Thursday, March 8, 2007 Older Editions

AHS ROUNDUP: Icemen now lone tourney survivors

By Rick Harrison

The Andover High boys varsity hockey team, seeded No. 3 in a 17-school MIAA Division 2 North Tournament field, lived up to its billing with a pair of early-round victories over familiar foes Haverhill and Tewksbury.

And so continued one of the finest seasons in the history of the program - with boys hockey the only AHS team still playing as the Townsman went to press.

The school's perennial tourney giant, girls basketball, had another outstanding season halted a bit too early as thorn-in-the-side Lowell registered a 46-38 North semifinal victory Monday night at North Andover High. [See story below.]

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The AHS girls indoor track team also made more news in its season finale at the New England Championships, while the girls alpine skiers competed at the All-State Championship Meet as the 2006-07 winter season continued to wind down.

BOYS HOCKEY

The Golden Warrior icemen, 17-5-1 overall and 10-1 in their last 11 games heading into last night's (Wednesday) semifinal round matchup after deadline, allowed only two goals in the first two games while toppling Merrimack Valley/Dual County League Division 2 rivals Haverhill, 6-1, in the first round and Tewksbury, 4-1, in the quarterfinals.

That propelled head coach Mario Martiniello's crew into a North semifinal battle with Cape Ann League power Masconomet Regional of Topsfield last night at the Chelmsford Forum.

Masco, the highest surviving seed at No. 2, entered with a 16-3-3 mark including tourney wins over Bishop Fenwick of Peabody (4-0) and North Reading (5-2).

The Andover/Masconomet winner advances to the D-2 North championship game this Sunday night at the Chelmsford Forum (6:30 p.m.), facing the winner of last night's other semifinal between No. 4 seed Gloucester (14-3-5) and surprising No. 16 Lynnfield (13-10-2).

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Andover finished 9-1 in league play as MV/DCL Division 2 champion.

The 15 wins are the most during the regular season in at least three decades. Last year the Golden Warrior skaters won 13 regular-season games for the fifth time since 1989 - and 14 counting the tournament.

Andover has now won or shared four league titles in boys hockey, and third-year coach Martiniello has stretched his personal won-lost-tied record to 38-20-7.

Zeroing in

o The six shutouts this season - including three in a row from Feb. 3-10 - are believed to be team records.

o No. 1 goaltender Dan Abreu posted four straight shutouts at one stretch, which is also believed to be an individual AHS mark. Since transferring back to AHS from Malden Catholic last year, Abreu has posted 10 solo and one shared shutout.

o Through the first 23 games the locals had outscored the opposition by a healthy 80-34 margin for a stingy 1.48 goals-against average.

o AHS has yielded only 13 goals in its last 14 games (0.93 ave.).

o Andover, which has not been shut out this winter, is 5-3 in eight games decided by one goal.

Scoring leaders

Tucker Mullin led the way after 23 games (not counting Madco) with single-season records for goals (31), assists (28) and total points (59).

John Hyslip had 14-24-38, Colin Brennan 15-20-35, and rounding out the leaders are Dan Godefroi 1-16-17, Riki Retelle 1-14-15 and P.J. Paonessa 6-7-13.

The 132 points for the first line makes it one of the state's highest scoring trios regardless of division.

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In four years, although being used sparingly on the varsity as a freshman, Mullin has now scored 51 goals and passed out 57 assists for 108 career points.

He is the first AHS boys hockey player to score at least 20 goals and 50 points in a season since 1994-95 when Chris Cullen established school records for goals and total points with 29-22-51.

Cullen, who held virtually every AHS scoring record for boys hockey until this season, also had 19 goals, 24 assists for 43 points in 1995-96, 27-13-40 in 1993-94 and 22-14-36 in 1992-93.

Cullen's still holds all the career scoring marks with an impressive 97 goals, 73 assists for 170 points.

Division 2 North Tournament

First Round

Andover 6

Haverhill 1

Tucker Mullin snapped the AHS boys hockey records for goals, assists and total points in a single season, achieving all three marks in this game with his record fifth hat trick of the campaign and one assist.

"That whole first line (Mullin, Colin Brennan, John Hyslip) continues to play great," said coach Martiniello. "Colin has really stepped it up in the second half. No one expected he would put up the kind of numbers he has."

These two teams played twice during the regular season, Haverhill winning the opener 5-4 on Jan. 6 at Haverhill before the Golden Warriors earned a 3-0 triumph in the rematch Feb. 7 at the Valley Forum.

In this rubber game between the Merrimack Valley/Dual County League Division 2 rivals, No. 14 seed Haverhill (10-9-2 final record) jumped ahead just 32 seconds after the opening faceoff on a goal by Brian Ward.

It remained 1-0 until late in the second period - even though the locals outshot Haverhill 18-4 in the first period and 13-8 in the middle stanza.

"We definitely controlled the game and dominated throughout," said Martiniello. "But their goalie (Florida transfer Josh Blum) stood on his head - and although we had a lot of (scoring) chances there weren't many 'Grade-A' opportunities.

"After the first period it seemed like our guys didn't have a good feel for how much we outplayed Haverhill."

However, the mood changed abruptly during the 12th minute of the second period, when first-liners Brennan and Mullin scored just 16 seconds apart - at 11:09 and 11:25 - to suddenly give AHS a 2-1 lead.

Hyslip assisted on both goals, while Mullin helped set up Brennan and Brennan returned the favor.

"Both were hard-working goals - the result of banging away at rebounds down low in front of the net," said Martiniello.

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The Golden Warriors carried the momentum into the final period, breaking it open with four goals including three in the final three minutes.

Mullin made it 3-1 at 5:05 after taking a behind-the-net feed from sophomore forward Cam Smith.

"I don't think anyone except Tucker and Cam - and that includes their goalie - saw the pass," said Martiniello. "He (Mullin) was all alone in front with the puck and roofed it."

AHS junior forward C.J. Shea notched his first goal of the season with 2:48 to play (12:12), assists to senior forward John Cahill and junior defenseman Kevin Drew.

Mullin completed his 'trick with a power play goal 89 seconds later (13:41), Hyslip and Brennan again assisting with a nice down-low set-up to Mullin cutting for the net.

Shea added his second goal of the night (and season) with 47 seconds to go (14:13), assists to sophomore forward Joe LaMagna and defenseman Joe Kuta.

"C.J. has played third line this season," said Martiniello. "He's gotten the ice time - but until tonight the puck just hadn't gone in for him."

Senior goalie Dan Abreu played another fine game, finishing with 20 saves as the locals outshot Haverhill, 45-21.

This win snapped a string of three straight victories by identical 4-1 scores.

Quarterfinal

Andover 4

Tewksbury 1

You hear coaches say it all the time.

"It's never easy to beat a good team three times," noted coach Martiniello before this game. "We'll see what happens."

What happened was victory No. 3 for the Golden Warriors over Tewksbury, including 3-0 on Jan. 20 and 4-1 in the regular season finale on Feb. 21.

This one was much harder than it appears - with the locals carrying a tenuous 2-1 lead into the final 52 seconds of play before John Hyslip provided breathing room with a pair of empty-net insurance goals.

AHS netminder and unsung hero Dan Abreu continued his consistently outstanding play, halting 26 of 27 TMHS shots while holding an opponent to one goal for the third straight game, fifth time in the last six and ninth time this season.

Colin Brennan, often the glue that holds the prolific first-line together, gave the Golden Warriors a 1-0 lead when he scored with less than one second left in the opening period.

A stanza dominated by the Golden Warriors - especially the final six minutes - as they outshot Tewksbury, 13-5.

Tucker Mullin, who figured in all the scoring with his 31st goal and three assists, made it 2-zip on the power play at 1:45 of the second period when he whistled a wrist shot into the lower right corner.

Tewksbury's top gun, John Cahalane, cost Abreu his seventh shutout of the season by stuffing the puck in from the doorstep at 11:45 of the middle session.

The Redmen carried the play in the second period, outshooting the locals 14-5, and seemed to have momentum entering the third.

But AHS managed to buckle down in the final session, clinging to the lead until TMHS pulled goaltender Bill Stuart with 1:29 left and Hyslip responded by pocketing his empty-netters with 52 and six seconds left in the game.

No. 11 seed Tewksbury, which finished 12-7-3 overall, ousted No. 6 seed North Andover, 5-1, in its tourney opener.

INDOOR TRACK

The Andover High girls indoor track and field team wrapped up a superb 2006-07 season with solid performances in the 20th annual New England Championship Meet and the State Pentathlon, both of which were contested at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Roxbury.

There are no team scores kept at the New England Meet.

New England

Championship Meet

Rachel Fox concluded a memorable AHS track career (she'll play lacrosse this spring) with another record-shattering effort.

For the second time in three weeks she lowered her own school standard in the 600 meters, flashing across the finish line 4th in 1:36.69 which was a fraction of a second below her previous mark.

Meg Looney of Bishop Feehan won the race in 1:34.49.

Northwestern-bound senior Fox also anchored the 4th-place 4x400 relay, joining teammates Vanessa Singleton, Kayley Pettoruto and Colleen Shannon for a 4:03.61 clocking.

This foursome finished top four in each of the 'big three' meets at season's end (EMass. Division 1, All-State, New England).

The Lady Warriors' 4x200 sprint relay also placed with juniors Christina Muccio, Bizzy DiTroia, Jess Forster and sophomore anchor Melissa Knapp checking in at a personal-best 1:47.34.

Shannon ran the 1000 meters and finished 8th in 3:02.66.

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On the boys side, freshman sprinter Chris McConnell capped an outstanding indoor season by placing 10th in the 55-meter dash.

McConnell finished in 6.62 seconds and barely missed advancing to the finals (top 8 qualify).

State Pentathlon

Girls Division

Junior Jess Forster placed third in a field of 99 competitiors, while Andover's contingent of three talented and versatile underclassmen finished second in the team competition at the annual Massachusetts State Girls Track & Field Pentathlon Championship held recently at the Lewis Center.

Forster piled up a girls' division school-record 2,979 points with strong performances in the 55-meter hurdles (9.38 seconds), high jump (5'1") and the 800 meters (2:31.65).

She completed the five-event test by tossing the shot 28'6" and soaring 15'4" in the long jump.

Sophomore Colleen Shannon also competed and placed 14th with 2,475 points, while freshman Rosie Forster was 38th with 2,247.

Shannon highlighted her effort with a 2:25.1 clocking in the 800, and she also ran the 55 hurdles in 10.46, threw the shot 26'1," long-jumped 13'7" and cleared 4'7" in the high jump.

Rosie Forster cleared 4'7" in the high jump, threw the shot 27 feet, ran the 55 hurdles in 10.61, finished the 800 in 2:43.1 and long-jumped 13'3."

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The girls individual state champ was junior Priscilla Trojano of Coyle Cassidy with 3,232 points.

All-Conference Fox Performer of Year

Andover senior middle-distance/relay standout Rachel Fox was voted the 2007 Merrimack Valley Conference Girls Division 1 Performer of the Year.

Other Lady Warriors joining Fox (600 meters) on the All-Conference Team are junior Christina Muccio (55-meter dash), sophomore Colleen Shannon (1000 meters) and both the 4x200 sprint and 4x400 relays.

The all-underclass 4x200 foursome consists of sophomore Melissa Knapp and juniors Muccio, Bizzy DiTroia and Jess Forster.

The 4x400 crew includes Shannon, junior Kayley Pettoruto and freshmen Vanessa Singleton and Natalie Sousa.

Division 1 All-Stars are Forster in the high jump and Knapp in the 300 meter dash.

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Andover boys All-Conference honorees are freshman sprinter Chris McConnell (55-meter dash) and junior long jumper Santi Costello.

Division 1 MVC All-Stars are senior long jumper Norbert Guery, senior two-miler Peter Shaw and the 4x400 relay quartet of seniors Mike Murray and Dan Greely, sophomore Brendan Crawford and sophomore Robert Martin.

ALPINE SKI

Freshman Jackie Guy was the top individual competitor for the Andover High girls alpine ski team, and the Lady Warriors finished 17th in a 23-team field at the 2007 MIAA State Championships held recently at Berkshire East in Charlemont, Mass.

The Lady Warriors finished with 467 team points, 259 in the slalom (12th place) and 208 in the giant slalom (16th), while participating in their sixth straight State Meet.

The top five teams were state champ Taconic Regional with 733 points, one better than runner-up Wellesley at 732, Algonquin Regional of Northboro and Mohawk Trail with 716 each and Dover-Sherborn 697.

The six-time reigning North Shore League champion AHS girls completed the regular campaign with a 9-1 record, sharing the league title with North Andover, and the locals now own a 48-2 won-lost ledger in their last 50 meets.

All-State

Championship Meet

In the girls slalom division, Jackie Guy was the first AHS finisher with a 45.86-second time to place 54th in a field of 160 qualifiers.

Cayley Christopher was close behind, clocking 57th in 45.94, while Cara Suglia was 81st in 47.87, Colleen Heath 89th in 48.77 and Carly Holstein 113th in 51.32.

In the giant slalom, Guy was 55th in 53.72, Suglia 62nd in 54.47 and Heath 84th in 56.90.

Two other Andover skiers did not finish their GS runs.

Kate Kearns served as the AHS girls alternate in both the slalom and giant slalom.

Kelsey Shine of Algonquin Regional had the fastest slalom time, emerging as state champ with a 38.99 clocking, and Natalie Posever of Mohawk Trail was first in the giant slalom (47.98).

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Eric Heath qualified for the AHS boys and competed at the State Meet as an individual skier.

He placed 127th among 162 skiers in the slalom with a 52.26 time, and 97th in the giant slalom in 52.68.

During the regular season Andover was 6-4 and settled for third place in the NSL boys division behind North Andover and St. John's Prep of Danvers.

Busta comments

"The girls were certainly hoping for a better result than 17th," noted AHS head coach Tom Busta. "We're a much better team than that.

"We had some tough luck with Cayley's (Christopher) ski coming off going around the second gate in the giant slalom.

"Carly (Holstein) also had a good run going in the GS but crashed entering the steeps in the bottom third of the course.

"Eric (Heath) was doing well in the boys slalom - but missed a gate and had to hike up. He did hang in and finish.

"The day showed what a disadvantage we have not racing all season on these longer, steeper courses," added Busta.

"We're obviously happy the girls finished the regular season as league co-champs and then placed first at Interscholastics.

"Although the boys finished third in both the NSL and Interscholastics, they faced very tough competition and are a much-improved team.

"All the kids on both teams worked hard throughout a long season," concluded the coach.

Team banquet

The awards dinner for both AHS alpine ski teams is tonight (Thursday) at Andover Country Club.

BOYS GYMNASTICS

The Andover High boys gymnastics team saved its best performance for last.

Scoring a season-high 154.40 points, the Golden Warriors finished fourth in a seven-school field at the season-ending Massachusetts State Team Championship Meet hosted by Burlington High.

Senior Andy O'Connell, slowed by injury much of this winter, capped his AHS career by placing first in two events just as he did several days earlier in the State Individual Meet at Lowell High.

Once again O'Connell was tops on pommel horse with a 9.0 and on the parallel bars with an 8.5. He also placed third on rings with an 8.2.

"Andy is our first state champ since Scott Nicholson in 1995," noted longtime Golden Warriors' head coach Steve Sirois. "And, by coincidence, his scores on bars and rings were identical to those of Dan Sirois when he won in 1977."

Junior Aaron Davidovits performed well in the all-around, posting a personal season-high 35.00 score.

Other standouts included senior Rob Tornatore, sixth in the vault with an 8.4, and freshman twins Adam and Mark Vetere in floor exercise, pommel horse and rings.

"Our floor team - all four of whom are freshmen - posted the program's highest score ever at the State Meet in that event," said coach Sirois.

The total of 33.10 included an 8.55 by Davidovits, 8.4 by Mark Vetere, 8.35 by Adam Vetere and 7.8 by Chris Chu.

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Braintree won the team title with 180.55 points, followed by Burlington (173.10), Attleboro (155.25), Andover, Lowell (145.70), Newton North/South (140.40) and Revere (139.80).

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"Next season is looking great," said coach Sirois. "We do lose four seniors, including Andy (O'Connell) and Rob (Tornatore), but there is some excellent talent coming back and hopefully coming up through the system."

The current Andover team will help spread the word when it holds a gymnastics clinic/exhibition for all eighth-graders at a date, time and place to be determined.

GIRLS ICE HOCKEY

It was another good year overall - but a short stay in the single-elimination State Division 1 Tournament - for the young Andover High girls varsity hockey team which dropped a 5-1 decision to host Woburn in a first-round game played at O'Brien Rink.

AHS, which finished the season 14-4-3, was seeded No. 9 in a 19-team Division 1 field while Woburn (16-4-1) was the No. 8 seed.

Andover played in the Division 2 Tournament five straight years before being bounced up this winter, reaching the State 2 semifinals three straight times where the Lady Warriors suffered three tough one-goal losses to Wellesley, St. Mary's and Reading (double overtime).

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AHS closed out the 2006-07 regular season recently with a pair of non-league ties against formidable opponents, battling Canton to a 1-1 standoff and then-undefeated tourney No. 2 seed Boston Latin to a 3-3 draw.

Prior to that the locals rode a pair of two-goal efforts by senior forward and Capt. Alison Burns and junior Asst. Capt. Trish Martin to a convincing 6-0 non-league romp over host Lincoln-Sudbury at the Valley Sports Arena in West Concord.

Sophomore goaltender Rachel Bergan made it 2-for-2, pitching her second shutout versus L-S in her second varsity start.

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The Lady Warriors, who qualified for the MIAA State Tournament for the sixth straight season, held opponents scoreless for 153 consecutive minutes during one four-game stretch last month and outscored the opposition by a healthy 66-30 margin this winter with six shutouts.

Scoring leaders

Freshman Sarah Oteri finished as the top scorer with 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points in 21 games.

Becky Cairns had 14 goals and 15 assists, followed by Heather Paonessa at 9-12-21, Nicole Giroux 4-14-18, Laura Drew 6-8-14 and Alison Burns 4-10-14.

Burns finished her career with 97 points.

Five seniors

Andover, which had only four returning letter-winners at the start of the season, will graduate only five seniors.

Becky Cairns, Becky Johnson, Alison Burns, Christina Cahill and Samantha Monson played their final game for the Blue and Gold in the tourney opener against Woburn.

Eligible to return are 18 underclassmen, including one junior (Trish Martin), seven sophomores, three freshmen and seven 8th graders.

State Division 1 Tournament

First Round

Woburn 5

Andover 1

The Tanners took a 1-0 first-period lead before breaking the game open with four second-period goals.

Senior Capt. Becky Johnson netted the AHS goal in the middle session, while freshman forward Nicole Giroux chalked up the lone assist.

Sophomore Megan Pettoruto and senior Christina Cahill split time in net, combining for 31 saves as Middlesex League powerhouse Woburn (16-4-1) finished with a 36-17 shooting edge.

The turning point came in the second period when the locals, trailing 2-1 at the time and skating on the power play, did not score the equalizer in spite of the advantage.

Regular Season

Andover 6

Lincoln-Sudbury 0

The six goals were the second-highest output of the season for Andover (8-0 over Everett, Jan. 27) and marked the second time this winter the locals blanked L-S (3-0 win on Jan. 17).

A five-goal outburst in the second period snapped a 0-0 tie and took the fight out of Dual County League member Lincoln-Sudbury.

The rare explosion started with a Nicole Giroux goal just 47 seconds into the stanza.

Alison Burns (2:54) and Becky Cairns (8:04) followed with back-to-back power play tallies, before Trish Martin joined the scoring parade at 9:30 and Burns capped the prolific stanza with her second goal of the game at 11:58.

Martin wrapped up the offense at 10:01 of the third.

Sarah Oteri passed out three assists, while Capt. Becky Cairns and Heather Paonessa added two each and solo setups were distributed by Burns, Giroux, Martin and eighth-graders Laura Drew and Alicia Nader.

AHS outshot the L-S Warriors, 33-15, and Rachel Bergan was perfect between the pipes once again.

"Kudos to Rachel," said head coach Bill McCarthy. "Two starts and two shutouts. Can't do better than that.

"Everybody got a chance to play quite a bit - and it was nice for a change that we found the back of the net a few more times than usual," added McCarthy.

Andover 1

Canton 1

AHS confronted the Canton Bulldogs at Metropolis Arena in Canton, and the non-league rivals traded a pair of second-period goals on the way to the deadlock.

Alison Burns pocketed the goal for the Lady Warriors, while Sarah Oteri and Laura Drew collected assists.

Andover held a wide overall shooting edge in the game, with sophomore goalie Megan Pettoruto making 14 saves for the locals.

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Canton finished the season 14-4-1 overall, bowing out of the Division 1 tourney after a 3-1 first-round loss to No. 12 Wakefield (14-5) earlier this week.

Andover 3

Boston Latin 3

The visiting Lady Warriors salvaged the tie against then-unbeaten Dual County League power Latin (15-0-3) with a third-period goal at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena in Boston.

AHS, whose offense became more well-rounded late in the season, had solo goals from Nicole Giroux, Sarah Oteri and Capt. Becky Johnson.

Johnson also had an assist along with Trish Martin and Heather Paonessa.

Megan Pettoruto was sharp in the Andover net with 25 saves as the locals were outshot by the Wolfpack, 28-23.

The teams traded first-period goals before Latin moved ahead 3-2 after two stanzas.

BOYS SWIM & DIVE

Sophomore Nick D'Innocenzo was recently voted the 2007 Merrimack Valley Conference Swimmer of the Year, while coach Mark Taffe was tabbed the Coach of the Year as the league champs swept the top two awards.

The Golden Warriors also placed six athletes on the 15-member All-Conference Team, with those honorees juniors Christian Bishop, Peter Saunders, Peter Li and Zach Hamer, sophomore Mike Bakies and freshman Paul Hunter.

Earning MVC All-Star status are seniors Dave Espindle and Kevin O'Donnell, along with sophomores Devon Mullen and Yubo Liu.