Team Sports Return: Fall 2021 Highlights

Team Sports Return for 2021 Fall Season

Excitement was palpable among Fenn’s athletes, coaches, and ever-supportive spectators as interscholastic sports returned to the turf, fields, and courses after a COVID-imposed hiatus during the spring 2021 season.

Football

In one of the most successful tackle football seasons in school history, Fenn registered an undefeated record of 4-0-1 with wins over Dexter Southfield School, Noble & Greenough School, and twice over rival Fay School.

The Homecoming crowd witnessed Fenn score a dominating win over Fay School on October 2. The blue-andgold ran off to a 16-0 halftime advantage and went on to win 22-6. Matt Carolan cashed in for 196 yards on the ground and one touchdown, while JP Ward had 190 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Three road games proved to be no obstacle for Fenn, as the team defeated Noble & Greenough (24-18, Oct. 22), Dexter (34-6, Oct. 29), and Fay School under the lights (28-12, Nov. 5). In the season finale, it looked like Fenn might let the undefeated season slip away, but the team rallied with 14 unanswered points in the final five minutes to tie Dexter, 14-14, at Reynolds Field.

The game-tying touchdown was a 45-yard screen pass from JP Ward to Matt Carolan. Carolan executed a spin move and stiff arm while evading three would-be tackles before sprinting down the sidelines for the score. Still down two points, Alex Murdough caught the critical two-point conversion to complete the comeback.

“We wished there would have been overtime!” exclaimed Coach Matt Ward ’00. Ward was assisted on the sidelines this season by Chris Ryan ’10 and Ryan Burgess.

Fenn was led by an excellent senior class who stirred up a perfect recipe of skill, leadership, and grit.

“It was a true joy to coach this group of players,” Coach Ward said. “I congratulate them on an exceptional season!”

This year’s team captains all were seniors: Matt Carolan, Gabe Fonte, Alex Murdough, JP Ward, and DJ WinstonJohnson.

Cross-Country

Not to be outdone by their football peers, the Fenn cross-country team also stitched together an undefeated season, one that featured the phenomenal individual accomplishments of eighth grader JT Gally.

Among Gally’s many showcase performances, he became the first Fenn runner ever to win the Roxbury Latin Jamboree. On November 3, he ran the Jamboree’s 2.3 mile course in a time of 12 minutes and 50 seconds—an astound-

Gally Runs Into the Record Books

This fall proved to be JT Gally’s best cross-country season of his Fenn career. In addition to becoming the first Fenn runner ever to win the competitive Roxbury Latin Jamboree, JT finished first overall in every race. He also set the Roxbury Latin course record during an away race on October 20. JT’s time of 12:01 was 36 seconds faster than the previous course record.

“Our team showed tremendous growth as runners this fall,” remarked the ever humble Gally when asked about his stellar season. “I’m extremely proud of the work we did as one unit, and our progress reflected that.”

JT added to his exceptional performances this fall by placing first overall at the Massachusetts State Middle School Cross Country Championship in Devens, MA on November 6. JT won the 8th Grade division of 200+ entrants by a staggering 25 seconds over the second place finisher, crossing the finish line in a time of 10:39.

This marks back-to-back State Championships for JT as he finished first overall in the 6th Grade division in 2019. The 2020 competition was cancelled due to COVID.

As the fall season concluded, JT still found himself running in high-level competitions. His focus turned to the 2021 USATF New England Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on November 14 in Nashua, NH, where he finished 6th overall in his division.

ing 25 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Nineteen schools and 240 runners competed. (See sidebar on Gally’s record breaking season.)

Fenn’s Charlie Gillick, a consistent top-of-the-pack finisher all year, also won a medal by placing tenth at the Jamboree with a time of 14:06. It was Gillick’s best race of the year. Rounding out the top five Fenn finishers were sixth grader Kaden Ata and seventh graders Will Parks and Daniel McGowan. Fenn, as a team, placed fifth overall, which was considered the number one spot for schools without high school level competitors.

“All in all, a very impressive day for Fenn harriers!” proclaimed Coach David Duane.

Fenn won its first meet of the season at Lexington Christian Academy on September 29. Other first place team finishes were posted at Shore Country Day School (Oct. 6), home against St. Sebastian’s School and Carroll School (Oct. 13), and home against Lexington Christian Academy and Pike School (Oct. 22).

“It was an outstanding and successful season,” said Duane.

Varsity Soccer

Six shutout victories highlighted the varsity soccer schedule in 2021, with shutdown defense pairing with plenty of offensive power as Fenn posted a 9-1 regular season record.

Coached by Bob Starensier, Jason Rude, and Andy Rentschler, the varsity team opened the season with a fourgame undefeated streak, registering wins over Belmont Hill School (5-2, Sept. 22), Dexter Southfield School (3-0, Sept. 29), and St. Sebastian’s School (7-0, Oct. 1), and at Rivers School in Weston (4-0, Oct 6). A 6-0 loss at Fay

School on October 8 blemished the perfect record, but Fenn got right back on track, concluding the regular season with wins at Shore Country Day School (2-1, Oct. 13) and Jewish Community Day School (5-0, Oct. 14) before returning home for three straight wins over Park School (6-0, Oct. 18), Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School (2-1, Oct. 20), and Shore Country Day School (3-0, Nov. 3). An October 27 Fessenden match-up was cancelled.

On an individual level, eighth grader Cooper Balfour showcased his scoring prowess game after game, highlighting the Fenn attack. The center forward collected a season-high eleven goals, including hat-tricks against Dexter and Park.

Defensively, Fenn was backstopped by Harry Lavoie, and the team always could count on stalwart defenseman Lyle Waldeck to keep things in control in the defensive zone. Fenn allowed only 10 goals, while scoring an impressive 37, across its regular-season ten games.

At the 46th Annual New England Junior Private School Tournament at Eaglebrook School, Fenn finished in sixth place. The capstone event, held in Deerfield, MA, on November 6, included eight teams in grades 6-9. In the opening game of the tournament, Fenn tied Fessenden School, 1-1, late in regulation on a brilliant header from Balfour. The goal forced a penalty kick shootout, which was won by Fessenden.

In the second game, Balfour scored three goals in leading Fenn to a 3-1 victory over Rumsey Hall. Up next, the boys in blue-and-gold fell in a tight game to the host team, Eaglebrook, 1-0, then suffered a 3-1 loss to Cardigan Mountain School and a 6-1 loss to Indian Mountain School.

Coaches Starensier, Rude, and Rentschler praised the Fenn boys: “We were proud of the sportsmanship that the team displayed in the tourney and the outstanding effort against some very talented teams.”

This season’s varsity captains were Cooper Balfour, Lucas DosSantos, Spencer Harnden, and Lyle Waldeck.

Junior Varsity Soccer

The JV squad kept pace with the varsity team in 2021, registering a winning season with heart and hustle.

Coach Dave Sanborn’s team started the season with two straight shutout wins: at Lexington Christian Academy (5-0, Sept. 27) and at home versus Fay School (5-0, Oct. 1), implementing a passing rhythm that the team worked hard to continue to develop throughout the season. Milo Schubnel scored three times in the first two games, while Finn Gower picked up a pair of goals.

There was a bump in the road when Fenn fell to The Rashi School (6-1, Oct. 6) before getting back on track at Belmont Hill (2-1, Oct. 8) and tying Pike School (1-1, Oct. 13). After a home loss against a tough Fessenden School squad (4-1, Oct. 15), the JV crew rocketed back with its best streak of the season: three straight wins with games at home versus Lexington Christian Academy (4-0, Oct. 22), at Belmont Day School (5-1, Oct. 28), and home versus Fay School (2-0, Nov. 5). Isah Nichol was good for a goal-a-game during the

last half of the season.

Fenn closed the books with their second loss to an undefeated Rashi team (3-0, Nov. 10). Fenn finished with a 6-3-1 record. A scheduled Oct. 27 game with Fessenden was cancelled.

According to Coach David Sanborn, additional highlights included, “Finn Gower’s and Isah Nichol’s relentless pressing and blazing runs along the wings, Blue Muir’s and John Mulvany’s highintensity defensive battles, and stellar ball control and distribution through midfield from Ethan Pearson, Ebrahim Saeed, Milo Schubnel, and Theo Snydman.”

The JV team received stellar goaltending from Horace Pott and Penn Boger during the season, who both were fearless in dominating periods of play at different points in 2021.

Sanborn was assisted by Coaches Dominic Dipersia and Quinn Writer this season. Ninth grader Thomas Livens led the way as the JV captain.

Thirds Soccer

Across an extremely productive season, Thirds Soccer showcased one of the more competitive squads of recent years.

Coaches Jonathan Wachs and Jalen Joncas ’10, expressed how positive this season was from start to finish. “We had 18 players on our team with only some to little soccer experience, but they came motivated each day ready to learn and eager to play!”

Self-proclaimed as the “Bee Swarm,” the team made an effort to shift the stigma that Thirds Soccer couldn’t be competitive, and that they did, finishing 6-4 on the season. Credit goes to the players for their continuous team building, personal and athletic growth, and enthusiasm on the pitch.

After starting the year 2-1 with wins versus Dexter and Pike School and a loss to Fay School, the team went on the road for a comeback win, scoring two late goals to beat Shore Country Day School. After a couple of tough losses to Carroll School and Belmont Day School, the Bee Swarm buzzed through their next three games with back-to-back wins over Fessenden, one featuring a hat-trick from Eston Brainerd, and a huge road win over rival Fay School—their highlight win of the season.

Rohan Rege stepped into the goalie position this season with no prior experience in net and rose to the occasion, becoming one of the team leaders. Alex Spence and Evren Khan also made key contributions and strides in their play throughout the season.

In the season finale, Fenn dropped a 3-1 decision to a tough Carroll team, but this game showed Fenn’s growth too, as the team narrowed the scoring gap substantially from the first matchup with Carroll School.

“This has been the highlight of my year so far—being able to coach this group!” shared Coach Wachs.

This year’s captains were Jonas Ahlgren, Rohan Rege, and Xavi West.