Solari, Carpenter leaders for MMA squad

March 8, 2017

By John Garner Jr., Cape Cod Times

One of the fastest growing sports on Cape Cod is girls lacrosse with hundreds of young women participating at the high school, junior high and youth levels.

Look no further than Buzzards Bay for definitive proof as two local natives serve as captains of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy women's lacrosse team.

Seniors Ashley Solari of Sandwich and Kianna Carpenter of Sagamore Beach, along with junior Mikayla Correia, are MMA's tri-captains.

"I've been watching Ashley, Kianna and Mikayla develop the last three years, and their leadership has helped our program grow over that time span," said MMA first-year head coach Marc Palombo, a Sandwich resident who served as a Bucs assistant the past four years. "Ashley is a strong offensive player who came up through the Sandwich (youth) program, while Kianna is our go-to defender who takes charge back there."

Other top local players are senior attack Christina Murphy (Forestdale), who compiled 19 goals and seven assists last spring, and junior midfielder Brianna Pingree (Mashpee), who was injured last season.

Palombo welcomes back an experienced squad that includes 11 letter-winners and nine starters, including junior attacker Stephanie Hunt. She posted a team-record 43 goals and 20 assists for 63 points and has surpassed 100 career points in 28 contests.

Solari also shined on attack with 20 goals and 17 assists, while Dahlia Seggelin converted eight goals and 11 assists while leading with 61 draw controls.

Top midfielders include senior Stephanie O'Connor and sophomore Meghan Petruzziello, who combined for nine goals and six assists for 15 points.

Carpenter leads the Bucs defense, totaling 33 ground balls and causing 22 turnovers last season. Senior Cassandra Charpentier had 14 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers, while sophomore Erica Overstreet moves from midfield, where she scored 20 goals and had five assists. Freshman Heather Seggelin joins sister Dahlia on defense. Correia returns as starting goalie after recording four victories and 134 saves last year.

MMA plays a 15-match schedule, hosting UMass Dartmouth, Regis, Simmons, Becker and Elms, Salem State, Worcester State, Bridgewater State and Framingham State. The Bucs travel to Maine Maritime for the third annual Maritime Classic on Saturday and Sunday.

"Our girls have attained a good skill level with everyone having more game experience than any time in the program's history," said Palombo. "We still don't have great numbers, but quality of play is certainly there."

On Campus

Senior captain Jon Robinson (Chatham) of UMass-Dartmouth (17-10) has been named to the All-Little East Men's Basketball Second Team. Robinson, a guard, averaged 10.9 points per game and 32 minutes per contest.

Robinson averaged 39.8 percent from long distance and hit double-digit scoring in 15 games. He scored a career-high 23 points, leading the Corsairs to an 83-71 victory over No. 13-ranked Keene State and was named LEC Player of the Week. He had back-to-back 17-point outings in the Hampton Inn Classic, earning MVP honors for the tournament.

Junior Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable) is a tri-captain of the MMA baseball team, along with senior Daniel Avery and junior Billy Keane.

Kennedy earned first team all-MASCAC after starting 36 games in left field last spring, batting .356 with 10 doubles, a triple, one homer and 22 RBIs. Connor earned two MASCAC Player of the Week honors and had three hits in Bucs' 8-6 ECAC quarterfinal win over Brandeis.

Junior Maggie Layo (Sandwich) of the Endicott women's ice hockey team scored with eight seconds remaining in overtime as the Gulls escaped with a 1-0 victory over Salem State.

Junior Katie Quilty (Marston Mills) of the Bentley field hockey team was named to the Academic All-Northeast-10 Conference team. The Barnstable graduate is a finance major with a 3.86 GPA and made President's List every semester. Quilty played 14 games, including three as starter.

Senior linebacker Bryan Hardy (Barnstable) of the Bentley football team has been selected Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence winner in the Northeast-10 Conference, an award presented to the premier student-athlete in each sport.

He was named Academic All-Northeast-10. Hardy earned Academic All-Conference honors, and was selected All-Northeast-10 and a Div. II-III All-Star. The co-captain led the conference in tackles (121) and was 14th in NCAA Div. II. Hardy achieved a 3.72 GPA as an economics-finance major and made President's List the last six semesters.

Sophomore Max Allen (Dennis) is a member of the St. Michael's men's tennis team and is in his first year of playing college tennis after his career at Dennis-Yarmouth.

Senior center Sam Johnson (Chatham) of Gordon has been named to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Men's Basketball All-Star Team. The Cape Cod Academy product's 15.2 rebounds-per-game average ranks second nationally.