For Eric Long, now in his 16th season at Tabor Academy, his goals as head coach are the same.
“When I talk to the kids in the beginning of the season, we have three goals: win the Taft tournament, win the ISL and win that last game on Sunday in March,” Long said. “Those are the goals, and each season it is a process. We have come close a bunch of years, but we are still looking for that last win in March.”
Last year Tabor earned the No. 6 seed in the Chuck Vernon Elite 8 Tournament and lost, 1-0, to Nobles in the semifinals. But this year the Seawolves are looking to play to their strength with a veteran team.
“We lost three players from last year, so expectations are high to be competitive this year,” Long said. “We expect to lose six this year and seven next year, so we went from a younger team to older this year. We have 13 upperclassmen and added four freshmen and a couple of sophomores, so I expect to be an older and strong competitive team this year and next.”
The Taft tournament, Tabor’s first test, did not go its way, as it fell to Kent, 3-0, but the team rebounded to beat Choate, 4-3. In the third game, Tabor lost to Loomis Chaffee, 3-2, despite a comeback.
“We were missing some kids and had some kids sick, but no excuses, Long said. “We talked about the learning process again and that the season is just that. And that they need to bring their best from the start both mentally and physically.”
As Tabor starts the second half of the season, Long looks at it a certain way.
“The second half, assuming we stay healthy or relatively healthy, in my 15 years is that we get better as the season goes on,” he said. “We get a good rhythm, routine and the kids get to know each other better, as do I.”
Long likes his teams so far. “I feel good about this team,” he said. “I like the makeup. Our success has been scoring up and down our lineup, spread out. We have three good lines and six strong defensemen and goaltending. It is a team effort by the kids so we do not have to rely on one player or one line to score. It is up to all of us, and at the end of the day, be a good, balanced team.”
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Kaitlin Sullivan (Needham, Mass.), a junior, and Adeline Paskowski (Plymouth, Mass.), a sophomore, have anchored the defense.
“These two have been our cornerstones on defense,” Long said.
Senior goalie Rebecca Mullahy (Scituate, Mass.), who will attend Nazareth College next year to play hockey and who had a great year last year, “is looking similar for us again this year,” according to Long.
Up front, Junior Whitney Dacko (Walpole, Mass.) has had some timely goals for her squad. One of the team’s three captains is senior Paige Long (Marion, Mass.), one of Long’s two daughters on the team (the other is freshman Grace Long).
“It is pretty neat and fun to coach my two daughters,” Long said.
And how does Paige feel about playing for her dad and with her younger sister?
“It has been amazing playing for my dad,” she said. “I was a little nervous my freshman year about how everybody would see me, but everybody was very nice to me and we have a good dynamic. And it is my first time playing with my sister. It has been awesome playing with Grace for the first time.”
Paige also will captain Tabor’s lacrosse team in the spring and play lacrosse next year at Union College.
“I am a late bloomer to lacrosse but I really took to it and really like it,” Paige said.
The other two captains are Ava and Kayla McGaffigan (Dennis, Mass.), who will both play hockey at Assumption University next year, which is slated to be the school’s first full season in Division 1.
Ava sees something different about this year’s Tabor team.
“Last year’s team was kind of new but this year the dynamic is great,” she said. “Coming out of the Taft tournament we are a closer team. We have team breakfasts and team dinners. We have great camaraderie.”
Some key factors played into the McGaffigan sisters committing to Assumption.
“Coach (Jack) Sweeney wanted us individually and recruited us that way and made us feel good that we were not a pair or package, but individuals,” Ava said.
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The rest of the senior class also will move on to college, but to play other sports. Ella Fahey (Wellesley, Mass.) will play field hockey at Georgetown. Juliette Piersol (Marblehead, Mass.) will play lacrosse at Cornell. Sydney Aitkenhead also will play lacrosse, at Trinity College.
Tabor wants to get back to the playoffs in March.
“It depends which team shows up, but if we go out and execute (we can) prove to ourselves we belong with the best, like we were right there last year in the playoffs against Nobles,” Long said. “Let’s just bring our best and see what happens and hopefully win that last game in March.”
