1-0 lead into the half. Windham netted three more scores in the second half thanks to Coupe, Chris Ulbrich, and Steve Dastous. Andrew Pesci also made five saves in goal while Matt Carbonello was strong defensively. “We’re very pleased with the win,” Windham head coach Mike Hachey said. “There were some positives to take away and some things that we still have to work on, but it was just nice to see the team out there again.” In Manchester, Bernadette Connors scored the game’s first goal off an assist from Sarah Chau 29 minutes in. Three minutes later, Nicole Garfield followed up with a goal off an assist by Lindsay Selden to give Windham a 2-0 advantage going into halftime. In the second half,


Windham received goals from Chau and Haley Psareas, who were assisted by Kelsey Schiebel. Goalkeeper Brianna Angelini also made three saves for the Jaguars.


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his line is at this point in the pre- season, making specific mention that defensive end Chad Loring “could have a coming out party” this season - stepping up to the plate in a leadership role. The boys’ soccer team looks to be competitive again this season with the return of senior captains Derek Defranzo and Brian Finney, along with junior Raphael DeCampos. After an appearance in the state quarter finals last season, the 2010 soccer team incurred key personnel losses. Mike Chew, in his first year as head soccer coach for Pelham, says the Pythons, resultant of graduation, are in a rebuilding year on defense. Accordingly, three year varsity goalie Brian Finney and fellow goalie Dan Goes will be splitting their time between the posts, creating an opportunity for each of them to help sure up the depleted blue and white defense. In choosing Finney, Defranzo and Pete Figueiredo (who missed much of last season due to injury) as team captains, Coach Chew feels his team has solid leadership. “Each one is bringing something different to the field” noted the former Python JV soccer coach who added “we have a captain in each section of the field.”


Python goalie Ashlyn Farwell makes one of her 20 saves; this one on a point blank shot by Windham’s #2 S. Vivinetto


Colleen Cooney slid one by the Pelham goalkeeper. A little over five minutes later, Laura Viel completed the Windham scoring barrage, leading to the 6-0 final. In a statistical anomaly, WHS goalie M. Kelly was credited with the shutout despite not having to face a single shot on goal from the anemic Pelham offense. In a post-game interview, third year Jaguar head coach Loren


Dow attributed her team’s dominance of the action to an intensity of going for the ball and wanting to have possession all the time. She also attributed “focusing on having support for the ball and being aware of passing options” as important ingredients for picking up the ‘W’. Dow said she was “pleased with how the girls played” but also added, “There’s always things to improve on.” Dow’s coaching counterpart, head Python Pattie Stilphen admitted she has


In addition to an impressive offensive showing, Jaguar Ashley Adamson shows her defensive skills as she forces Pelham’s D. Gddreau to lose possession out of bounds


a very young and short-manned squad with only two seniors and eight freshmen. In her second year with Pelham, Stilphen expressed that “we’re building our program from the ground up” – effectively utilizing the JV program as an ‘internal farm system’. Although many players are gaining experience with plenty of playing time due to the small numbers on the depth chart, Stiphen points out that the large number of minutes “runs them ragged”. Looking to improve on their individual skills and fundamentals as the season progresses, the Pelham coach says “growing mentally as players is what we have to work on.”


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Photos by Marc Ayotte


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