Brad Picard (#47) ends for the endzone

By Steev Riccardo

OXFORD – The Shepherd Hill Rams, led by the solid running tandem of Jake Gelb and Drew Jean-Guillaume, defeated the Oxford Pirates 30-7 last Friday night at Oxford High School in a battle between the two neighboring schools.

Senior co-captain Brad Picard’s six-yard first-quarter run opened up the scoring for the Rams and Tyler Simmons’s conversion gave them an 8-0 lead.

Junior Jake Gelb, who seems to be getting better and better every week, then scored on a consecutive pair of long runs (54 yards, 69 yards) in the second quarter to make it 22-0.

Drew Jean-Guillaume topped off the Rams scoring with a huge 92-yard run giving the Rams a commanding 30-0 lead at half time. From that point on, the Rams were able to unload their bench and cruise to the victory over the Pirates.

“Coming into the game, Coach (Chris) Lindstrom stressed to both the players and coaches that anything can happen in a high school football game so we had be prepared for a hard fought game,” said Rams assistant coach Ryan Dugan.  

“To give Oxford's players credit, they came out incredibly fired up and ready to play and maintained that intensity for the entirety of the game,” said Dugan. “Our players came out and executed our game plan on offense, and that allowed us to build a comfortable lead at halftime.  It was nice to be able to get some younger guys and guys who don't get tons of playing time an opportunity in a varsity game throughout the second half.”

The Rams have been getting amazing line play all year and it has opened the doors for their solid running attack and this game was no exception. Gelb finished with 144 yards rushing, while Jean-Guillaume added 136 yards rushing.

“Drew and Jake have been improving all year and they are starting to hit their stride at the right time.  Their progress has been a major catalyst to our improved offense play the past few weeks.  Obviously you can't have these rushing numbers without great line play.”  

Dugan praised the outstanding line play of sophomore Chris Lindstrom and also singled out Tyler Simmons, “whose blocking from the fullback position has been under the radar all year but has been outstanding and integral to the success of the offense.”

Pirates senior Liam Pickett scored on a 59-yard run in the fourth quarter for the Pirates’ only score of the game.

First year head coach Mike Adams and the 1-8 Pirates will travel to Leicester next Friday night to take on the Wolverines before getting ready for their annual Thanksgiving showdown against Auburn.

The Rams have one of their toughest tests of the year when they face the 7-2 Doherty Highlanders in Worcester on Friday night.

“We need to continue the progress on offense and we must get better on defense, especially with tackling, going into the Doherty game,” said Dugan.  “This is a game that will have huge D2 playoff implications, potentially determining the #1 seed.  This game will require our ultimate focus but we our sure that the players are up to the challenge.”

Captions
1. Rams' Chris Lindstrom (#68) leads the way for Jake Gelb (#27)

2. Brad Picard (#47) ends for the endzone

3. Pirates Tyler Barrie (#24) goes airborne for a catch

4. Pirates Coach Mike Adams with quarterback Matt Faucher
5. Tyler Barrie (#24) looking for some running room

6. Chris Lindstrom (#68) blocking for Jake Gelb (#27)

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Tayler Daniels (#6) just after heading the ball that resulted in the Rams' only goal

By Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – The Shepherd Hill Rams girl’s soccer team’s amazing season came to an end Sunday night with a 2-1 loss to Shrewsbury in the district playoffs.

Senior Taylor Daniels scored the lone Rams goal with a header off and a nice pass from senior Amanda Keovongmanysar at the 24:55 mark of the first half that at the time gave the Rams a 1-0 lead.

Shrewsbury tied the game at 6:54 of the first half and went ahead for good with a late goal in the final three minutes of the contest.

Rams head coach Sarah Garneau was pleased with her team's effort and excellent season. “They played hard, they had a great season, this game doesn’t show how great of a season they had. Getting the number 2 seed and being 13-3-3 is not something a lot of people expected out of this team so it was a great season overall.”

Garneau also said that the Rams goal was special. “It was probably by far the best goal we have had all season. Right place, right time, perfect cross, definitely the best goal we have had all season.”

Goal keeper junior Meghan Dunn also played well in defeat as did her teammates, many of whom, such as Central Mass all-star Lauren Barton, played their last games in a Rams uniform.

“It's sad because it's one season done in my senior year and there are only two more left,” said Daniels. “It’s closing out; I don’t really want my senior year to be over yet. I don’t really want to face the real world yet, I’m not ready for all the high school memories coming to an end.”  

Daniels will now start getting ready for hoop season, which, she reminded us, starts in “22 days.”

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Ravenelle tosses 2 TDs

By Steev Riccardo

Dudley – The Shepherd Hill Rams threw a new wrinkle in their attack and toppled the Fitchburg Red Raiders 40-27 on Friday night in a Central Mass Division 1 battle.

The Rams were tied 14-14 at the half with the Red Raiders but took the game over with 20 points in the third quarter.  We have seen this before from them, they are often able to reassess things at halftime and excel in third quarters.

“Fitchburg presented problems with our normal running game, especially in the first half,” said Rams assistant coach Ryan Dugan, “so we thought it was a good opportunity to open it up.  The coaches have confidence in the passing game and we have to give tons of credit to the players for executing those pass plays.”

Two of those pass plays were strikes from senior co-captain quarterback Drew Ravenelle to Drew Jean-Guillaume for 43 and 41 yards.

“We have been practicing passing all year and Drew ‘Rav’ has the ability to make big plays when needed,” said Dugan. 

The Rams also got a key defensive play from Chris Dutting, who picked up a fumble and rambled 85 yards for a score.

“Chris (Dutting) has been making huge plays for us the past three years.  It was a major spot in the game where Fitchburg was driving and gaining momentum and Chris single-handedly ripped the ball out of their running back’s hands and returned it for a TD.  I always tell him that he is a big time player and that was a big time play in a key situation,” said Dugan.

Junior Jake Gelb, who has been running the ball well all year for the Rams, scored a pair of touchdowns, while Gianluca Laudone also added a fourth quarter score for the Rams.

Dugan knew the importance of beating the Red Raiders, despite their 1-6 record. “Playing Fitchburg is a tremendous challenge.  They are one of the most historic, prestigious programs in the entire state. They played at Brockton and have also played Nashoba, Wachusett, and Shrewsbury so they were incredibly battle-tested. The coaches are incredibly proud of the players for the effort and resiliency shown.” 

This was the last home game for the Rams seniors and Dugan was ecstatic about the way things ended for them. “This is the best way I could think of sending the seniors off on their last home game.  Beating Fitchburg at home on their last home game is something they will remember for a very long time”.

The highly ranked 6-1 Rams will now finish their regular season with games at Oxford (next Friday, November 2), at Doherty, and a huge Thanksgiving match-up with Tantasqua.

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Goalie Meghan Dunn

Text And Photos By Steev Riccardo

Auburn – The Shepherd Hill Rams girl’s soccer team put on a masterful defensive performance and shutout the Auburn Rockets 1-0 on Thursday night handing them their first defeat in 36 games.

Senior Amanda Keovongmanysar scored the lone Rams goal, while junior goalkeeper Meghan Dunn earned the shutout giving the Rams an 11-2-3 record on the season.

There were several other stellar efforts but ultimately in all came down to defense which has been one of the major reasons the Rams have been so good this year having allowed only 21 goals against all season.

Seniors Lauren Barton and Taylor Daniels, along with junior Alyssa Silk all played exceptional games for the Rams, who avenged  a 3-1 loss at home to the Rockets on October 9.

Lauren Barton, Taylor Daniels, and Alyssa Silk vs. Northbridge

“This team wanted this win more than they wanted anything else this season,” said Rams coach Sarah Garneau. “This (game) was huge for us, we just beat two teams that were undefeated back to back and I couldn’t be happier”.

Earlier in the week, Garneau’s Rams defeated the previously unbeaten Northbridge Rams 2-1 at home in another outstanding defensive effort.

Garneau also praised Keovongmanysar for staying focused on the game’s only goal. “Amanda kept her composure, she wasn’t covered, she had a nice shot, and she didn’t let her nerves get to her and she put it in the net.”

“Our defense was absolutely outstanding,” said Dunn, who was

only needed to make a few saves but came up big when she had to. “We marked up really well and didn't let them get any real good opportunities.”

Daniels, who played a superb game was very exited about the win.
“Winning that game meant everything to us. Defense wins games. It came down to what team wanted it more last night and we were that team. Getting to every ball counted and stopping every ball counted. Everyone who stepped foot on that field last night gave it their all and kept pushing till the final whistle! At the end of the day it all comes down to team and I couldn't be any prouder of mine.”

The Rams will play at Shrewsbury tomorrow (October 25) in their final game which could be important in helping to determine their seed in the playoffs.

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By Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – The Shepherd Hill Rams continued their winning ways, toppling the previously undefeated Northbridge Rams 42-27 in the rain on Friday night in a contest between two of the best teams in the Southern Worcester County League.

In the battle of the Rams, the 6-1 Shepherd Hill Rams piled up the yardage on the ground and used a variety of running backs to combat the powerful Northbridge passing game.

Senior Kyle Amico scored two touchdowns, while senior co-captain quarterback Drew Ravenelle, junior Gianluca Laudone, and junior Jake Gelb all added rushing touchdowns for the winners.

The Rams will take on Fitchburg at home next Saturday (October 27) before traveling to Oxford, Doherty, and Tantasqua in their final three regular season games.

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Lauren Barton shows off her big foot vs. Auburn

Text  and photos by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – The Shepherd Hill girls soccer team will be looking for more than just revenge this Thursday night (October 18) when they take on the undefeated Auburn Rockets in Auburn for the second time this year.

With the District playoffs looming, a win over the Rockets, who they lost to last week 3-1, could put them in an elite group and gain them a higher seed, but even more than that it’s about respect.  The Rams are an excellent soccer team, deep with talent, that is looking to go far in the playoffs.

One amazing stat about the Rams is that 19 of the 22 girls on the team have scored this season, which shows they are truly a “team” in every sense of the word.

One of their leaders is senior co-captain Lauren Barton, who anchors their outstanding defensive line, and has been a main contributor to the team since she was a freshman.

Rams coach Sarah Garneau has high praise for Barton. “She has been our central defender since she was a freshman; she runs the whole defense, she is awesome.  She is a great role model for the rest of the girls.”

Barton, who will be playing Division 1 soccer at Manhattan College next year along with Auburn star Liz Carlson, knows how important beating the Rockets is and like her teammates wants to beat them and end their winning streak.

“I thought we played really well against them (last week),” said Barton about the 3-1 loss. “We moved the ball really well and I thought everyone worked really hard, the only thing that broke us down was that they got behind us three times and the ball just happened to go in three times.”

Normally the Rams are superb at drawing offside calls, but Carlson is so crafty that she capitalized on the opportunities when the defense had eve the slightest breakdown.

“We have been preparing for Auburn all season, but they had a couple of quick moves that we couldn’t stop,” said senior Tina Gauvin. “This time we are going to prepare by playing tougher defense, covering Lizzy (Carlson) a little more and just trying to dominate them.”

Leading Rams goal scorer Amanda Keovongmanysar, who also took the Auburn loss hard and is looking forward to another shot at them said, “Their team was really good last year and they have that streak. We want to snap that streak and we are happy to get a second chance to do it.”

“We have to play harder and be more consistent; if they score we have to stay up,” said senior Taylor Daniels, whose physical style and presence will be key to the Rams as they move ahead.

Ultimately it will come down to containing Carlson and junior goalie Meghan Dunn knows that.  “We have to watch Lizzy more and not let her run wherever she wants. She’s all over the field, she shows up everywhere.”

Dunn, who stepped up for her team and took on the role as goalie following the loss of Emily Bagley late last season, has been solid all year despite playing with a torn quad.

“She is an absolute fantastic goalie. I am so proud of her,” said Daniels of Dunn’s play.

“It was something that had to be done,” said Dunn on becoming the team’s goalie. “We didn’t really have a goalie so I stepped up and asked to do it.  Lauren (Barton) really helps me out a lot, she is so fast and she always tracks people down on defense. She is really good. My whole defense has been really helping me out a lot. Our backline is really good. I think they are one of the best in Central Mass.”

The Rams are an exceptional soccer team both offensively and defensively, with outstanding senior leadership, and if they play up to their potential they could go far in the playoffs. A win over Auburn would be a great way to get some momentum going on and set up what could be a big playoff run.

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Jen Green goes up high for a spike.

by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – The Shepherd Hill Rams girls’ volleyball team avenged its only loss of the season by stopping Whitinsville Christian 3-1 en route to their eleventh victory of the season last Wednesday (October 10) at the Shepherd Hill gym.

Seniors Jen Green and Julie Preissler played well in the win for the Tom Caffelle-coached Rams, who are in the midst of  a nearly flawless campaign.

The victory evened the score with Whitinsville Christian (8-3), who won in the two team’s first meeting on September 24.

The 11-1 Rams will play at Shrewsbury on Friday, October 19, and then finish their season with two games at home versus Tantasqua on October 22 and Sutton on October 29, with a locked-up district playoff appearance in their future.

Shepherd Hill players in 3-1 win over Auburn 

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – The Shepherd Hill Rams defeated the Auburn Rockets in the opening match of a doubleheader last Tuesday (October 9) 3-1 in an exciting Southern Worcester County League contest.

Rams leading scorer Tyler Martin led the way with a pair of second- half goals added to a first-half goal by freshman Ryan Silk.

Kacper Puczydlowski and Ben Dutting shared the goal keeping responsibilities for the Rams in the win.

“We started off really well, we had a lot of high pressure and good possession of the ball early in the game,” said Rams head coach Kurt Savage.  “We got a good goal early on, the rest of the first half we lost our composure a little bit, and we were playing back on our heels.” 

“Going into the second half with a one goal lead has been a dangerous lead for us in the past. We defended well and tried to keep possession of the ball and we did a good job of that.”

Savage also praised the solid play of Martin, who has 10 goals on the season.  “He did really well today; he is real dynamic up front. He (Martin) earned the first goal and with the penalty kick, he did a good job of drawing the foul and then putting it away.”

The Rams, who started the season 5-0, are now 7-4-3, and have been playing without several key players, including Matt Beauregard, who had three goals in the first two games of the season before breaking his wrist.  

The Rams also recently lost Adam Darling, who has been a key performer all year and may be out for the season.

Savage said that he hopes to have Beauregard back in the lineup any day but has been happy with the players that have filled in. “We have to readjust but the players have responded real well.”

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Laudone Gianluca (#21) looks for a hole (Photo by Linda Flibbert)

by Steev Riccardo. More photos follow.

Auburn – The Shepherd Hill Rams ran into one of the top teams in Central Mass on Friday night in the Auburn Rockets, who played flawlessly and took apart the Rams 35-6 in front of a huge crowd.

This game was a rematch of the two teams’ classic encounter from a year ago when the Rams ended the Rockets 41- game winning streak with a thrilling 32-22 win in Dudley.

The Rams held the Rockets on their first possession and took over on their 14-yard line. Senior co-captain Brad Picard ran the ball three consecutive time and the Rams picked up a pair of first downs but were held and forced to punt.

The Rockets then put together a 69-yard drive helped by a 15-yard penalty and took a 7-0 lead with a minute left in the opening quarter.

Both teams battled hard for field position and the Rockets eventually added on a second score with 6:18 left in the half to make it 14-0.

The Rockets then tagged on another score with 16 seconds left to make 21-0 and put the Rams in a deep hole against a powerful team.

Senior co-captain Drew Ravenelle and Laudone Gianluca had consecutive runs of 14 and 10 yards on the last two plays of the half but that was all the Rams could muster.

It was all Auburn in the second half. They put together two more scoring drives before the Rams were able to score late on a 7- yard run by Zachary Goddard.

“This started in 2009 and it’s not over, this is only one little battle in the war and it’s not over, we have a lot of sophomores out here and we will be here. We are not gong anywhere,” said Rams head coach Chris Lindstrom following the loss

“We played as hard as we could play, I thought we brought it. What I asked them for was their effort and I was very pleased with what they did. We missed some tackles. We have to do a better job. The effort was there. We will be OK, next week we will be back at it.”

The Rams will take on the Bartlett Indians at home next Friday and Lindstrom shifted gears and was already looking ahead.

“We respect Bartlett immensely. We think they are a very good team. They are well coached and disciplined,” said Lindstrom. “They have a heck of a ball club. Those kids are ready to play and when we play them every year it’s a battle.  There is a lot of pride in Webster and I want them to win every game other than the Shepherd Hill, we follow them and we are a big supporter of Bartlett Indians football.” 

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Rams Matt Vertucci (#42) tries to break free.
(Photo by Linda Flibbert)

The Shepherd Hill players held their own in a tough battle
(Photo by Steev Riccardo)

Gina Manzi has been versatile all year for the Pirates.

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo. More photos follow.

OXFORD – A lot has changed in the performance and especially the mindset of the Oxford High School Pirates girl’s soccer team these days.

Coming off a series of losing seasons, the team suddenly has spark and “heart,” and even though they were beaten by the undefeated Auburn Rockets 5-3 last Thursday, it many ways it was a win.

A year ago when the two teams met, the Rockets shut out the Pirates 6-0. Last Thursday they were a goal post and a couple of breaks away from beating the undefeated Central Mass super power.

The Pirates were led by Central Mass leading scorer senior co-captain Emily Dawidczyk, who scored all three goals, but it was hardly a one- girl performance, with many players stepping up and contributing heavily.

The defensive backline of seniors Gina Manzi, Blair Reilly, and Dominique Lesieur all played exceptionally well, as did sophomore goalie Bethany Keefe, who despite giving up five goals held her own against the talented Rockets team.

Dawidczyk was upbeat afterwards, despite the loss. “I feel good about our team, just thinking about last year at the end of the first half when we played them it was like 6-0. This is a huge deal, to even be tied with them at one point is mind blowing”. 

“We haven’t beaten them in all my years here,” said Dawidczyk.  “I think the last time Oxford beat Auburn in soccer was around 2006.”

Gina Manzi, who has had an all-star caliber season, blasted a shot off the top goal post late, which looked like a sure goal that would have tied the game at four and there was at least one offside on the Rockets that wasn’t called that could have prevented a breakaway goal.

“A couple of their goals seemed like they may have been offside at least one, it happens though, we still played well and it’s like a win in our books,” said Dawidczyk.

Dawidczyk, who now has a Central Mass league leading 27 goals, had much praise for Manzi afterwards. “She never says anything about where the coach puts her, she will play anywhere and she is so versatile. She takes shots, she defends, she can switch gears quickly she is an experienced player she knows what she is doing.”

The senior co-captain also liked what she saw from her other teammates, including Reilly, who played solid defense throughout. “Blair works hard at everything she ever does in school in whatever she does. She works hard in practice always trying to better herself and it’s really starting to show on the field.”

“You can see the improvement,” said Reilly. “I think our chances of being a playoff team are much better than last year.”

“The thing is now that we want it, we have heart on this team and we found it and we are at a point now where we are not going to give up,” added co-captain Lesieur. “We don’t care what the score is we are behind each other and we are not going to give up until the end.”

Head Coach Dung Nguyen knows that Manzi’s shot could have changed the outcome, but regardless, was pleased afterwards with his team’s play. “That was a great shot, she doesn’t usually play up top, but I needed somebody up there with a big foot, too bad it hit the crossbar and came back out. It would have been beautiful if it would have gone in.”

“We always play better against better teams, they always step up and

I told the girls we can compete with any team in the league. We didn’t play well in Millbury and Sutton, but I feel we can keep compete with anyone.”

The 4-6-1 Pirates, who are much better than their record indicates, will have a host of key matches coming up, including Leicester on Thursday, October 11, and a rescheduled game against Northbridge on Wednesday, October 17.

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Pirates Senior co-captain Dominique Lesieur