The Silver Lake high volleyball team’s persistence over the past few years paid off for them last week.

On the final day of the regular season, the Lakers got their 10th win of the season to improve to 10-10 on the year. Since they had a .500 winning percentage thanks to their 3-1 win over a struggling Scituate Sailors team on Wednesday, Oct. 25, they clinched a playoff spot in the MIAA Division 2 South bracket. It will be their first playoff appearance since 2011.

In the first set, the Lakers quickly fell behind, 4-0. But for the rest of the set, they were downright dominant. They went on a 6-1 run to take the lead and thanks to some strong serving from Michelle Vaughan (three aces) and Abigail Gallagher (four aces), they were able to win the set 25-10.

The Lakers also went down by a couple points in the second set before they flat out dominated once again. They ended up winning that one 25-12. Although the Sailors won the third set, 25-23, they could not overcome the Lakers. Silver Lake ended up winning the final set 25-15.

Sarah Russo (five digs), Kristin Heath (four digs), Gallagher (four digs) and Catherine Donovan (two blocks) were a few players of the many players who excelled defensively in the win.

It was a good day for the Lakers to clinch the playoff spot too since the win came on senior night–and the Lakers are a senior-heavy squad. This year’s team has strong leadership with seven seniors on the roster: Lauren Hamilton and Abigail Gallagher, Heidi Banden, Sarah Russo, Alyssa Nelson, Michelle Vaughan and Kristin Heath. Making it to the playoffs this year was important for the Lakers because of how much varsity experience this team had accumulated.

The Lakers have some momentum headed into the postseason. They won three of their last four matches of the regular season

The Silver Lake High football team met another one of the Patriot League Keenan Division’s top teams last Friday night on the road, and they were unable to stop the team’s potent dual-threat quarterback: Ethan Phelps.

The Lakers fell, 43-20, to the Whitman-Hanson football team in their last game. As a result, the Lakers finished the regular season at 4-3, but have lost three of their last four games.

Their opponent scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to go up 14-6 by the end of it, but the Lakers had a pick six from Gavin Hamilton on defense that got them on the scoreboard.

While the defensive touchdown appeared to indicate the Lakers might have an answer for their opponent in the second quarter, the read-option offense was too much for them to handle.

Their opponent would score three touchdowns before the end of the first half to take a 35-6 lead.

The Lakers offense showed some life in the second half, however. On their first drive of the third quarter, they were able to score on a 33-yard touchdown run from Dan Collins. Then, quarterback Tanner Boyd ran in the 2-point conversion to make it a 35-14 game.

It would not take the Lakers much time to get on the scoreboard again. Cam Danahy recovered a fumble at the Lakers’ 38-yard line, giving his team solid field position to start their next drive.

They drove the ball down-field and Phil Lashley finished the drive with a touchdown run from a yard out to make the score 35-20 midway and The Lakers move on to face Dighton-Rehoboth at home in the first round of the MIAA Division 4 South playoff bracket (Friday, Oct. 27 at 7:00 p.m.).

Right now, it is hard to stop the Silver Lake High boys’ soccer team.
Last Saturday night, the Lakers were not able to keep their winning streak going, but they improved their unbeaten streak to eight games when they took on the Whitman-Hanson Panthers at home. The game was tightly contested for its majority and by the end of it, both teams got a point in the standings in the 2-2 tie. The tie put the Lakers at 11-2-1 on the season.

The first half of the game was rather unproductive, although both teams played quality defense, neither team scoring until the second half.
Whitman-Hanson ended up scoring the first goal of the game; 11 minutes into the second half, they got the ball in the net off a header from the right side of the field. It would not take the Lakers much time to respond.

Just two minutes later, Casey Grindle kicked in a goal to tie the game at one apiece and on the Panthers’ next possession, Justin Keating made a strong one-handed save to preserve the tie.

In the 65th minute of the game, the Panthers were able to regain the lead. The Lakers had a defensive lapse–and it resulted in a breakaway and a goal for their opponent.
Despite falling behind, the Lakers would not go down without a fight. With 6:30 left in the game, Alex Lloyd scored the game-tying goal to prevent the Lakers from receiving their third loss of the season. Colin Caniff had the assist on the score.

With three minutes left, it appeared as though the Lakers had taken the lead on a score off of the head, but it did not count due to an offsides call.

The Lakers’ next game is this Saturday, Oct. 21 on the road against Weymouth, 6:30 p.m. start time.

Last Friday night was far from pleasant for the Silver Lake High football team.

For the second straight week, they met one of the toughest opponents from the Patriot League and because of that, they were handed their second straight loss of the season. This time, the Lakers fell, 61-7 to the Duxbury Dragons at home. The Lakers are now 3-2 on the season.

The Dragons, who are one of the top teams in the state, were dominant in the first half. They scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and three more in the second quarter to take a 40-0 lead headed into halftime. On the other hand, the Lakers struggled to do much of anything when they had possession. On each of the Lakers first six drives of the game, they were unable to get a first down. In fact, they only had two first downs in the first half.

Although the Lakers were overmatched in the bout, they were able to enjoy a moment of success in the loss. Dan Collins had a two-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Earlier on that scoring drive, he had a 57-yard run to give his team the ball in favorable field position. A successful extra point kick made it a 47-7 game at that point.

The Dragons kept playing hard for the rest of the contest, so they were able to add two more touchdowns to further pad their lead. They also continued to prevent the Lakers from doing much offensively.

The Lakers move on to face Plymouth North (1-4) on the road this Friday, Oct. 13 (7:00 p.m. start time). While their upcoming opponent may have a losing record, they have played an exceptionally tough schedule, losing games to Hingham, Duxbury, Whitman-Hanson and Dennis-Yarmouth, who is the best team on Cape Cod.

A win this Friday would essentially guarantee the Lakers a playoff spot.

Not every team can have a perfect season, and the Silver Lake High football team had theirs come to an end last Friday night.

After winning their first three games of the season, the Lakers were handed their first loss of the season, 39-22, by the Hingham Harbormen on the road.

The Harbormen struck first in the game–and it did not take the Lakers long to respond. In the first quarter, Tanner Boyd threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Ohlson to tie the game at six apiece. Boyd completed his pass to Nate Thacker on the 2-point conversion to give his team an 8-6 lead.

That lead would not last very long, however. The Harbormen scored on a 45-yard screen pass under one minute later to take a 12-8 lead. Less than five minutes later, they added another score on a 21-yard quarterback run. They hit their extra point and took a 19-8 lead into halftime.

The Lakers fought back and Phil Lashley (22 carries, 106 yards) scored from two yards out in the third quarter. They also hit their 2-point conversion to make it a 19-16 game.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Harbormen had a 60-yard touchdown pass just 20 seconds later to pad their lead.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Lashley punched in a 5-yard touchdown run to bring the Lakers within five points, but that was as close as they would come to a win.

The Harbormen padded their lead with two more scores in the fourth quarter. First, they threw a 25-yard touchdown pass and a few minutes later, it was a 10-yard touchdown run that gave them a 39-22 lead. At that point, the Lakers did not have enough time to make a comeback.

The Lakers move on to face Duxbury next Friday, Oct. 6 at home (7:00 p.m. start time).

Maybe it took longer than they wanted, but the Silver Lake High football team was able to prevail on homecoming last Saturday.

In overtime, the Lakers were able to pull off a 20-14 win over the Quincy High Presidents. With the win, the Lakers improved to 3-0 on the year.

The first quarter of the game was rather uneventful. There was no score, although it would not take the Lakers much time at all to take the lead. Midway through the second quarter, Phil Lashley punched in a 4-yard touchdown run to put his team up 6-0.

With three minutes left in the first half, Quincy ended up taking the lead. They returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown. Their extra point attempt was good, which gave them a 7-6 lead. Even so, they would not go into the locker room for halftime with a lead.

The Lakers retook the lead on fourth down with five seconds remaining in the first half. Quarterback Tanner Boyd connected with Diamani Williams on a 25-yard touchdown pass. The Lakers also had a successful 2-point conversion, giving them a 14-7 lead.

In the second half, the Lakers gave up another touchdown and Quincy hit their extra point. Since the Lakers could not score in the second half, the game went into overtime.

The Lakers defense was sharp; they prevented their opponent from scoring on their first overtime possession.

When the Lakers got the ball, however, it did not take them long to score. On their third play, Lashley, who ran for over 150 yards on the day behind a stout offensive line, punched in a 3-yard touchdown to give his team the lead and the win in overtime.

The Lakers move on to face Hingham on the road this Friday, Sept. 29 (7:00 p.m. start).

There is plenty of talent back on the Silver Lake High girls’ soccer team this season and because of that, they should be one of the stronger teams in the area this season. They will also likely be a tough opponent in the playoffs if they do what they are capable of achieving.

After all, they are coming off a relatively strong season where they battled to an 8-8-3 finish, a performance that was good enough for them to earn a spot in the playoffs. From that team, they are returning nine of their starters–which is most of their team’s top contributors from last season.

Of those nine players coming back, two of them were Patriot League All-Stars last season. Both Ali Crawford and Izzy Ruprecht got the nod in 2016, beating out several other players on quality teams for the honor. This year, they will be vital pieces of the team with Crawford leading the attack and Ruprecht on defense.

Hannah Vogt and Morgan Palma were two of the Lakers’ strikers last season, and they are back once again. Palma had 11 goals while Vogt added eight more. They will be joined by both Jill Wohlgemuth and Morgan Wohlgemuth on the attack while Mel Coughlin and Tayla Mayberry bring strong experience to the team’s defense. Once again, Caity Smith will be in net for the team this season after excelling last year.

So far the Lakers are off to a 2-2 start. Their first loss came against a tough Whitman-Hanson opponent, who made a deep playoff run last season. Regardless, the Lakers are in a good position to finish this season with an even better record than they had last year.

The Lakers next game is this Saturday, Sept. 23, at home against Pembroke High. The game has an 11:30 a.m. scheduled start time.

Luckily the Silver Lake High football team has some great blocking and excellent speed on special teams.

The Lakers were nearly handed a loss the first week of the season, but their kick returner, Diamani Williams, made sure that did not happen. With 1:20 left in the game, he had a 75-yard kick return for a touchdown to give his team a 24-19 advantage over the North Quincy Red Raiders.

That would also end up being the final score, so the Lakers ended up earning their first win of the season against a league opponent at Veteran’s Stadium in Quincy on Friday, Sept. 8.

Prior to the touchdown on the kick return from Williams, North Quincy had just scored and taken a 19-18 lead in the ballgame. If it were not for the return, the Lakers might not have come out on top, even though they had plenty of success on the ground throughout the contest.
In order for that to happen, the Lakers had to take the lead first. They did so on a 48-yard touchdown run from Patrick Lashley, a sophomore running back. Not only was the play a touchdown, but it was also a fourth down conversion at midfield, so it was certainly a game-changing play.

Phil Lashley also had a pair of touchdown runs for the Lakers in the contest; he ran for over 1,000 yards a year ago and is the Lakers primary back once again.

Senior Tanner Boyd got the start at quarterback for Silver Lake. In the preseason, he and sophomore Jesse Miller battled for the starting job.

The Lakers next game is their home opener this Friday, Sept. 15, against Oliver Ames. A week later, they host the Quincy High Presidents in their first game of the year against a divisional opponent.

Coming off a 6-12 season, it would be hard for the Silver Lake high volleyball team to be in a better position than they are this season.

The young Lakers team started out 5-6 last year, but injuries mounted and they finished out the year with that 6-12 record because of it, although they did finish out the year strong with a win. Regardless, the team is in a good position to do this year what they could have done last year if they were at full health.

The biggest loss for the Lakers coming into this season is their Patriot League All-Star libero Maggie Czarniak, who graduated last spring. Other than that, their starting lineup should look the exact same yet again.

Last year, outside-hitter Abigail Gallagher had a team-high 158 kills last season and was second on the team with 140 digs while setter Michelle Vaughan had 283 of the team’s 342 assists. Both of them are seniors this season.

Junior Alyssa Nelson will likely be the team’s top server yet again this season. She had a team-high 40 aces as a sophomore. Gallagher, Vaughan and fellow senior outside Lauren Hamilton, who was second on the team with 72 kills last season, also had 22 aces, so she should be a valuable server as well.

Sophomore Catherine Donovan stepped up midway through last season as a freshman on varsity player. The middle-hitter returns after leading the team with 23 blocks last season.

Defensively, the team will look to seniors Kristen Heath and Heidi Banden for leadership, both of whom played extensively last season and at opposite hitter, senior Rebecca Cullity brings valuable varsity experience to the team.

The Lakers open up their season next Monday, Sept. 11 at Marshfield High School. Their first home game is the following Friday, Sept. 15, against Plymouth South and has a 5:00 p.m. start time.

Over the course of the winter, the MIAA decided to revamp their football divisions, but the Silver Lake High football team made sure they were in the best position to excel.

Although last year the Lakers were a Division 2A program in the old Division 1-4A format, the state wanted to move them up to Division 3 under a new format that goes from Division 1-8. Both are eight division setups, but the state wanted to make sure they had schools in the right position. Ultimately, the Lakers worked out a deal at an MIAA realignment hearing in Dedham that allowed them to stick in Div. 4 which is essentially the division they were in last season since 2A last year was the fourth largest division.

Normally, the division alignments are based on student population, although there are many factors. Comprehensive schools, urban schools and vocational schools can be in lower divisions due to their lower athletic participation rates while private all boys’ schools have a multiplier that puts them in a larger division because they have an easier time fielding a lineup.

The Lakers are a Chapter 74 school who offers some vocational programs and 30 percent of the schools students partake in the vocational side of the school. While they are not a full-blown Vo-Tech school who could slide down Div. 7 or 8 with over 1,000 students enrolled, this does allow them to be a more competitive playoff team if they can earn a spot. If they do, they would  not have to face tough Patriot League opponents like Duxbury and Whitman-Hanson, who are in Div. 3 South for the playoffs since they are not Chapter 74 schools.

Last year was the Lakers’ first time in the playoffs since 1981. With some key players coming back from last year and the revised playoff formatting that allows for eight teams per region per division to make the playoffs, the odds are in their favor to make another playoff appearance this season.