Stark’s strong second-half effort lessens sting of loss to Hopkinton

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:35:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Visiting Hopkinton High School jumped out early on host John Stark and minimized a second-half charge, continuing its recent dominance of the Generals with a 7-2 victory in Division-III boys lacrosse on Friday, April 18.

Hopkinton’s David Wood opened the scoring roughly three minutes into the first quarter of the contest, firing a deep shot that found the back of the net.

Less than a minute later, Doug Meyer gave the Hawks a two-goal lead, weaving through the General defense and scoring past John Stark goalie Andrew Seccareccio. It was the first of Meyer’s three goals during the game.

Joe Dammann then added two goals within a minute of each other, and the Hawks, behind goalie Bryan Libby, who turned several difficult shots away, held on for the win. “We got a normal game out of (Libby), with normal meaning outstanding,” said Hopkinton’s head coach, Doug Maynard.

“He’s doing a great job in net. He can play outside the crease and make outlet passes. He’s been the total package.”

Early in the second half, John Stark scored when Nathan Goldsberry fired from close range after receiving a pass from Parker Gage. That cut the lead to 4-1.

Following Meyer’s second goal late in the third quarter, John Stark answered when Goldsberry notched his second goal of the game to make it 5-2.

Hopkinton iced the contest with two fourth-quarter goals.

Generals head coach Mark Schaub said his team has had lopsided contests with Hopkinton in recent match-ups, and he was happy his team was able to keep the score closer this time.

“In the past it would have been hard for us (falling behind early), but this team has a good mindset,” said Schaub. “We didn’t think we were out of it. I was proud they could focus on what they knew they could do.”

Maynard said the key to the victory was his group’s determined effort to control play.

“I love seeing more men getting on the ground balls,” said the coach, whose team improved to 2-1. “We had great hustle, and we worked very hard.”

Schaub said John Stark, now 1-3, had a difficult time controlling the speed of Hopkinton. “They’re a fast team, and they really kept us running. That was impressive,” he said. “They moved the ball well, and when our defense got out of position, they found the hole.”

John Stark, Hopkinton schools team up

Goffstown Editor — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:50:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

You won’t see Hopkinton and John Stark fans rooting for the same team during basketball games.

During the three-day FIRST robotics competition, however, fans from both schools were rooting for Oz-Ram, a team made up of both John Stark and Hopkinton students.

Fans weren’t the only ones united by the team, as the students taking part in the competition also grew close over the months working on their creation, which needed to be able to move around a track and lift track balls to score points.

“It (combining the schools) really worked out well,” said Oz- Ram adviser Will Renauld. “We were a little worried about it because the school sizes are so different, but the team members have really formed a great bond through robotics.”

The competition, which took place last weekend, didn’t go as smoothly as Oz-Ram had hoped, as they finished in the middle of the pack of 48 teams from across New England.

“We struggled, but that is part of the learning process. You work through problems and then fix them,” said Renauld. “The best part of the competition is seeing teams get to help each other out, and to see the kids making friends.”

The alliance of Pembroke Academy, Trinity High School and a team made up of several high schools from Rhode Island took the crown to earn a spot at the national competition in Atlanta, Ga.

Although the teams in the competition all have the same goal of winning, Manchester West team member Thomas Provencher also said there is a balance between victory and being a friendly competitor.

“There’s a lot of energy and competition. We’re all vying for the same thing, and we want to win,” he said. “We’re helping each other here (in the pit area), but out there it’s a war. If your neighbor in the pit area has a broken part, you help them, but on the floor it’s a different story.”

Renauld said he has experienced first hand the friendly nature of the competition. “We’ve been at events where people gave us time outs and we’ve beaten them, and the same thing has happened to us. They’re grateful we got the chance to compete at an even level,” he said.

Bedford High School team member Ian Helmke witnessed the spirit of the competition during last weekend’s event.

Helmke said that upon arriving at the arena, his team realized they had a problem with one of the sensors on its robot. They went to the announcers table and asked if any teams had the piece they required.

“Within a minute, we had one from another team,” said Helmke. “It’s a lot of fun, and you know the guys next to you will get you that if you need something. Everyone wants to win, but everyone wants everyone else to be at their best.”

Although Hopkinton and John Stark’s robotics team didn’t leave with the result they had hoped for, they didn’t leave the Verizon Wireless Arena empty handed.

“They made some longtime friends out of it,” said Renauld. “The competition makes for a great bonding thing outside of robotics.”

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Stark’s strong second-half effort lessens sting of loss to Hopkinton

John Stark, Hopkinton schools team up