Former Millis Soccer Star Brings Home National Title

Walpole native and Millis High alum Olivia Zitoli (far right) won the Division III national title with the William Smith women's soccer program. 

(Larry Radloff/D3Photography.com) 

On August 30, the William Smith women’s soccer team lost its season opener 2-1 against the College of New Jersey. The Herons would not lose another game this season.

William Smith went on to win the Division III national title with a 2-0 victory over Trinity in San Antonio in December. It was the first national title for the program since 1988 and at the heart of the Herons success was former Millis High standout Olivia Zitoli.

“I just fell down because it was so much to handle,” said Zitoli about the reaction to the final whistle in the championship game. “I’m home on break and it’s just now starting to sink in.”

She continued, “Sometimes it seems like the longest road ever…after four months, your body has taken a beating and it was just emotional and exhausting. It’s just a whirlwind of emotions and you don’t fully grasp what you’ve done in the moment.”

Zitoli, who won basketball and soccer state titles in 2009 at Millis, was not just a squad member, but also a senior captain and a rock in the heart of a defense that recorded a program record 21 shutouts in 25 games this season. For her extraordinary efforts, Zitoli was named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) DIII All-American, Liberty League Player of the Year and the National DIII Player of the Year.

“They were awards that I never thought that I would achieve,” said Zitoli. “When I came out of Millis, I was a really solid athlete but I wasn’t the most technical or talented soccer player. I just thought that I would contribute to my team and I never really thought that I would become an All-American.”

She added, the shake of her head audible over the phone, “Even when I got it…I just couldn’t believe it.”

William Smith head coach Aliceann Wilber, who has been in charge for 34 years and amassed over 480 wins, was also surprised by her star defender’s award haul, but she had no doubt that it was deserved.

“Those are difficult achievements for her to reach and I don’t think any of us carried the individual stuff through the season,” said Wilbur from January’s NSCAA convention in Philadelphia. “People started paying attention to the defensive effort and how consistently we were doing it and Olivia was certainly the fulcrum.”

“Her influence on the team had a tremendous impact on how far we went and how we did it,” she added.

Zitoli modestly, and with sincerity, passed along much of the credit to her teammates for the accolades that have come her way this season.

“I keep telling people that I wish I could share it,” she remarked. “My position in the back line and all the shutouts and the different stats that we got was really a reflection on the back line and on the team as a whole. I know that I was a senior and the most experienced, but I couldn’t have done it without everyone else.”

This was the third trip to the Final Four for the Herons in Zitoli’s four-year career and both coach and player admitted that, coming into the season, the national title was no more than a token goal for the team. But, once the Final Four had been reached, the Herons set their sights squarely on bringing home the prize and to do it for all those that had not been able to win it during their careers.

“A lot of our team this year was juniors who had been there in their freshman year with a huge senior class and we fell short,” Zitoli explained. “They had to watch their captains and leaders and it was devastating. We wanted to kind of win it for all the people who had fallen short in the previous years.”

Even in the midst of winning a national title, Zitoli always looked back at her time in Millis for inspiration. “When I went to the Final Four this year, I had the sense of ‘I’ve been here before’ and it wasn’t because I had been there with William Smith, but because I have been in big games with Millis where we were even more of an underdog.”

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Former Millis High star Olivia Zitoli was named the DIII Player of the Year.    
Larry Radloff/D3Photography.com

      

      Seeds for success were sown in Millis

“There are very few Olivia Zitoli’s out there and that’s why there are very few national champions,” said Chuck Grant, Director of Student Affairs at Millis High. “We were very lucky to have her here at Millis.”

The feeling is mutual.

“There still hasn’t been anything in my life that has meant as much to me as those two titles in Millis,” Zitoli asserted. “My experiences in Millis were unlike anything that I’ve ever had and those titles and those teams and those coaches and that community…I still reflect on that a lot because I just credit those coaches and those teammates for so much of my success.”

The experiences that Zitoli shared with Millis almost did not happen. A resident of Walpole, Zitoli went to school in her hometown through sixth grade. Because of her age, she repeated sixth grade and made the decision to go to Millis Middle School where her father had been  principal for more than a decade. It was a decision that she never regretted and several years later would be a momentous decision for Millis High girls’ athletics when the Class of 2010 began winning titles.

After the volleyball team took home a state title, the basketball team, with Zitoli a prominent member, brought home a title in 2009. That fall, the girls’ soccer team added a second championship to her high school resume. Grant marveled at that amount of great athletes that were part of that class and credits Zitoli for being one of the leaders that drove the Mohawks to success.

“It was her influence during those summer fitness camps that they run,” Grant noted. “She wasn’t a very vocal leader, just a good captain. She did the extra that puts her into the upper echelon -- it’s no fluke.”

Zitoli’s college coach saw similar qualities during her four years with the Herons. “She’s mature beyond her years for one thing and her ability to influence her peers for better behavior, better performance, better perspective  -- you can’t put a value on that,” said Wilbur. “She set the tone for the work rate and she’s just such a great leader.”

Wilbur added, “How she managed the team off the field, the guidance that she gave and the role-modeling that she did, we’re going to miss all of that.”

Ever modest about her achievements, Zitoli was quick to praise the coaches and players that influenced her during high school, but as Wilbur noted about her first meeting with Zitoli four years ago, “We can all recognize something special when we’re in front of it and she’s just a very special person.”

Zitoli stressed, “I learned so much from the coaches at Millis about team chemistry, work ethic, and leadership and I think a lot of that, when I went to college, I was really lucky. I realized even more so after the fact how special my high school experience was when I talked to my college friends.”

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 Olivia Zitoli and her William Smith teammates celebrate the DIII national title.

(Larry Radloff/D3Photography.com)

      Developing a national championship leader

On the night before the Final Four began in San Antonio, the NSCAA hosted a banquet to honor each of the teams that would be competing. One person from each team was chosen to represent his or her school and give a speech. It should be no surprise at this point that Zitoli represented William Smith.

After several standard fare speeches -- filled with references to the achievements of teammates or the qualities of particular coaches -- Zitoli walked to the podium and addressed the crowd. Watching the speech on YouTube, Grant commented that her words made him even more proud than the title that would be won two days later.

“It’s always about her teammates,” said Grant. “She’s a big picture person and has a great head on her shoulders. She realized early on that if ‘we’ win then accolades would come to the leader.”

“Mine stood out because it was a little bit longer and it focused on the over-arching theme of athletics and leadership and being a Division III student-athlete,” explained Zitoli. “I talked about coaches and how they helped us with our moral growth and how the lessons that we learned in athletics will help us beyond soccer.”

Leadership is a word that comes up in every conversation about Zitoli. When asked what makes her such a great captain and team leader, Grant replied, “She treated sophomores like she did seniors. She made everyone feel comfortable and part of the team and accept their roles on the squad to work together as a whole.”

Wilbur was asked the same questions and responded, “She doesn’t have an ego, so the team is happy to follow her thoughts and her suggestions because they always trust that it’s for ‘the we, not the me.’ She can be very compelling.”

Zitoli has worked for years on her leadership skills and does not hesitate to say that she embraces that role on the team and works hard so that her teammates will embrace her and the message that she tries to get across.

“For me, the most important thing overall was my teammates and having a strong relationship with them,” Zitoli said. “I think I gained a lot of respect from my teammates because I was consistent and because I cared a lot about what my teammates were going through on and off the field.”

“In Millis and at William Smith we were blessed to have great people. We were very talented, but we had some of the best people too.”

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D3 National Player of the Year Olivia Zitoli.
(Larry Radloff/D3Photography.com)

       Putting Millis on the map

During her winter break, Zitoli returned to the high school where it all began and visited her former basketball team. She proudly pointed out that the current crop of Mohawks were still doing the same pre-game ritual that was started by the 2009 champions.

For Zitoli, even a national title pales in comparison to her time walking the halls at Millis.

“I walk into that school and my heart aches,” she admitted. “It’s home; it’s so comfortable. I feel like every lesson that I ever learned happened there.”

“It’s something that I think about all the time -- honestly all the time -- about how fortunate I was and just how lucky I was to go to Millis and to have those athletes when I went.”

Grant marveled, “For a small school to be a steppingstone to that level of achievement and then she set the standards for the school. In fact, it’s something that we share with the whole [Tri-Valley League].”

Zitoli concluded, “It was great to be a part of getting Millis back on the map because they had some rough years. We made a statement that it can be done and that we don’t always have to be an underdog because we’re small.”

Story was originally published in Millis/Medway Community Guide by Hometown Weekly Publications.

Millis took home the 2009 state title in soccer. 

(Photo courtesy of Olivia Zitoli)

Blue-collar attitude leading Millis star to the big time

(Josh Perry/Hometown Weekly Publications)

There is something appropriate about the appearance of the weight room at Millis High. There is an old-school feel to the space, like it has not been changed in decades.

It is Spartan and bare - practical and utilitarian. It is not filled with gleaming weights, elliptical machines, or brand-new treadmills- just the basics. Although it is less than 100 feet from a spacious and open lobby, it feels like it is in the depths of the school and closed off from the outside world. This room is about hard work, sweat, and determination.

The weight room is a manifestation of the qualities that the town of Millis and the Millis High football team pride themselves on.

On a grey, freezing February afternoon, as the Westwood High freshman basketball team jokes around and prepares to take the court, the sound of someone lifting weights rattles through the locker room. In this small, closed off space, a lone player is going through his off-season workout program.

Jon Baker, the Mohawks 6-foot-3, 300-pound offensive and defensive lineman, stands alone in the weight room getting ready for his daily lifting session. While the team also uses the far more aesthetically pleasing St. Cyr Sports Performance Academy in Franklin, the school’s weight room seems to better fit Baker’s description of Millis athletes.

“We’re not big, we’re not rich, but we’re tough and we get after it,” he remarked.

Baker is the rare local high school football player whose size is as intimidating off the field as on it. Reaching for a quick handshake, your hand is engulfed and it is easy to see why Division 1 college scouts have made the trip down Route 109 to see the Mohawks play. From Boston College to Harvard, Michigan to Ohio State, there is increasing interest in the blue-collar work ethic of the Millis High junior.

Interestingly, Baker’s football career almost ended before it began. “I played one year of Pop Warner football in second grade. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the coach, the game or anything about it,” he remembered with a sly grin.

(Josh Perry/Hometown Weekly
Publications)

It was Baker’s older brother Dave that brought him back to the field in seventh grade. At the time, the Millis program needed players and Jon would join his brother on the field and practice against the varsity. Dave, who just finished his senior season as a lineman at Williams College and is planning on attending medical school, inspired Jon on and off the field.

“He taught me mostly everything I know,” explained Baker.

He added, “He taught me stance, steps, position... everything. Besides that, he taught me how to lift, which is probably the most important thing.”

Baker is also following his brother’s example in the classroom as an honors student carrying a 4.0 grade point average. This will impact his potential college choice. Baker is looking for a school that combines great academic standards with a strong football pedigree.

When asked about the rigors of the recruiting process, Baker shrugged. He seems at ease with the attention and managing the distractions of deciding his future. He chuckled, “It gets a little intense sometimes, but I guess it’s a good problem to have.”

He hopes to make a decision before his senior season begins, although it is hard to pinpoint where that choice may take him. Baker expresses no bias towards region or particular alliance as a fan of any program. In fact, rather than being overwhelmed by the possibilities presented to him, Baker has come to a mature understanding that he holds the power and it is better to have many options than none.

“It’s a good challenge,” Baker remarked about the attention his recruitment has drawn on the field. “You have to step up and you have to be on your ‘A’ game all the time. It’s nice extra motivation sometimes, but I try not to think about it and just play football – be an ordinary high school kid.”

The success of the Millis-Hopedale program has certainly helped promote the talent of its players. If not for the two schools combining three years ago, there may not be a football team at Millis High. While the Mohawks success as a co-op program has drawn some detractors claiming that it is an unfair advantage, Baker sees the partnership as necessary to compete.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an advantage,” he argues. “I think it brings us closer to the level of other teams just having the guys, you know, even to practice with. But, it’s definitely a great thing.”

He points to another characteristic of the team as the real reason behind back-to-back playoff appearances: “A lot of guys working hard and it paid off.”

Baker invokes the gritty, hard-working ethos of Millis (and Hopedale) as an underlying factor to the team’s success. The industrial, blue-collar attitudes of the community are embodied on the football field by Baker and the Mohawks. While discussing the recruiting process, the connection between the town and Baker is obvious. While some top prospects would look for a bigger or more illustrious program to showcase their skills, he dismisses the idea and says that it was never an option.

“I could never leave here. I just couldn’t see myself anywhere else. Hopefully, if we get a little attention and the coaches stopping by notice other kids… that’s great,” said Baker.

Local athletes in a variety of sports are finding more opportunities to make the jump to the Division 1 level. Part of the reason for the increased attention on smaller school programs may be the proliferation of media outlets covering high school sports and a greater depth to the reporting. There are also local coaching connections to the area, such as Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien, that have dragged scouts from major college programs into small towns, like Millis, across New England.

Coach Olmsted has helped lead Millis-Hopedale to
consecutive playoff appearances by instilling the
mentality that hard work pays off.
(Tony Risica Photography)

As Baker mentions, “There are great players everywhere. It doesn’t really matter where you’re playing.”

Even with the increased competition to find recruits, it is still rare to see a Millis High athlete drawing the marquee college programs that have come to see Baker play. Seeing one of their own playing on Saturdays can only be a boon for the Mohawks, who are trying to increase participation from younger players.

Baker recognizes his role in bringing younger players into the program and being an ambassador for the Mohawks in the community. It is a status he relishes.

“We’ve got some young talent coming up, which I’m excited to see and, especially on the line, looking forward to working with,” he noted. “I’m really looking forward to my senior season, hopefully we can win the Super Bowl.”

When the Mohawks take the field next season, all eyes will be on their D1 prospect. Teams will see the giant maroon and blue number 77 in the center of the line and focus all their energy on trying to stop him.

Jon Baker is going to be ready for them.

Amid the din of everyday locker room activity, the distinctive clank of weights echoes. Alone in the weight room the hard work continues.

After all, according to Baker, that is what Millis is all about.

A Decade of Dominance: Westwood High Girls’ Lacrosse and a Legacy of Success

The scoreboard was not working properly. It read 99-96 before the game even got started. As the first half wore on it began to feel as though at least one half of that score line was possible. The girls in white were winning every face-off and swarming the opposition goal. Their two All-Americans would combine for 12 goals and 7 assists. It was a rout.

It was also the cap on a decade of dominance by one of the most successful programs in any sport in the state. The 20-6 victory over Algonquin at Worcester’s Foley Field was the 6th state championship in 10 years for the Westwood High girl’s lacrosse team and 3rd in four years for the star-studded senior class.

Losing players of the caliber of Kate Rich, 5 goals and 2 assist in the finals, Laura McHoul, 7 goals and 5 assists, and goalie Mollie Brown, 7 saves, would seem to imply an upcoming dry spell, but Head Coach Leslie Frank has dealt with this before and has never missed a beat. One of the reasons for the team’s continued success is that when players graduate they don’t leave the program, but rather come back and attend practices, cheer their former teammates on from the sidelines, and give advice to the new squad members.

The program has talent, that is unquestioned, but the strength of history and the legacy of winning pushes the Wolverines to title after title.

“Every year a team leaves something behind and the new players pick it up,” said McHoul (who along with Rich was named an All-American in her senior season) following the team’s triumph in Worcester. “Each year you just want to carry the legacy of what each year has left behind. And just to carry this on and to set up the sophomore class to go four for four was great.”

This past season did not start in typical manner with Westwood losing their opening game of the season to Lincoln-Sudbury, one of the few teams to challenge their supremacy in Division 1. Later in the season, Westwood would fall to their South Sectional rivals from Needham, a team that Coach Frank would later call the best they had played that season. In the playoffs, both those losses would be avenged and the season that began with Westwood looking like they might finally be dethroned ended in a very familiar manner.

Laura McHoul, a senior captain and All-American,
searches for an opening against Needham.

Frank has become a legend in the lacrosse community with the program that she has built at Westwood High and her focus and modesty has translated to her players. Rising senior midfielder Marina Burke noted, “It all started from her and she is an amazing coach. It might be possible that someone could match her in the number of wins or something, but I don’t think anyone could ever match the positive impact she has had on a lacrosse program.”

Following her team’s title, the reporters in attendance asked Frank what it was about Westwood that made them consistently dominant. She answered, “It’s the mentoring. It’s the legacy. Those girls are here year after year coming back to support them. We love the game and we are going to help anyone that’s going to grow the game.”

One of those former players is Erica Nangeroni, a 2010 graduate who won two state titles in her four years on the varsity squad and is currently playing as a junior at Bowdoin College. Nangeroni admires the ease with which former players are welcomed into practices by the coaches and current players. Advice is not only welcomed - it is sought and, despite winning titles of their own, current players want to learn from those that have already gone through the pressure of being the best.

“In my experience with the Westwood program, all of the players are so determined to learn as much as they can and to always better their play; Westwood players take advantage of every opportunity to learn and get better and they were absolutely willing to listen and try new things to do so,” said Nangeroni by email.

The former players add perspective to the hard work that the girls put in everyday on the practice field. The championships are great and seem to happen every year, but after graduation it is easier to realize how important it is to enjoy the celebrations with teammates and to appreciate how short the time really was during those intense playoff moments.

Senior captain and All-American Kate Rich
 pumps her fists to celebrate a goal against
Needham in the Sectional finals.

Nangeroni commented, “Being such a consistently strong program, a lot of the players know what it’s like to participate in the high pressure games; what they don’t realize is how fleeting those moments are. I advised the girls to really have fun and enjoy each game and to cherish the time with their team on and off the field because they won’t realize how special this time is until after it’s gone.”

Chasing a championship each season adds a certain pressure but both Burke and Nangeroni insist that the legacy of Westwood’s success has not added stress. According to Burke, “I don’t think there is added pressure because every year is a new year and a new team and we try to look at it that way. There is definitely added desire and ambition to do the same as the years before, but not too much pressure.” Nangeroni agreed, “Though the past success of the program may appear to add pressure to the current team, I think that there is more of a sense of pride. Within the team, the past success of the program was something that we always use to boost us up, never to bring us down.”

The new season is still over six months away, but already Westwood are the heavy favorites to be lifting the trophy again at Foley Field. Already the teams at Needham High, Lincoln-Sudbury, and Algonquin are plotting their revenge and trying to find the strategy to end the Wolverines’ title tradition. The target squarely on their backs again, Westwood will take the field confident in their ability to rise to the challenge.

What has made Westwood capable of continually finding a way to surpass all opponents? Erica Nangeroni believes that she can provide the answer:

“Ultimately, it has been the combination of incredible physical and mental effort, a lot of talent, and incredible groups of girls with chemistry on and off the field and a coach who has the ability to better her players as people that has led to the success of the Westwood program.”

The Westwood Wolverines clinched their 6th state championship in 10 years at Foley Field in Worcester.

Kevin Lynch Finding Gridiron Success in Poland

Kevin Lynch leading the Warsaw Eagles. Photo Courtesy of Kevin Lynch.

Medfield High graduate Kevin Lynch put together a stellar rookie season for the Warsaw Eagles in the Polish League Football Americansky on the heels of a record-breaking three years at Southern Connecticut State University. The former Warriors quarterback led the Eagles to the PFLA championship game and threw for nearly 30 touchdowns in his first season in Europe.

Lynch, who became the starting quarterback at Medfield High in his sophomore season, was not a top college quarterback prospect when he left the Warriors after a 9-2 season in 2005, despite being named Tri-Valley League MVP for his performances under center and as the team’s starting middle linebacker. Instead of heading right to the collegiate level, Lynch took a year of prep school at New Hampton. He credits that year for “paving the way” to the success he found at Southern Connecticut.

“The year of prep school really enabled me to learn the game more but also allowed me to focus on my studies. All in all it was a great experience for me,” said Lynch by email from Poland. As great as his prep school experience was, Lynch was forced to make another jump when he arrived in college, “The schemes of the plays are much more complex and it is really like a full time job when you play in college. I learned a lot in prep school but really learned a lot about the game once I got on campus my freshman year of college.”

Lynch set numerous records in his time at Southern Connecticut State.
Photos courtesy of SCSU Athletics.

His former coach at Medfield High, Mike Slason raved about Lynch’s technique, intelligence, and attitude, although there was a wry chuckle when describing his athleticism, “I was skeptical at first. He doesn’t have great speed, but we ran the option with him and he was so mechanically sound. Our fullback was tackled so many times because of his fakes. He ran everything to a T.”

In three seasons at Southern Connecticut, Lynch became a star. His 42 touchdown passes rank fifth in the program’s history, and he is third overall in career pass completions, attempts, and yardage. This past season he led the Owls to a 7-3 record and was given an invitation to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Senior Bowl in South Carolina. Lynch was named MVP of the Division II versus NAIA Senior Bowl.

It was in South Carolina that the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Lynch was first introduced to the general manager of the Warsaw Eagles, Jacek Sledzinski. Prior to that meeting, Lynch says that he had given no thoughts to playing past college.

Although Europe has grown as a destination for aspiring basketball players that just miss out on the NBA and is considered the pinnacle for those pursuing a career in soccer, it is rare for a football player to seek out an opportunity overseas. In the PFLA, four American players are allowed on the roster, but only two can be on the field at one time. The hope is that by limiting the amount of Americans there will be an increase in interest from local Polish players.

With a contract offer on the table from the Eagles, Lynch spent hours with his family and friends to decide if this was the right move. “To be honest there was some hesitation about playing in Europe, it took me a couple of days of talking to my family and people I respect to realize that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”

The guarantee of a starting spot at quarterback helped to convince Lynch that moving to Warsaw would be the right option for his career. It also helped to know that his family could follow his success on the field through the Warsaw Eagles Facebook page and website (www.warsaweagles.com), which offered live streaming of all of the team’s games.

It is rare for a local high school quarterback to make it to the professional level, but Slason is not surprised that Lynch has succeeded, “No one has the passion for football that he does. There was never a day that he didn’t want to play. He is a true student of the game.”

Lynch led Eagles to the championship game in the Polish League.

The Eagles, led by Lynch’s 26 regular season touchdown passes, finished 8-2 and qualified for the postseason. The Eagles beat the Wroclaw Devils 37-20 in the semifinals, but at Warsaw’s National Stadium on July 15th, Lynch and the Eagles fell to the Gydnia Seahawks 52-37.

Despite the loss in the championship game, Lynch is enjoying his time in Poland and the opportunities to explore Europe. One of the surprisingly fun aspects of playing in Warsaw has been the enthusiasm of the fans, “They are truly passionate about the game of football and I cannot say enough about the support that we get from them. They are like our 12th man out on the field.”

It is a road less traveled that has brought Lynch to his current success. He may not be thinking about next year quite yet and has no illusions about where his career path may end, but he knows that it was only through determination and hard work on and off the field that he has achieved this rare chance:

“I would say to anyone that is interested in playing football at any level is to just give it your best shot, don’t settle for anything. If your goal is to play in college, than you must work for it because there are a lot of other athletes that have the same goal. You must be willing to put in the extra time in the gym and the field when nobody else is around because that will truly make the difference in your ability.”