By LIAM O’BRIEN
Waltham Times Contributing Writer
Usually when a high school sports team graduates seven seniors, it is cause for concern.
This challenge was no match for the Waltham High School field hockey team this fall, however. A youth movement led the Hawks to their first MIAA postseason berth since 2017 as a charge of young contributors stepped up in a major way.
“We certainly had some gaps to fill defensively,” head coach Taylor Scafidi said. “Especially being so young, it was outstanding to see freshmen, sophomores and juniors be the rock of our season. They were a huge part of our success this year.”
The Hawks relied on a bevy of underclassmen on defense while senior captain Kayla MacKenzie guided the offensive attack with 15 goals to carry the Hawks to a 6-6-4 record. The team made considerable strides against foes that had troubled them in the past, going toe-to-toe with the likes of Acton-Boxborough and Malden Catholic and coming out with ties.
Team chemistry proved to be a massive contributor in the team’s success. Since the pandemic, field hockey participation has dwindled slightly at the high school, leading to girls having to play on both the junior varsity and varsity teams.
This level of commitment does come with a silver lining, however. “It makes the team very close,” Scafidi said. “We haven’t had the luxury of having a lot of players since Covid, but our four seniors are complete, natural leaders.”
Most of the girls on the team are three-sports athletes, mostly playing ice hockey and lacrosse as the school year continues. Combined with participating in offseason showcases at locations such as Harvard University and Lasell College, this consistent togetherness should prove to further the team’s bond moving into next autumn.
Football team earns big homecoming win, soccer teams inch close to postseason
Members of the Hawks football team will look back on the season with some pride after notching a convincing 49-14 victory over Newton South in the annual homecoming event on Oct. 26.
The group finished the regular season at 3-5 with two other blowout victories against Newton North and Acton-Boxborough. They will look to end the year on a strong note against Arlington High School on Thanksgiving Day.
On the soccer pitch, both the boys and girls squads notched some confidence-builders to harp on heading into 2025. The boys unit came within a goal of knocking off a dominant Concord-Carlisle group at the end of September while the girls team finished just a few spots out of a playoff nod in a competitive Dual County League.
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