Our fall sports teams have showcased their talent and determination this tournament season. Girls soccer won the program’s first state title in 20 years, while competitive cheer and a first-time cross country runner qualified for states. Football made it to the state semifinals, and boys soccer and field hockey reached playoffs as well. Crowds that have come out for the numerous home games have been treated to plenty of action and heart.
Girls Soccer – The Hawks (#4) won their first state title in 20 years after beating Dedham (#12) 1-0 in the title game at Walpole High School on Nov. 19. Sophia Foley scored the winning goal on a pass by Eva Kelleher, and the team survived a penalty kick in the final minutes. Led by senior captains Mary Carven, Cailyn McCarthy and goalie Mia Pongratz, the game was a fitting end to an amazing season!
Flying high from their Patriot League Fisher Division championship, the team kicked off the post-season by edging Martha’s Vineyard (#29) at home Nov. 6 by a score of 2-1. Goals were netted by Foley, a league MVP, and Sophie Schiller. The team next hosted Pentucket Regional (#13) in the round of 16 on Nov. 9, winning by a score of 2-0. Foley and Schiller combined for scoring once again. The Hawks beat North Reading 1-0 in double overtime in the round of 8 on Nov. 12 to secure a spot in the Final Four. Ayla McDermod scored the winning goal and Pongratz continued her outstanding work in goal. They qualified for the state championship after topping Dover-Sherborn (#8) in the Final Four. The game, played Nov. 16 at Weymouth High School, was scoreless through two overtimes before Hanover won on penalty kicks. Natalie Mutchler defended the goal and Callie Baldwin sank the winning shot.
The last time the team made it to the title game was 2000, when they beat Gateway 1-0.
Football: The Hawks (#4) made it to the state semifinals after a season where they often dominated the competition. Led by quarterback Ben Scalzi, their tourney run was nothing but thrills. In the round of 16 on Nov. 4, they defeated Westwood (#13) 42-7. Nick Freel made it to the end zone three times in front of the home crowd, with additional TDs by Joe Curran, Vinny Mancini and Aidan Boutin. In the quarterfinals on Nov. 10, Hanover hosted Walpole (#5) in a nail-biter of a matchup. The lead changed several times in the second half, with Hanover sealing a 40-37 win in the final minutes of the game. The team faced top-seeded Milton in the Final Four on Nov. 18 at Weymouth High School. Down 20-8 at halftime, the Hawks soared back to a 30-26 lead in the second half. A Milton interception in the fourth quarter led to a touchdown and the Hawks lost 32-30. They finished their impressive season by winnig the annual Thanksgiving Day game against Norwell. Scalzi, Curran, Freel, Ben Hickey and David Quinlan were named Patriot League All Stars. Colin Kilgoar won the league academic achievement award and Shane Coleman was honored for sportsmanship.
Competitive Cheer: The team headed to the MSAA State Championships at Worcester State University on Nov. 20 vying for its first-ever state title. With another strong performance full of energy and skills, the team fell short of its goal but finished with a solid fifth place. During the season, the team won two cheer invitationals before winning the Patriot League Fisher Division title on Nov. 5. The league championship event, hosted at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, also saw the squad named Grand Champions with the highest score of any team. They next took home first place at the South Sectional competition at Duxbury High School on Nov. 13, earning a spot in the state competition.
Boys Soccer: Hanover (#11) made it to the round of 8 before their strong season came to an end. They fell to Belchertown (#3) 3-2 on Nov. 12; goals were scored by A.J. Leone and Ryan Butzbach. The Hawks began the tournament by beating Tantasqua (#22), 2-1, in a round of 32 match on Nov. 4. Goals were scored by Tyler Richards and Ned McCann, with solid work in the goal by James Solari. In the round of 16 on Nov. 9, the Hawks topped Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School (#27), 4-0. Goals were scored by James McDermod, Dan Bevilacqua, Aidan Richards and Ben Elliott, with Solari earning the shutout.
Field Hockey: Hanover (#10) extended its Patriot League Fisher Division championship season by topping Auburn (#23) Nov. 5 in the round of 32. The Hawks won on the home field 4-1, with three goals by Katie Radzik, league MVP and All Star, and one by Mae Buchanan. For the round of 16, they traveled to Swampscott (#7) on Nov. 8 but lost 2-1. In addition to Radzik, five other players were named leage All Stars: Ava Toglia, Mary Kate Vermette, Merrie DeCoste, Sam Burke, and Kenzie Foley. Coach Bostwick helmed the league all-star game on Nov. 15. Congratulations on a great season!
Cross Country: Sophomore Cam Bradford had a solid debut season for the team, earning Patriot League MVP, finishing 27th at the Divisional championships and qualifying for states. She finished 50th out of 180 runners at the state meet, held at Fort Devens on Nov. 19. The team sent six girls and six boys to the Divisional Championships, held at Stanley Park in Worcester on Nov. 12. The team also competed in the league championship at Hingham High School on Oct. 29. Jack Douglas and Anna Mahoney earned league sportsmanship honors for the season, and Tom Perkins and Jillian Farrell were named scholar-athletes.
Golf: Junior captain Chris Doherty competed in the Division 2 state championship on Oct. 25 at Maplegate Country Club in Bellingham.
Photo Albums from Fall Season
Field hockey senior night 10/21
Football state semifinal from the Patriot Ledger
Football state semifinal highlight video from the Patriot Ledger
The Hawk 
This is such a wonderful and analytical article encompassing the fall sports season. I love how it talks about each fall sport by itself, and the writer even added specific details from the season and from certain important games or competitions. The writer must have had to gather this information from some extensive research, which shows great dedication. Very well written overall.
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This is an impressively written article that summarized each fall sports teams season very well. The writer did a good job including specific details about each team and what they achieved. Overall this was a very well written article.
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I thought that this article had a lot of detailed information and statistics included in the writing. The author really captured all of the great moments that happened across multiple sports teams over the fall. Some of the facts that were included many people would not have known, so the amount of research the author did for the article really brought the piece together.
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This article provided a detailed summarization of the fall sports fro HHS, giving specific statistics and numbers while also remaining broad enough to cover all the sports. This article is written exceedingly well.
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