So, how many of you had Norwood girls soccer in the pool as the last team standing? Sure you did.
Technically, the Walpole field hockey and Ursuline volleyball teams went farther than the Mustangs, but because of the staggered postseason this fall, Norwood was left as the Great Transcript Land Hope for a state title Sunday night.
When the Mustangs historic run ended at the hands of defending champion Weymouth, it didn’t officially signal the end of fall, but there are only a few scant leaves left on the area sports tree. The local swimming contingent wraps up their year at Wellesley College this Sunday while most of the gridiron action comes to a close on Thanksgiving, although the Rebels should keep us in business for a little while beyond.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad couple months for Transcript Land. There was a respectable title grab. Five local teams added banners to their collections, with three of them getting hung on up a Common Street for the Walpole field hockey, boys soccer and swim teams, while Ursuline volleyball and Nobles girls soccer each ran the table to claim their respective league crowns.
The Porkers, Bears and Bulldogs all doubled up in the postseason by hauling in hardware. Walpole field hockey and Ursuline volleyball continued their South dominance as the Porkers snatched their fifth consecutive sectional championship and the Bears their fourth, while Nobles girls soccer brought home what is thus far the jewel of the Transcript Land fall empire, the NEPSAC Class A title.
As far as the postseason predictions go, the aforementioned Mustangs were only real fly in the prognosticating ointment. If you remember, we were forced into making our forecast before the full field was actually set. Here’s how it broke down:
Did not qualify: Ursuline soccer (No. 10)
Preliminary round: Westwood boys soccer, Dedham field hockey, Dedham boys soccer, Dedham girls soccer (No. 9, 8, 7, 5)
First round: Xaverian soccer (No. 4)
Quarterfinals: Walpole boys soccer (No. 3)
Final: Norwood girls soccer (No. 6)
State semifinals: Walpole field hockey, Ursuline volleyball (No. 2, 1)
Two things to get off my chest about the postseason before we get the final Power Poll of the fall:
· I know it makes sense from a logistical standpoint, I know it creates a bigger gate, and I know that the MIAA spells it out in advance to be prepared for it, but if you are the Norwood girls soccer team it still has to leave a bad taste in your mouth to be sent to Weymouth High to take on the defending champs in the sectional final. Especially when the Mustangs had already had to win two road games just to earn themselves the right to get to “neutral site” stage and would have been significant underdogs to the Wildcats no matter where the game was played. I guess it pays to have a nice facility. Just ask Weymouth, which has celebrated the last two South titles on its home field. Maybe all the other factors involved make it justifiable, but something seems wrong when the competitive integrity of the contest is not the No. 1 consideration
· Rarely have I seen a postseason with as many controversial refereeing fiascos. First, there was the dubious selection process that allowed a referee with a personal relationship with the Hingham coaching staff official the Dedham girls soccer preliminary round contest with the Harbormen, which naturally ended on a borderline call in double overtime. Then there was the bizarre quick whistle in the Porkers state semifinal loss in which Walpole believed it had not been given enough time to get set following a goal, with the game-winner deposited by Weston just 13 seconds later. But the worst referring decision I saw did not affect the outcome of any contest, but rather came when a backpedaling linesman tripped over young ballboy at the Nobles-Westminster girls soccer game. Rather than wipe himself off and give it a laugh, the embossed official had the kid, who appeared to be about 10 or so, basically red carded, forcing him to be removed from his duties. Pretty weak.
5. Norwood girls soccer (15-7-2) – It goes to show you how fickle the soccer tournament can be when you realize just how close the Mustangs were to being a first-round casualty instead of the most successful team in program history. The best part of the run from this perspective was that while Sam Vilaboa and Cory Ryan grab all the headlines and deservedly so (I wish I had copyrighted the phrase “Norwood has two outstanding players” before the season to rake in some dough from opposing coaches) the Mustangs needed across the board contributions to get as far as they did. Many of those player will be back to hopefully prove Norwood’s rise to prominence the last two years is no flash in the pan.
4. Ursuline volleyball (20-2) – No doubt it was a frustrating ending for the Bears, who were convinced (as was Transcript Land) that this was the year they would get over the state semifinal hurdle. Detractors may point to the lack of quality competition in Division 3 South as taking away from their string of titles and as a reason for their inability to take the next step, but the incredible consistency that this program has shown in the past six years or so is in itself a fantastic accomplishment and the Bears have bulked up their regular season schedule considerably over the past few seasons. Ursuline is no paper tiger, and I have a feeling they are not going away any time soon either.
3. Walpole field hockey (19-2-1) – Wow, the Dual County League must really be getting on the Porkers’ nerves. The last three times that Walpole’s season has not concluded with a state title, the end has come at the hands of a DCL team (Lincoln-Sudbury 2005, Acton-Boxboro 2007, Weston 2008) in the state semifinals. Now, everyone know that the goal of any and every Porker season is a Division 1 crown, and when that objective is not met there is a tinge of disappointment. That’s the standard that has been set and the burden you bear when you have established yourselves are one of the Massachusetts’ elite program, regardless of sport. I’d say though that Porkers can look at this year’s league and sectional crowns with plenty of pride considering the experience level and blue-collar nature of this year’s squad. And with eight players who saw significant action back next fall, both the BSC and the South have probably missed a rare opportunity to dethrone the Porkers.
2. Nobles girls soccer (16-0) – It would be interesting to know exactly what went through the mind of Nobles coach Ben Snyder after the first couple preseason practice showed him exactly the embarrassment of riches he had at his disposal this year. Did he giggle a little, knowing he was looking at possibly the most talented Bulldog team ever assembled, or panic a little, knowing that anything less than perfect season was probably going to be letdown. Most likely, he just though to himself, why do they only let me play 11 at a time? I’ll always be a little partial to the 2003 champs but these Bulldogs sure did play a pretty brand of soccer. It be interesting to see just how Nobles would stack up to the MIAA squads still left standing. I’d say quite favorably.
1. Walpole football (10-0) – We’re giving the Rebels the nod here based on potential, since they are the only one of the list with games still left to play. Even though this is officially the final fall Power Poll, should Walpole lose in the Division 2 playoffs to Reading, we’d almost have to leapfrog the Bulldogs over the Rebels in our final year-end rankings. A Super Bowl loss would make for an interesting debate between the clubs. Does Nobles’ perfection outweigh the merits of surviving the grueling 12-game grind to Gillette? Mostly likely not. Obviously, the wave of Rebel Pride unleashed should the Walpole bring home a seventh Super Bowl title would not only overwhelm any other contender for the top spot in the Power Poll, but leave all of Transcript Land in its wake.
(Tom Fargo is Sports Editor of the Daily News Transcript. He can be reached at (781) 433-8371 or tfargo@cnc.com).
