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Westborough Girls Soccer coach reflects on strong season following playoff loss
By Kevin J. Stone Contributing Writer WESTBOROUGH - There are two sides to every coin when it comes to winning and losing.
For Westborough High School Girls Varsity Soccer head coach Paul Mumby, that meant there were plenty of positive ways to look at things following a heartbreaking 2-1 loss against Whitman-Hanson in the Division II state semifinals on Nov. 17.
The Rangers’ season ended. But with a 14-1-5 win-loss record, it was another successful campaign in a long line of them during Mumby’s now 14-year tenure with the team.
“For us to be consistently good obviously makes me proud, but it’s about the girls always buying into what we’re doing,” Mumby said in a recent interview.
Coach values enjoyment of game
Mumby has worked hard to create an environment that not only breeds success, but fosters
PHOTOS/DAKOTA ANTELMAN Elsi Aires dribbles toward the sideline as she avoids the defense of multiple WhitmanHanson players.
a sense of fun and competition as well.
“When the season ends, they’re disappointed and that’s not the same everywhere,” Mumby said of his players, noting that some players he’s talked to while coaching club soccer look forward to the end of the season.
Enjoyment of the game, Mumby said, is important.
“Every year, I keep thinking, are we going to be good next year?” he said. “We’re going to lose this player or that player, can we still be good? I’ve been lucky to have great kids and we’ve been able to do well just about every year here.”
Players thrive under pressure
Seniors Abby Beaugaurd, Callie Henderson, Elsi Aires, Riley
Grafton football falls to Scituate in semifinal game
By Dakota Antelman Managing Editor GRAFTON - The Grafton High School football team came up just short in a nail-biting state semifinals game against Scituate on Nov. 20.
Rallying his players after the game, though, head coach Chris McMahon urged everyone to remain positive about what was a dominant regular season and playoff run.
“Clearly it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to,” McMahon told reporters moments later. “But we can’t fault the effort.”
Scituate started strong, punch-
PHOTO/DAKOTA ANTELMAN Grafton junior Liam Donagher faces a stiff arm from a Scituate opponent as he attempts to make a tackle.
ing two touchdowns past the Grafton defense in the first quarter. Grafton rumbled back, briefly tying the game in the fourth quarter before Scituate retook the lead on a 66-yard rushing touchdown. “The effort of the kids is just phenomenal,” McMahon said. “... To play a team like Scituate and to, literally, in the fourth quarter be down to a play or two, it’s a testament to the kids.”
See expanded coverage online at CommunityAdvocate.com. McNamara, Kristin Wilichowski, Ella Sklar and Sophie Scerbin all had pressure on them in their final year, this year, to deliver.
They did.
Still, perhaps no one had more pressure on them, this season, than Mumby’s daughter, junior Mia Mumby.
Paul also previously had the opportunity to coach his other daughter, Emma Mumby, through her high school career.
“Coaching them in high school as a dad has been something you dream of,” Paul said. “Being able to do it and do it successfully has been great.”
On Nov. 17, it was Mia Mumby who nearly tied the game for Westborough when she drilled a shot toward the goal late in the second half, only to be denied by a diving save.
“They both handled being the coach’s daughter well and love the game as much as I do,” Paul said of his daughters.
‘We’re definitely a force’
Westborough’s recent end to this season stings the team.
Pushing forward, though, Mumby and the entire Girls Soccer program are looking to make another playoff run next year.
“We’re definitely a force,” Mumby said.
Hopkinton beats Westborough volleyball in state championship
PHOTO/JESSE KUCEWICZ Westborough’s Melissa Kuang bumps a ball to her teammate during last week’s state championship matchup with Hopkinton High School.
By Jesse Kucewicz Contributing Writer WESTBOROUGH - An otherwise undefeated season ended for the Westborough girls volleyball team, Nov. 20, with a 3-1 loss to Hopkinton in the MIAA Division II State Championships.
Head Coach Roger Anderson has led the Rangers through this season, with the team losing just three sets throughout their first 21 games.
“I’m super proud of our girls,” he said following this loss. “They left everything they had on the floor, and we just didn’t execute quite well enough to win the match.”
“I think offensively we just couldn’t quite get connected in the moments that we needed to,” he continued. “We were right there in every single game, we felt like we were in control, and we just didn’t execute quite well enough in the end.”
See expanded coverage online at CommunityAdvocate.com.
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