Singing Makes a Comeback at Bridgton?: For many BA alumni, singing was a part of the daily routine at Bridgton. Songs were sung in chapel under the close tutelage of late Headmaster Richard Goldsmith. For many years, Bridgton also had a Glee Club, as well as The Songsters. This year, a new Bridgton a cappella group is beginning to form. Called The Bridgtones, the group is led by faculty members Tom Bishop and Drew Inzer. And although few have yet to hear The Bridgtones sing, there is certainly some curiosity on campus to do just that. Maybe in an effort to motivate The Bridgtones, tonight Bridgton Academy will host the University of New Hampshire a cappella group, the same group that faculty member Tom Bishop sang in for a number of years. Hopefully we'll have more news about The Bridgtones to share in the future!

Quarterback Ken Brock Named October Athlete of the Month: The month of October has been historically challenging for the Wolverine football team. With Parent's Weekend and the end of the first academic quarter, there are a number of distractions. This year's edition of the BA gridiron gang experienced the pitfalls of overlooking opponents and underestimating
competition. Our Athlete of The Month, however, gave every ounce of himself game in and game out.

His teammates call him "Tebow" for his comparable build and style of play to the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at the University of Florida. He makes the coaches wince at his relentless style of play and his willingness to give up his body for an extra yard or two. It's not unlikely to see Ken to be in
the training room each Monday with ice packs strapped from head to toe.
You cannot argue with his stats, however. For the month, he averaged 50 yards rushing and 185 yards passing per game. Additionally he added 5 rushing touchdowns and 6 passing touchdowns for the month. When the dust settles at the end of the season, Ken may end up being one of the most prolific quarterbacks in a great tradition of Wolverines who lined up behind center. His never say die attitude resonates across the team and inspires his teammate to keep playing to the final whistle. In honor of his leadership of the Wolverine Football team and his inspiring play, Ken Brock is awarded Athlete of the Month for October.

Bridgton Hall of Fame Nominees Needed: Nominations are now open  for the Bridgton Academy Hall of Fame Class of 2010. Nominations should be sent to Chairman Matt Burgess by December 24th, 2009. Who is eligible: Alumni who graduated prior to 1989 and teachers and coaches who have retired from BA. Posthumous nominees who meet the above criteria will also be accepted. Nominees must be distinguished as leaders or contributors in their field, sport, or in service to the Academy. To submit a nominee, send their name and reason for nomination to Matt Burgess - mburgess@bridgtonacademy.org or mail to: PO Box 292, North Bridgton, ME 04057. To view current members of the Bridgton Academy Hall of Fame, please click here.

Baseball Championship Bid Comes Up Short: On Saturday, October 31st, the baseball team came one step closer to capturing BA's first New England Club Baseball Association (NECBA) championship by downing the Boston University Terriers with a convincing score of 6-0. Wolverine pitching ace Will Whittemore (Waltham, MA) was dominate on the mound, hurling a complete game two-hitter on his way to his fifth win of the season. The crafty southpaw retired the first nine BU batters he faced and did not allow a runner to reach second until a two-out double in the sixth. Whittemore was supported greatly by an excellent defensive effort, led by shortstop Nick Billingham (Edgartown, MA) who made several outstanding plays. Billingham and Tad Gold (Vineyard Haven, MA) each aided the offensive cause with a double and a single, while Tom MacInnes (Plymouth, MA) garnered two singles. BA struck first blood in the first with one run, then put the game away in just the second with four more.

The next day, the team took its unblemished 12-0 record into the NECBA championship game against two-time defending title holder Northeastern University, coming up short in the 9-6 Northeastern victory. BA struck for two runs in the first and held the lead until Northeastern scored five runs in the third. The Wolverines answered with one in the bottom half of the same inning to close the gap, 5-3, but the Huskies all but slammed the door as they responded with a mammoth three-run homer in the top of the next inning to jump out to an 8-3 lead. BA scored single runs in the fourth, fifth, and ninth innings, but the team wasn't able to mount a sustained offensive attack. Tad Gold led all Wolverine hitters with two doubles and two singles. The Wolverines end the fall baseball season with an overall record of 16-2, and 12-1 and runner-up in their first season in the NECBA. "Despite the bittersweet ending, I can't help but be pleased with our overall effort," commented head coach Brad Smith. "Our fall schedule is a great addition to our overall program. It will only get better."  Look forward to catching the 2009-2010 team in action again this spring.

Soccer Team Completes Undefeated Regular Season, Breaks Prior Bridgton Records: In their final MAISAD competition of the season, Bridgton Academy took its shortest trip of the fall to take on Hebron Academy earlier this month, easily handing the Lumberjacks a 4-0 loss.

The game was not as close as the score indicated, as the Wolverines jumped to an early lead and then controlled tempo and play for the remainder of the game. In just the second minute of play Omar Khartabil (Hampstead, NH) took a pass from Steve Palumbo (Kingston, NH) and found the back of the net. Just six minutes later Khartabil would score again, this time unassisted. Bridgton took a 2-0 lead into the half. In the second half, Nick Christensen (Waterville, ME) headed a cross from Dillon Flynn (Chapel Hill, NC) into the goal for a 3-0 lead. In the 77th minute Rob Palumbo (Kingston, NH) completed the scoring by converting on a pass from Ronaldo Vieira (Framingham, MA). Bridgton out shot Hebron 19-2.

 

The team played their final game of the season on November 7th when they took on Phillips Exeter (Exeter, NH) under the lights. In the first half, each team had scoring opportunities, however neither could convert. "We had some great shots, we hit two posts and the crossbar once, just couldn't get one in," said Head Coach Kevin Mellon of the first half. In the second half the Wolverines came out fired up and, "figured out what we needed to do," added Mellon. It was not until the 86th minute that BA would finally capitalize. Coming off of a ball volleyed into the box by Ronaldo Vieira, Dillon Flynn was able to make his way through a crowd and find the back of the net for the first goal of the game.

Despite a second Bridgton goal that soon followed, Exeter did not give up, and in the 88th minute they scored to cut the lead to 2-1. Thankfully for the Wolverines time ran out, and Bridgton was able to hold on for the win.
"Exeter is one of the best teams we have faced all year, they played us very well" commented Coach Mellon. This is the first time that Bridgton has finished the regular season undefeated since 1982, when when BA went on to be the Maine State Champs with a record of 9-0-1. This is the first undefeated regular season for Bridgton in NEPSAC play.

 

Basketball Season Opens With Fireworks: The first regular season game for the Wolverines left a few people with high blood pressure. Facing a talented NIA Prep (NJ) squad, the Wolverines fell in an improbably lest second victory with a score of 83-82. NIA won the game by stealing the ball with less than 5 seconds to go and making two free throws. BA had moments earlier led by five with under 25 seconds to play. The late game fireworks were not the only part of a very exciting early season contest that saw both teams enjoy double digit leads. Although the Wolverines jumped out early in the first half, NIA turned things around, taking a 10-point lead with ten minutes remaining. An exciting late game rally by Bridgton unfortunately did not hold up to the end.

Chance Jones (Knoxville, TN), Alex Harris (Richmond, CA), Thierno Niang (Dakar, Senegal), Paul Dick (Belfast, Ireland), and Ron Blossomgame (Atlanta, GA) all had double figure games.

After gaining the early first half advantage, several Wolverine miscues in the final minutes forced them to settle for a 37-34 halftime lead. NIA kept the momentum at the start of the second half before BA staged its exciting comeback effort with five minutes remaining that certainly appeared like it would give the defending Class A champions their first victory. BA Coach Whit Lesure was candid in his comments afterwards..."I am as shocked as our players right now...Give credit to NIA for making the plays they had to, especially the big 3."

The squad had just twenty-four hours to digest this heart-breaking home opener, but rebounded convincingly last Sunday to win 74-54 over Edison (NJ). The Wolverines started strong, but Edison rallied to make a run at the home team in the second half. Ultimately, Bridgton's timely offense and strong three point shooting put away any serious threats. All thirteen BA players saw action in each half led by Alex Harris' game high 19 points.

Last night, BA played its first league contest of the early season on the road and came up short 81-69 at NEPSAC rival New Hampton. BA held the lead through the middle portion of the first half but saw the Huskies rally to earn a three point advantage at halftime 33-30.

New Hampton capitalized on the momentum early in the second half and built double digit leads before the Wolverines mounted a comeback effort of their own that ended up falling short. Although the Wolverines cut the deficit to six on two occasions, the team could get no closer. Dashaun Wiggins (Bronx, NY) led all scorers in the game with 30 points for Bridgton Academy. BA coach Whit Lesure gave credit to New Hampton afterwards. "I thought they were better than us in every phase of the game," Lesure said. "Our guys gave an honest effort, but that certainly won't cut it on the road against a good club."

BA plays at the 2009 National Prep Showcase this weekend at the campus  of Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut. The showcase will not be a cakewalk, as the Wolverines are poised to face national power Hargrave Military Academy (VA) on Saturday, and last years national prep champion Tilton School (NH) on Sunday. 


Wolverine Hockey Shoulders Tough Losses: On Saturday, October 31st, The Wolverines suffered a tough loss at the hands of the National Sports Academy. NSA came out flying and never looked back after taking a 3-0 lead after the first period. In the first period, BA was outshot 21-4. Goalie, Robby Campbell (Braintree, MA), played outstanding in goal turning aside shot after shot. Bridgton's lone goal came on the power play. Patrick Thornton (Dublin, CA) snapped a shot from the top right circle just under the crossbar. Pat's first goal of the season came on the power play. However, the speed of NSA proved too much for BA as their record fell to 5-3 overall.

The following day did not bring better news for BA, as the Boston Bulldogs took apart the Wolverines on Sunday afternoon with a score of 8-2. The Bulldogs simply outworked and outplayed the unenergized BA Team. Throughout the first period, the Bulldogs led 4-0 and outshot BA 19-3. The 2nd and 3rd period where a much better indicator of how BA is capable of playing, however did not help the end result. The Wolverines brought back their hard nose style and managed to pressure the Bulldogs, scoring their first goal when Mike Iacobucci (Franklin, MA) buried a rebound off a George Costa (Winthrop, MA) shot.

Although the next game also ended in a loss, BA played at a higher level, but just weren't able to crack the Kodiak's goalie, falling by a score of 3-1. "I thought our team really battled tonight," said Coach Jonathan Lounsbury '01. "We just couldn't capitalize on our chances." The next game proved to be another lesson for the Wolverines when they faced the South Shore Kings. The Kings were not shy about shooting the puck, finishing with 72 shots for the game and and 11-0 win.

The following weekend, Bridgton went to compete in the Warrior Classic. Their first game of the weekend was a rematch against the National Sports Academy. The only scoring in the first half was a power play goal by NSA, as Nate Potter (White River Junction, VT) turned aside the other 10 shots he faced that period. Defensively, Trey Rasmussen (West Tisbury, MA)and Dave Stevens (Lynn, MA) did a nice job shutting down their opponents.
The second half saw BA create more scoring opportunities by caring the puck deep in the offensive territory. BA was able to use their size in attacking the goal over and over. Finally, defenseman Tim Haroules (Westford, MA) snuck a shot from the point past the NSA goaltender, however, seven minutes later, NSA capitalized on a BA turnover and took a one goal lead. Bridgton continued to press the attack, but were unable to find the back on the net.

The Wolverines finally ended a seven game losing streak by defeating the Ontario Hockey Academy 4-1 on Saturday, November 14th. Bridgton has been playing some great hockey, but have had some real tough breaks. In this contest, the Wolverines came out flying, peppering the OHA goalie with 12 first half shots. OHA did manage to score on a loose puck, but BA answered right back when George Costa (Winthrop, MA) out muscled a OHA player for the goal. Nick Billingham (Oak's Bluff, MA) and Tom MacInnes (Plymouth, MA) picked up the assist. Tied 1-1, BA responded five minutes later when Patrick Sen scored a power play goal. In the second period, BA continued to control the puck down low, driving puck after puck to the OHA net. Sen scored his second goal of the game when he took a feed from Gold and went in on a breakaway. Not to be outdone, Costa put in his second goal of the game when he banged in a Kyle O'Connell (Bridgewater, MA) shot. MacInnes also picked up his second assist of the game. Ian Edwards (Linden, MI/Motor City Chiefs) stopped 14 shots and picked up the win for BA.

In their final game of the Warrior Classic, the Wolverines faced off against the Atlanta Knights, falling by a score of 6-2. It's been a busy past few weeks, but the team continues to work hard. In response to the team's play this weekend Coach Meserve stated,"We had one bad period all weekend. We played our best hockey to date and I am extremely pleased how hard we battled."

 

Bridgton Lacrosse Finds Further Success at Fall Showcases: The lacrosse team enjoyed success this November at the Crimson Classic, hosted by Harvard University. Competing in a recruiting showcase featuring some of the top prep and elite teams in the region, the Wolverines went 3-1 on the day. "We played well all day long," commented Coach Bamann '00. "When we got behind we kept our composure and kept pressure on both ends of the field. It was good exposure for our players as over 60 Division I and II coaches were in attendance."