Peabody High sophomore Hayley Dowd had a very busy summer traveling with her various soccer teams.
The dynamic Dowd was invited to train with the U-17 National Team in Sunrise, Fla. in June. The week ended with two friendly games with the U-17 Japanese National squad, and Dowd played the last eight minutes of the first game and started the second game, playing 35 minutes.
Based on her strong performance, she was invited to travel to Denmark with the US team to play in an international tournament. That's a trip that would be every soccer player's dream, but Dowd decided not to go so she could help her her Stars of Massachusetts club team.
"My Stars team was playing in the Regionals at Huntington, W. Va. at the same time," said Dowd. "I felt bad because I was in Florida when we had States and missed a couple of (high school tournament softball) games. I figured we had a good chance to win it all, and thought I owed it to my teammates to be with them. It was really about loyalty."
The Stars, who also feature Danvers High star Corey Persson, wound up losing to the Maclean Strikers of Virginia in the semifinal game that was decided on penalty kicks.
"I don't like doing it, but I volunteered to take one and fortunately made mine. A girl on my team missed, which was tough," said Dowd.
"We also went to Seattle for the National championship of the other league (Elite Clubs Nat'l League) we play in and finished third. We made it to the Final Four based on our point total for the season. We were ranked second, but lost to the third place team. Then we played a consolation game and wound up winning that one."
After so much soccer Dowd took a break the rest of the summer, but worked out at the conditioning camp Fernando Braz ran at Peabody High. She also took a few unofficial visits to Rutgers, Boston College, Providence, and UConn.
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Former St. John's Prep quarterback Scott Darby won the starting job at Georgetown at the end of preseason camp, and proved he was up for the job by leading the Hoyas to a 20-10 victory over Davidson in the season opener in North Carolina last Saturday night.
It marked the first win for the Hoyas since November, 2008 when they edged Marist College, 13-12. But following that thrilling win they proceeded to lose 12 in a row until Darby, the junior signal caller from Tewksbury, who quarterbacked the Eagles for two seasons, threw a touchdown pass and ran for another vs. Davidson. He completed 14-of-23 passes for 130 yards.
Following an interception by his own squad, Darby completed a 35-yard strike and on the next play rushed into the end zone from six yards out. Later he engineered an 11-play drive and, on third down and long, completed a 16-yard screen pass. A few plays later he fired a TD pass to put his team ahead by 10 points.
Last year the Hoyas averaged just under 10 points per game, so doubling that number was a step in the right direction.
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The Peabody High girls cross country team got a lot stronger when sophomore Catarina Rocha decided not to play soccer so she could concentrate on her running.
The Salem News indoor and outdoor track all-star had an exceptional freshman year in both soccer and track. But as much as she loved soccer, she felt her future was in distance running.
Jose Rocha is starting his 10th year at the helm of the Tanner boys' and girls' cross country teams, but he never tried to persuade his daughter to give up soccer and join his team.
"As a parent you encourage your children to do what they want," he said. "When Catarina first told me about it I advised her to think it over because I wanted her to be certain. She said she didn't need to do that; she had thought about it and decided she needed to run all three seasons to take that next step. I know it was a difficult choice because she loves soccer, too."
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NFL player agent Sean Stellato of Peabody had a tough time rooting for either the Giants or Patriots last Thursday night when he traveled to the new Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands in New Jersey to take in the fourth and final scrimmage game for both teams.
Stellato has a stake in both clubs. His client, Gary Guyton, is a starting linebacker for the Patriots while another client, All-American quarterback Dominic Randolph of Holy Cross, was trying to make the Giants. Randolph wound up being cut last Saturday as teams trimmed their squads before the NFL deadline, and is looking to catch on with another team.
Stellato said former St. John's Prep star Jonathan Goff of Peabody was very impressive for the Giants. Goff, a 6-foot-2, 236-pound linebacker who was drafted by the Giants in the third round in 2008, caused all kinds of problems for the Pats late in the game, including an interception.
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The North Shore Flag Football League held its Punt, Pass, and Kick competition on Labor Day weekend, and the winners advanced with hopes of going all the way to Gillette Stadium. Peabody's Taylor Dabney made it to Gillette last fall and was unbeatable in the girls 14-15 year old division.
Other winners for the girls were Mackenzie Shea of Lynn (8-9), Sabrina Beaudry of Beverly (10-11) and Emma Driscoll of Peabody (12-13).
For the boys, winners were Kellen Gehan of Peabody (6-7), Alex Gonzalez of Peabody (8-9), Henry Vlaun of Salem (10-11), Conor Hosman of Salem (12-13) and Chris Therrien of Peabody (14-15).
Registration for the fall season will end Sept. 19, and NSFFL founder Austin Bradshaw said Danvers is starting a new league with games at Plains Park on Saturday afternoons.
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Jean DePlacido is a part-time writer and columnist for The Salem News. Contact her at jmdeplacido@aol.com.
