North Andover's Carroll calls it a career after concussion

Our College Stars

Mike McMahon

Matt Carroll prides himself on being tough.

The Dartmouth senior defender has been one of the toughest soccer players the Ivy League has seen the last three years. This past spring, his toughness faced its biggest test.

On April 12, Carroll, a North Andover resident, was at UNH with the rest of his team for a spring game with the Wildcats. In the final 10 minutes, a UNH player tried to clear the ball, and in doing so, hammered a shot at close range into the right temple of the returning honorable mention All-Ivy defenseman.

But, as he had so many other times, Carroll stood right up and finished the game.

"I really don't remember anything," Carroll said. "I don't remember the game, coming off the field, or even anything a week before the game. I'm a huge New York Giants and Yankees fan, and I don't remember the Giants winning the Super Bowl."

Dartmouth head coach Jeff Cook said, "He was asking me where we were and he was very disoriented. It was frightening and disturbing to have someone you know so well standing there healthy physically, but unable to remember one moment to the next."

After the game, the tri-captain returned to Hanover. Still suffering from headaches and memory loss, he headed to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

Cook said that teammates would make constant visits over the course of the weeks that Carroll was in the hospital, because he wouldn't remember that they were there.

After leaving the hospital, he returned home to North Andover for a few days before heading back to campus, but just days later, the headaches returned, and he went back to the hospital for another two weeks.

Carroll was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, yet the government major decided to finish out the term; a tough task considering he was taking exams on material he could barely remember.

"The first few weeks were difficult," said the Brooks School grad, whose sister Cailly splits time in net at the University of Pennsylvania. "I used a lot of note cards and things to study, but it was just hard getting over it all. All of my teachers were great in helping me get back on track. It was tough. It took more planning on my part, knowing that I needed to allot a certain amount of time for exams."

Then, there was the decision about soccer. Carroll said that doctors told him that he would have a hard time finding a doctor who would recommend playing, and his parents were against it as well, but decided to let him make his own decision.

"That was a tough decision," he said. "Ultimately, I knew that I had to make it. I knew what it was going to be, too. I tried not to think about it much over the summer until it came time for the preseason, and the coaches told me to take it slow.

"I've had concussion problems in the past, and my parents were really worried. There really wasn't a choice, it was hard because that first practice and that first game, you're dying to be out there, but it came down to quality of life."

He's still feeling serious side effects. Light sensitivity, headaches, and memory loss are all things that he still faces on a daily basis.

But, Carroll is still a big part of the Big Green program, serving as a player-coach under Cook.

"I get pretty animated on the sideline, so most of the time (Cook) is telling me to keep my cool," Carroll said. "I work with the goalkeepers, and just do whatever I can to help. I'm on the sideline, I'll give my opinion or observations if I have any. I set up cones, help run drills, really whatever the team needs I'll do."

He may be without soccer, but he will still earn an Ivy League degree, and more importantly, still live a normal life.

"Coaching is something I'd like to do," he said. "After college, I'm going to dip into the financial world, but I'd like to coach down the road. Maybe even at Brooks or something."

Stephens saves the day

Rebecca Stephens didn't want her career to end.

The UMass Dartmouth senior extended her field hockey days at least one more game, scoring a late game-winner against Westfield State, powering the Corsairs to a 3-2 win.

With just 12 seconds left, Stephens saved the season, scoring the game-winning goal off a pass from Stephanie Kinchla. Stephens' goal came just 49 seconds after Westfield tied the game.

All five goals were scored in the second half.

"That girl is a fighter," said UMD head coach Nicole Castonguay. "She's a great player. Everyone knows her as the optimist. She's the perfect player to have out there when you need a goal in the final minute."

She added two goals in the next game, the Little East semifinals, but the Corsairs fell to Plymouth State.

The tri-captain finished the season with 13 goals and four assists for 16-5 UMD. Junior Kylie Treat of Hampstead added eight goals and eight assists.

Hall of fame duo

The two newest inductees into the Fisher College Hall of Fame are former local standouts.

Whittier Tech's Ken Olisky (Fisher '06) helped turn around the baseball program, which was in its infancy. For his career he went 14-14 with a 3.74 ERA and he batted .306.

Jeremy Marion of Pelham (Fisher '06) was the Sunshine Conference MVP as a senior, when he batted .387. At the time of his graduation, he was the program's all-time leader in games (166), hits (157) and runs (112).

The final battle

Two former North Andover footballers will square off for the final time today.

They're cousins, too ... Stonehill's Bob Holland and Bentley's Matt Zahoruiko.

Holland, a senior captain, has carried the ball five times for 19 yards this year, but has started every game due to his punishing blocking. He also has six catches for 49 yards out of the backfield and as a tight end. He's finishing up a career as a four-year starter at Stonehill.

Zahoruiko, a starting middle linebacker, has 98 tackles on the season, and should be the first Falcon to record 100 tackles in a season since 2000. The junior has three sacks and 15 tackles that have gone for a loss.

Other local Falcons include Sean McGah, a senior offensive lineman from North Reading, and Mike Muccio (29 tackles), a senior linebacker from Andover.

Stonehill also includes junior defensive back Dennis Cassidy (6 tackles) of Methuen, and Andover freshman tight end JonLars Carlson, who might be Holland's heir apparent.

NE-10 honors locals

Assumption's Kelley DeWalt of Londonderry (first-team midfield), and Jami Styrczula of Haverhill (rookie team) as well as UMass Lowell's Maddie Bissaillon of Merrimac (third team midfield) were all honored by Northeast-10 soccer. DeWalt led the Greyhounds in scoring with five goals and six assists while Styrczula was third with five goals and two assists.

Gabe Mejail was voted the NE-10 Coach of the Year after guiding the Merrimack women's team to a 12-3-2 record, and a conference record of 10-3-1.

Smith snatches Big Ten honor

Andover's Brendan Smith earned his first career Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor after returning a 48-yard reception for the winning touchdown of a 24-17 triumph at 17th-ranked Minnesota last Saturday.

The interception, which came with just 12 seconds left in the game, was Smith's second pick-six of the season and made the highlights from coast to coast.

"I got the ball and just thought, 'Touchdown,"' the junior tri-captain told the AP. "I think everyone should think that when they get the ball in their hands with however many seconds left. I tried to take it to the sideline and make something happen."

Smith also made six tackles, helping slow Gopher tailback Eric Decker. Smith, who is third on the team with 57 tackles to go with two interceptions, should find himself in a postseason bowl.

The No. 25 Wildcats are 7-2 heading into today's game vs. No. 12 Ohio State.

Around the rinks

Providence's Ian O'Connor, a sophomore from Londonderry, has four points in six games (2 goals, 2 assists).

Over at UNH, Paul Thompson, a sophomore from Derry, has netted a pair of goals in four games, and BU senior captain John McCarthy (Andover), has three assists in six games.

Congratulations to freshman Bobby Farnham of North Andover, who netted his first collegiate goal over the weekend for Brown vs. Yale.

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Site Map

Contact Us