If Tewksbury High field hockey coach Pat Ryser was worried about her team having a letdown game after last week's big upset tie with Andover, she need worry no more. Junior forward Natalie Bourne scored a three-goal hat trick while senior midfielder Sheri Liggiero had a goal and four assists as the the Redmen tied their season's high for goals in a game in a 7-1 romp over Lawrence Tuesday. "To be honest, they're not the toughest team on our schedule, so it's kind of a good thing we played them after Andover," Ryser said of Lawrence. "I was able to empty the bench and get a lot of playing time…

In high school cross country, it's not as much about which individual wins the race as it is about which team gets more runners across the finish line first. "The big thing we talk about is pack time," said Tewksbury High Coach Peter Molloy after his Redmen topped Haverhill, 23-34, to take their first dual meet victory of the season. "Pack time is the number of seconds between your first finisher's time and your fifth finisher's time. The lower your number, the better your team is." On Wednesday, the delta between Tewksbury's top finisher, Brian Amaral, and the team's fifth finisher, Brendan …

It was a day of narrow defeats for the Tewksbury High soccer program, as the boys team dropped a hard-fought 1-0 decision to Haverhill and the girls team suffered its first Merrimack Valley Conference defeat of the year, 1-0 at Dracut. In the boys game, Tewksbury was forced to play short-handed for the majority of the game after senior sweeper back Foti Kafkis was issued a red card in the first half for committing a foul in the penalty area. "Foti did his job," said Tewksbury coach Tom Carpenito. "He did what he had to do. The kid was in alone and about to score so Foti grabbed his shirt. He …

Senior midfielder Sarah Hogan can do a little bit of everything with a field hockey stick, and she proved that again on Monday, scoring two goals to lead the Tewksbury High field hockey team to a commanding, 6-1 victory over Haverhill at Strong Field. The win was a much needed one, coming on the heels of a disappointing loss to Central Catholic last Thursday. "We bounced right back," said TMHS coach Pat Ryser. "We played a good all-around game." In addition to Hogan, lots of other players got into the scoring act on Monday, as sophomore forwards Ashley Kelly and Cassidy Russell each scored …

The venue may change but the story has stayed the same in all four of the Tewksbury High girls soccer team's games against Merrimack Valley Conference opponents so far this year. Near flawless defense and plenty of scoring has led TMHS to a 4-0 record in MVC play so far this fall, and three of the four wins have been by shut out. The latest conquest for the red hot Redmen came Thursday afternoon at Livingston Street Field, as sophomore Aly Spencer scored two goals and assisted on a third in a 3-0 win over Billerica. Junior goaltender Rebecca Davies earned her third MVC shut out, thanks once …

Call Tewksbury High cross country coach Peter Molloy a man of principle. Molloy, who is in his 10th year of coaching the TMHS distance runners, knows his boys squad has a chance at qualifying for the MIAA all-state meet this fall, and he's got the Redmen following a calculated training regimine designed to accomplish just that. So rather than trying to rest his team for Wednesday's dual meet with Merrimack Valley Conference Division 1 powerhouse Chelmsford High with a light workout on Tuesday, Molloy kept his eye on the big picture. "Chelmsford came here yesterday and ran the (2.8-mile) …

After losing its entire defensive back four to graduation last year, the concern for the Tewksbury High girls soccer team this fall was whether or not the Redmen would be able to keep the opposition off the scoreboard. Worry no more. Through four games, the youthful TMHS defense has allowed just one goal, while compiling a 3-1 record so far. On Tuesday night, the Redmen earned their third shutout in four tries, holding Lowell to just four shots on goal in a 2-0 victory under the lights at Cawley Stadium. Sophomores Meaghan Blaisdell, Kelly Quigley and Olivia Gallella combined with senior …

The battle for superiority in the Merrimack Valley Conference Division 3 golf standings got a little complicated on Monday as Dracut High School handed the Tewksbury High golfers their first loss of the season, 13.5-6.5, at Hickory Hill Country Club. "This was a chance for us to see where we stood in the MVC Division 3 with Methuen and Dracut, unfortunately now all three teams have beaten one another and everyone is 1-1 against each other," said Tewksbury coach Jim Sullivan. Tewksbury held its own in the first group as No. 1 player Tyler Slavin won two up, and Mike Casey lost, 4 and 3. The …

For a while on Friday afternoon, Tewksbury High field hockey coach Pat Ryser wondered if her team was ever going to score a goal. "It was frustrating," said Ryser after her team improved its record to 3-1 with a 3-0 win over Dracut. "We played great. We were all over them We were getting a ton of shots, but we kept hitting it right at their goalie. I couldn't believe nothing was going in." Midway through the second half, however, senior forward Natalie Bourne finally found the back of the goal, and the Redmen added two more goals in the next 10 minutes to walk away with a convincing win. …

It didn't take long for the Tewksbury High girls soccer team to take command of the Merrimack Valley Conference Division 2 standings. The Redmen got two more goals from sophomore striker Aly Spencer and a goal and an assist from junior center midfielder Nicole Chaet on their way to a 4-1 win over Haverhill on Thursday. The win gives Tewksbury a 2-0 start to the season, and both wins have come against MVC Division 2 opponents. Once again, TMHS jumped out to an early lead, as Chaet connected on her third goal of the season on a direct kick just 3:20 into the game. Spencer made it 2-0 in the …

After a frustrating and physical 5-0 loss to Andover on Monday, a light spot on the schedule was just what the doctor ordered for the banged-up Tewksbury High field hockey team. With senior captain Sheri Liggiero wearing a protective boot on her right foot and senior goaltender Rachel Pendleton suffering from a pulled muscle, the under-staffed Redmen breezed to an 8-0 victory over winless Lawrence Wednesday afternoon at Strong Field. Senior midfielder Sara Hogan and sophomore forward Hayley Golini scored two goals each as Tewksbury built a 6-0 halftime lead and coasted to its second victory …

Tewksbury High Field Hockey coach Pat Ryser suspected she had some talented younger players on her roster this fall, and it didn't take long for a couple of them to prove her right. Sophomores Hayley Sutherland and Kelsie Bradley each scored their first goal of the season Friday afternoon, as the TMHS field hockey team blanked Bedford, 2-0 in its 2011 season opener. "Two sophomores," Ryser said. "That's a pretty good sign. We've got a lot of speed and a lot of talent, especially among the younger kids." Sutherland's goal came in the first half, and Bradley provided an insurance gaol in the …

With a couple of key seniors returning from injury and some underclassmen building depth behind them, the Tewksbury High girls track team is getting its act together just in time for the biggest meets of the season. Methuen High's girls track team learned that the hard way Monday, as Tewksbury rolled to a 107.5-32.5 win over the Rangers in Methuen. "We've been relying on some of our underclassmen while the seniors got over some injuries, but now we're in pretty good shape all around," said TMHS coach John Byrnes. "We're getting healthy at the right time." Juniors Jess Bridle and Lisetta …

Junior speedster Jess Bridle was a triple winner as the Tewksbury High Girls' track team added two more wins to its list of conquests, easily besting both Notre Dame Academy and Lawrence High School Wednesday afternoon in Tyngsboro. Tewksbury topped NDA, 121-23 and crushed Lawrence, 132-7 to raise its Merrimack Valley Conference record to 3-0. Bridle won the 100-meter dash in 13.0, and the long jump in 15-feet, 7-inches before running the second leg on Tewksbury's winning 4x100-meter relay team. Bridle's 15-7 long jump represented a personal best, and she did it in only two tries. "That's the…

Senior right hander Matt Luppi limited Haverhill High to just three hits in six innings as the Tewksbury High baseball team improved its record to 4-1 with a convincing, 8-1 win over the Hillies Monday afternoon at Strong Field. Luppi struck out five and walked only one in improving his 2011 record to a perfect 3-0. In 20 innings so far this season, Luppi has allowed just four earned runs while striking out 15 batters. Through three games his earned run average is 1.40. "Luppi threw pretty well again today," said TMHS coach Ron Drouin. "He only walked one and he got ahead of hitters. He was …

Tewkbury High continued to gear up for the post-season tournament, as the Redmen battled to a 3-3 tie with Boston Latin in MVC/DCL hockey action over the weekend. Frank Mazzei continued his strong second half of the season, scoring his 9th and 10th goals of the year for Tewksbury. Derek Petti also scored and assisted on both of Mezzei's goals. Despite giving up three goals, Niko Cunha had 21 saves in the tie, including 10 in the first period. Tewksbury is now 11-3-1 on the season. Gymnastics Tewksbury High competes in MVC Meet It has been a challenging season for the Tewksbury High gymnastics…

(Editor's note: The following information was provided by Tewksbury High coaches.) Boys  Indoor Track State Coaches Meet The Tewksbury Boys competed in the Massachusetts State Track & Field Coaches’ Association Meet on Sunday in order to prepasre for the bigger MVC and State Meet which follows in the next few weeks. It is big boy time and the elite are starting to surface in the state.  This meet produced the fastest 2 mile high school time in the nation and there were several other outstanding performances.  As far as the Tewksbury boys were concerned, several stepped forward with excellent …

You might as well call Tewksbury High goalie Niko Cunha "The Wall" because he's letting virtually nothing past him these days. After back-to-back shutouts, Cunha turned aside 20 shots to lead the Redmen to a 4-1 win over Dracut. Cunha improved his save percentage to .915 and dropped his goals against average to a minuscule 1.14. Frank Mazei sparked the Tewksbury offense with his sixth goal of the season and three assists. Ryan Doherty added a pair of goals, his 16th and 17th of the season. Sean Taylor also scored. Tewksbury is now 10-2-0 on the year and have outscored their opponents, 49-15. …

Led by an outstanding effort from senior sprinter Anthony Arcari, the Tewksbury High boys track team set a school record in the Sprint Medley Relay at the Class B State Relays held at the Reggie Lewis Center at Northeastern University Saturday. Arcari clocked a 200 meter time of 22.9, and Pat Bernardo ran 23.6 in the 200. Richard Kirby ran the 400 leg in 41.0 and Colin Foley ran the 800 leg in 2:01.2. The combined time of 3:38.65 was good for fourth in the state, and qualifies the team for the state meet. The sprint medley team broke a Tewksbury High record set 18 years ago by Eric Takach, …

Niko Cunha turned aside 19 shots, including 11 with the game on the line in the third period, as the Tewksbury High hockey team blanked Westford, 3-0 earlier this week. Ryan Doherty led the offense with a pair of goals, his 14th and 15th of the season. His second of the game was an empty-netter to put the game away. Mark Petti also scored for Tewksbury, which carried a precariuous 1-0 lead into the third period. Derek Petti assisted on all three goals. Rob Pruyne assisted on two. Tewksbury improved to 8-2-0 on the year.