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Local Notebook: Plenty to see on MASCAC honor roll

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Often overlooked by those taking home weekly conference awards, there are many strong performances highlighted in the MASCAC’s honor roll every week. After all, there are only so many accolades to go around, but putting something of a spotlight on other great student-athletes is a nice touch.

Look no further than the weekly field hockey awards. Fitchburg State’s Jenna Morse took home Defensive Player of the Week and teammate Autumn Tibbetts was named Rookie of the Week, while Worcester State’s Grace Adams, a Leominster High grad, was tabbed Player of the Week.

There were plenty of other strong showings across the conference in the week prior, including a great game by Worcester State netminder Sam Gastonguay against the Falcons. The senior backstop and former Oakmont Regional standout made four saves with a 1.00 GAA and .800 save percentage in the Lancers’ 2-1 win over Fitchburg State, earning a spot on the honor roll.

Likewise, Fitchburg State’s Jessica Greco earned the Women’s Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week honor, but teammate Stephanie Sardella picked up an honor roll nod after registering 29 kills, three assists, nine aces, 35 digs and one blocking assist in a 3-0 week for the Falcons.

In women’s cross country, Fitchburg State’s Skye Goba, earned recognition after finishing 20th out of 183 runners at the Keene State Invitational. The sophomore completed the 5K course with an average mile time of 6:22.

On the men’s side, Fitchburg State’s Michael Burns was highlighted after finishing 27th out of 232 runners at Keene State. The sophomore crossed the finish line in 27:04, with an average mile of 5:33 over the 8K layout.

Fitchburg State sophomore linebacker Camren Topkin earned a nod after posting 13 tackles — including four solo stops — to go with half a sack, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery in the Falcons’ loss to Bridgewater State on Saturday.

Jones does it again at UNE

Former St. Bernard’s standout Damien Jones continued his strong freshman campaign for the University of New England on Saturday, notching a pair of touchdowns as the Nor’Easters downed Castleton, 31-14.

Jones scored on runs of eight and two yards, popping in the first two touchdowns of the day for UNE, which opened a 21-0 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back.

On the day, the Fitchburg native tallied 29 yards on six carries. Jones and the Nor’Easters return to action on Oct. 14, welcoming Nichols to Biddeford, Maine, for a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest at 1 p.m.

Local Notebook: Plenty to see on MASCAC honor roll

by

Often overlooked by those taking home weekly conference awards, there are many strong performances highlighted in the MASCAC’s honor roll every week. After all, there are only so many accolades to go around, but putting something of a spotlight on other great student-athletes is a nice touch.

Look no further than the weekly field hockey awards. Fitchburg State’s Jenna Morse took home Defensive Player of the Week and teammate Autumn Tibbetts was named Rookie of the Week, while Worcester State’s Grace Adams, a Leominster High grad, was tabbed Player of the Week.

There were plenty of other strong showings across the conference in the week prior, including a great game by Worcester State netminder Sam Gastonguay against the Falcons. The senior backstop and former Oakmont Regional standout made four saves with a 1.00 GAA and .800 save percentage in the Lancers’ 2-1 win over Fitchburg State, earning a spot on the honor roll.

Likewise, Fitchburg State’s Jessica Greco earned the Women’s Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week honor, but teammate Stephanie Sardella picked up an honor roll nod after registering 29 kills, three assists, nine aces, 35 digs and one blocking assist in a 3-0 week for the Falcons.

In women’s cross country, Fitchburg State’s Skye Goba, earned recognition after finishing 20th out of 183 runners at the Keene State Invitational. The sophomore completed the 5K course with an average mile time of 6:22.

On the men’s side, Fitchburg State’s Michael Burns was highlighted after finishing 27th out of 232 runners at Keene State. The sophomore crossed the finish line in 27:04, with an average mile of 5:33 over the 8K layout.

Fitchburg State sophomore linebacker Camren Topkin earned a nod after posting 13 tackles — including four solo stops — to go with half a sack, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery in the Falcons’ loss to Bridgewater State on Saturday.

Jones does it again at UNE

Former St. Bernard’s standout Damien Jones continued his strong freshman campaign for the University of New England on Saturday, notching a pair of touchdowns as the Nor’Easters downed Castleton, 31-14.

Jones scored on runs of eight and two yards, popping in the first two touchdowns of the day for UNE, which opened a 21-0 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back.

On the day, the Fitchburg native tallied 29 yards on six carries. Jones and the Nor’Easters return to action on Oct. 14, welcoming Nichols to Biddeford, Maine, for a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest at 1 p.m.

Local notebook: Smith returns to Lunenburg

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Lunenburg High School alum Von Smith is coming home.

Smith has been named the new Blue Knights girls soccer head coach per Lunenburg athletic director Kevin Bigelow.

Smith, a 2006 Lunenburg High graduate and standout on the Blue Knights boys soccer team, had been the boys soccer head coach at Athol High School since the fall of 2020. After his playing days for the Blue Knights wrapped up, Smith played semi-pro soccer in Sweden before he spent time in the United States Army.

Smith takes over for Ethan Cheeseman, who replaced Tim Normandin at the start of the 2016 season. Cheeseman, also a Lunenburg High graduate, was a teammate of Smith’s when the two played for the Lunenburg boys soccer team.

Smith will inherit a Lunenburg team that finished 8-7-4 overall last fall, qualifying for the Division 4 Tournament before bowing out of the tournament in the Round of 32 against Cohasset Regional in a 7-0 defeat. The Blue Knights are slated to open the season Sept. 7 against Fitchburg High with a league contest at Game On Fitchburg at 4 p.m.

Kassel moves on from FSU

When Fitchburg State opens the 2023 field hockey season by hosting Colby-Sawyer on Sept. 1, it will do so without Lena Kassel, who rewrote the program record books in her first and only season with the Falcons.

Kassel, a German student studying abroad in Fitchburg last year, has moved on to Michigan State to play Division 1 field hockey. Following the completion of the 2022 season, Fitchburg State head coach Kayla Quinn noted that her phenomenal freshman midfielder had drawn the attention of several big-time collegiate programs and would not be back this fall.

Fitchburg State's Lena Kassel scored her team-leading 16th goal of the season in Friday's loss to Rivier. (Courtesy Fitchburg State Athletics)
Former Fitchburg State standout Lena Kassel will play Division 1 field hockey at Michigan State this fall. (Courtesy Fitchburg State Athletics)

A Division 3 All-American Third Team honoree following her freshman campaign, Kassel set new program single-season marks for goals (31) and points (67) and broke Fitchburg State’s record for goals in a game with seven in an 8-0 win over UMass Dartmouth.

Named to the Little East Conference (LEC) All-Conference First Team, Kassel earned LEC Rookie of the Week honors five times and was tabbed LEC Rookie of the Year. She’ll have two seasons of collegiate eligibility remaining at Michigan State.

Kassel and the Spartans will face another player with Central Mass. ties twice this fall, squaring off with former Nashoba Regional standout Caylie McMahon and Michigan in a preseason tilt as well as a Big Ten meeting. McMahon is a sophomore goaltender for the Wolverines.

Fall season nearing for Falcons

The start of the fall season at Fitchburg State is now less than a month away.

The field hockey team will be the first group of Falcons to play this fall, hosting Colby-Sawyer at 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1. But the rest of FSU’s programs won’t be far behind, with both the men’s and women’s soccer teams getting underway later that day and the rest of the Fitchburg State teams kicking off their campaigns by the end of that weekend.

The women’s soccer team hosts Rivier at Elliot Field at 4 p.m. on Sept. 1, while the men’s soccer team is Elms that night, kicking off at 7 p.m.

The Fitchburg State football team starts its 2023 season under new head coach Zach Shaw, opening with a Saturday game at Dean on Sept. 2 at noon. The women’s volleyball team will welcome Dean to Fitchburg that same day, with their season-opening match getting started at 11 a.m.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams will open at home, hosting the annual Jim Sheehan Invitational on Sept. 2. The start time for the meet at the Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster has yet to be announced.

McDonnell picked to lead Lunenburg

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From an assistant coach with the Gulls to head coach with the Blue Knights.

Casey McDonnell was introduced as the new Lunenburg High football head coach Friday via Twitter, moving from the sidelines at Endicott College in Beverly to below the Friday night lights of high school gridiron action in Central Massachusetts.

It’s McDonnell’s first head coaching job.

He had served as an assistant coach with the Gulls last fall, heading up the play of the offensive line and charged with recruiting in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Long Island, New York during his second stint with the program. McDonnell had previously been an assistant coach at Endicott in 2014 and 2015 before departing for Castleton University.

The Gulls went 10-1 last fall, dropping an NCAA Division 3 opening round contest to Springfield College to close the campaign.

McDonnell takes the reins after the departure of Anthony Nalen, who was named head coach at Bishop Guertin in Nashua, New Hampshire, in January. The Blue Knights finished last season 6-5, falling in the first round of the Division 7 tournament to Uxbridge and closing the campaign with a loss on Thanksgiving to Oakmont Regional.

In his time at the helm, Nalen compiled an 18-9 record with the Blue Knights, leading Lunenburg to the Midland Wachusett D league championship last fall.

During his time at Castleton, McDonnell served as the Spartans’ offensive coordinator, coaching nine all-conference players in his five years at the Vermont college. Prior to being named OC, he held a graduate assistant role, coaching running backs and serving as the video and recruiting Coordinator for a year, respectively, before being elevated to a full-time offensive line position in 2018.

Toward the tail end of the 2019 season, McDonnell was promoted to offensive coordinator at Castleton.

McDonnell has also worked with the University of New Hampshire as a football operations intern.

A native of Plaistow, New Hampshire, and a graduate of Timberlane Regional High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Endicott in 2014 before obtaining his master’s in Business Administration a year later from Endicott.. While at Castleton, McDonnell also earned a Master’s in Athletic Leadership in 2018.

From 2010-13, McDonnell played on the offensive line for Endicott. At Timberlane, McDonnell was a three-sport athlete, participating in indoor and outdoor track in addition to football.

Local roundup: Falcons pile up MASCAC honors

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Good news rolled into the Fitchburg State athletic offices on Tuesday and did so in bulk.

Four Fitchburg State track and field athletes earned weekly conference honors and 124 Falcon student-athletes were named to the MASCAC Fall/Winter All-Academic team.

Junior Taban Manyok was named MASCAC Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week, while senior Eric Shimiyimana was selected as the Field Athlete of the Week and freshman Liam Bourassa was tabbed Rookie of the Week. In addition, Fitchburg State junior Makany Camara was named MASCAC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week.

Manyok collects his third consecutive weekly accolade after taking top honors in the 1,000 meter with a personal best and DIII New England qualifying time of 2:37.89 as well as finishing second in the mile with a time of 4:36.45 for the Green and Gold at the Wesleyan Indoor Invite on Saturday.

Shimiyimana picks up his fourth weekly honor of the season after placing second overall in the triple jump with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 13.45, while adding a third-place effort of 6.15 meters in the long jump. The fourth-year Falcon capped the day by finishing seventh in the 60 with a time of 7.64 seconds.

Bourassa earned his first weekly accolade after taking top honors in the shot put with a toss of 13.01 meters, while adding a seventh- place toss of 10.98 meters in the weight throw at the Wesleyan Indoor Invite.

Camara nets her second weekly honor on the year after finishing second in the high jump with a mark of 1.52 meters for the Green and Gold on Saturday.

The Fitchburg State indoor track teams return to action Saturday as they compete at the 2023 Panthers Invite at Plymouth State University.

In addition to showing off its athletic abilities, Fitchburg State saw its student-athletes excel in the classroom, with Falcons representing 124 of the 1,218 MASCAC academic honorees. To land a spot on the MASCAC All-Academic team, student-athletes must have achieved a 3.20 cumulative or semester-based grade point average during the Fall/Winter semester.

The Fitchburg State athletes named to the All-Academic team are below.

Men’s basketball: Aidan Finn, Clifford Fuakye, Dayne Allen, Frederick Siayor, Jordan Polanco, Joshua Okoroji-Schaeffer, Matthew Tanis, Mikal Garcia, Tajahn Joyner.

Women’s basketball: Amricyan Fernandez-Scherington, Ephemian Bailey, Juliana Davis, Lindsay McDonald, Morgan Genness, Rylie Harlow, Stephanie Hart.

Women’s cross country: Diana Marquez-Frias, Kathleen Messer.

Field hockey: Carley McCaie, Emma Ganley, Grace Kerr, Jenna Morse, Jessica Morse, Lena Kassel, Lena Spadafore, Olivia Narkevicius, Samantha Rozum, Sophia Piper, Sophia Yates, Joyce Arbia.

Football: Amzie Hinkley, Calvin Guillaume, Cameron Monette, Christopher Emslie, Dylan Cosner, Elijah McKnight, Frank Opoku, Giancarlo Marazzo-Henry, Jakob Lufkin, John McGarry, Keyshawn McCurdy, Logan Perez, Nicholas Notenboom.

Ice hockey: Anthony Ceolin, Antoine Gignac, Brendan Walk, Cameron Isabelle, Christian Halbig, Cole Archambeault, Egan Wolford, Gene Bouthiette, Hunter Fortin, Jack Johansen, Jack Saavedra, Jeremy Maillet, Joseph Gilbert, Joshua Miller, Matthew Radder, Michael Macchioni, Nolan Sargent, Oliver Cookson,
Rece Bergeman, Samuel Rennick, Toivo Kramer, Trenton Skaggs, Wyatt Wilmshurst.

Men’s indoor track: Chris Morales, Ryan Parisi, Zion Barber-Amado, Cole Donelan, Aidan Cattelan, Andrew Bedard, Benjamin Sacramone, Brady Madigan, Cameron Davis, Nathaniel Felix.

Women’s indoor track: Cassandra Israelson, Grace Casale, Makany Camara, Olivia Kephart, Trishannah Scott, Emily Russo, Abigail Murphy, Courtney Brouillet, Erin Donelan, Jenna Aubuchon, Lilah McAndrew, Maria Burnett, Marjorie Veliotis, Skye Goba, Sophie Geremia.

Men’s soccer: Bennet Jorgensen, Brian Doyle, Collin Robson, Edward Paiva, Francesco Campione, Juan Sambrano, Kenny Cherry, Luke Speers, Rizkhan Muhwezi.

Women’s soccer: Abaigeal Gilman, Adrianna Westcott, Alisha Praileau, Allison Gough, Charlotte Meixsell, Jessica St. George, Katie Moran, Kayleen McCormack, Kendra Peretzman, Madison Hippert, Regina Pallotta, Sera Gagnon, Sophia Moore, Taylor Rodriguez, Taylor Senecal, Zoe Chrisostomides.

Volleyball: Alissa Olmsted, Catherine Goodearl, Emily Gelinas, Meredith Taylor, Samantha Mirra, Shianne Harewood, Stephanie Sardella, Sariah Dyer.

Boys basketball

Fitchburg 55, Shrewsbury 31: Omar Rodriguez had 17 points to lead the Red Raiders to a road win, while Victor Kukta added 10 points in the victory.

North Middlesex 67, Westboro 55: Brian Morse led four Patriots in double figures with 17 points. Mike Reardon added 12 and Jake Steinmann and Cade Callahan each had 10.

Girls basketball

Shrewsbury 56, Fitchburg 30: Shamarie Rodriguez led the Red Raiders (1-13) with 12 points. Ella Kitchin added eight points in the loss.

The Lunenburg High girls basketball team was defeated by Tyngsboro on Tuesday. (Courtesy Tyngsboro Athletics)
The Lunenburg High girls basketball team was defeated by Tyngsboro on Tuesday. (Courtesy Tyngsboro Athletics)

Westboro 62, North Middlesex 41:  The loss drops the Patriots to 4-9.

Marlboro 58, Oakmont 54: Victoria Mays scored 14 points to lead the Spartans (5-7).

Tyngsboro 55, Lunenburg 40: The Blue Knights drop to 1-11 with the loss.

Commentary: Encarnacion’s hard work pays off

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Athletic abilities are great, but character matters.

It’s the type of thing college coaches like to post on social media. And it sounds absolutely fantastic, until it comes time to pass on a five-star athlete with off-field issues for a lesser-heralded recruit that does all the right things.

When it comes to high school athletes who do all the right things, Leominster High’s Ricky Encarnacion is the very definition of that. A league MVP as a senior, he was a Division 2 All-Star, the D2 Central Mass. Offensive Player of the Year and competes in basketball and outdoor track and field. In addition to his abilities on a football field, the senior is a leader and strong in the classroom with a 3.53 GPA.

That combination of qualities left Leominster’s football coaching staff scratching its collective head as offers didn’t come pouring in as the season went on. They eventually came and Encarnacion had his pick of several programs to choose from.

On Monday night, the senior receiver and safety made his choice: he’d be playing his collegiate football at Division 2 University of New Haven — joining Fitchburg High alum, Samson Faulkner, who’s another talented player who does things the right way. Among the other schools to have expressed interest in Encarnacion were UMass, Franklin Pierce and RPI.

“I am blessed and honored to announce that I have committed to continuing my athletic career at the University of New Haven,” Encarnacion posted to Twitter Monday night. “First and foremost I would like to thank God for allowing me to be at this point and make this decision. I would like to thank my family and friends who have been with me every step of the way, and also all the coaches that have made an impact in my life from youth football to my senior year. I would also like to thank (New Haven football coach Chris Pincince) and the rest of the coaching staff for believing in me and giving me this opportunity to be a Charger!”

No “I’m taking my talents here” or “I’m going to make other programs regret not making an offer.” A simple and gracious message from a star high school athlete.

While Encarnacion will tell you he’s blessed and lucky to be able to head south to Connecticut to receive a quality education and continue his gridiron days, the Chargers are the fortunate ones here. Having watched the Blue Devils’ standout throughout the 2022 season, I can honestly say that student-athletes should model how they approach athletics the same way Encarnacion does.

Call it hyperbole, if you’d like. Say it’s over-the-top. But it’s definitely an opinion I won’t be changing any time soon.

Leominster's Ricky Encarnacion gets free on a touchdown run during Friday's game against Wachusett Regional. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)
Leominster’s Ricky Encarnacion gets free on a touchdown run during a game against Wachusett Regional last season. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo)

He’s physically gifted, long and lean with speed for days. But his work ethic is also phenomenal, as Encarnacion does just rely on his physical gifts and hope to succeed; Leominster head coach Devin Gates will be the first to tell you his team was loaded with hard workers hoping to improve every day and Encarnacion was front and center among them.

And while what Encarnacion did on the gridiron was impressive, it was what he did outside the lines that caught my attention. Multiple times over the course of the season, he approached frustrated young players after a drop or a fumble or a miscue and calmly explain that it wasn’t the end of the world. They’d have another chance, another opportunity and any mistakes were just a chance to improve.

Not the type to yell or scream, Encarnacion led by example last season, with his play doing his talking to the opposition.

He’s the type of kid who sees the big picture. Look no further than when he changed his number to 7 for a game to honor Ricky White, a local youth football coach who had died at the age of 42 last season. It was a tribute that touched many in the community, especially when Encarnacion hauled in the winning touchdown with seconds left to play against Shrewsbury while wearing No. 7.

Post-game, when it was time to talk, he was always well-spoken, polite and respectful. To everyone. To fans. Media. Opposing players.

He’s the type of kid you love to see succeed. New Haven was smart for taking him on.