Massachusetts
Ten high school sports takeaways on a night that saw shootouts, hat tricks, and upsets shake up the postseason – The Boston Globe
And while Hopkinton’s and Franklin’s shootout wins were thrilling, they paled compared to Martha’s Vineyard, which went 24 rounds with North Reading before Ava Townes delivered on her third attempt.
All told, Wednesday’s themes were shootouts and hat tricks.
Cambridge boys’ soccer defeated Lexington, 2-1, in a shootout, as did Mashpee, which topped Leicester on Mathias Ramirez’s shootout save.
The night also saw no less than 14 players record hat tricks, with Sutton senior Ava Magnuson leading the way with a five-goal performance. Abington’s Nathan Calcano and Central Catholic’s Lucy Irwin both found the net four times, while Norwell’s Bret Amorosino, Sandwich’s Quinn Anderson, Lynnfield’s Kaylee Barrett, Oliver Ames’s Sabrina Fabrizio, Mansfield’s Aly Fernandes, Rockport’s Sunny Gallagher, Mansfield’s Brandon Gardner, Hull’s Libby Harper, Auburn’s Zhunay Moulton, Natick’s Lydia Proia, and Braintree’s Mya Ranieri all scored thrice.
Check out all of Wednesday’s scores here. And find our girls’ volleyball roundup here.
▪ Not only did No. 22 Franklin’s 3-2 win over No. 11 Wellesley one of the day’s shootouts, but it was also one if its biggest upsets. The Panthers (10-5-4) pulled off a No. 22-over-No. 11 stunner for the second straight year after taking out No. 11 Algonquin. Last year, Franklin went on to beat No. 6 Brockton, with both wins coming in overtime.
▪ The biggest upset of the day game in Division 3 girls’ soccer, where No. 28 East Bridgewater eliminated fifth-seeded Hanover, 1-0, when sophomore Jackie Pohl buried a free kick from 25 yards out.
▪ Back on the boys’ side, No. 25 Weston was a 1-0 winner over No. 8 East Boston, and No. 20 Mashpee’s shootout win took down No. 13 Leicester, 2-1.
▪ Auburn senior Zhunay Moulton recorded her 100th career point among three goals and one assist in a 4-0 Division 3 first-round girls’ soccer win over Weston.
▪ With two goals from Sabrina Tibbert, Lincoln-Sudbury field hockey defeated Attleboro, 3-0, in the Division 1 second round to reach its first quarterfinals in 20 years. Of note, the fourth-seeded Warriors will host No. 5 Winchester in a game that will pit L-S coach Vicky Caburian against her former Boston University field hockey teammate, Michelle White, the coach of the Red & Black. The two shared the pitch from 1989-1991, a span that included a trip to the 1991 NCAA Division 1 quarterfinals.
▪ Marblehead needed two overtime periods before Lucy McDonald uncorked a 30-yard strike for a 3-2 win in the Division 2 girls’ soccer tournament, marking the Magicians’ first trip to the second round in nine years.
King Philip senior tight end/outside linebacker Brodie McDonald has committed to play football at Bentley.
▪ Tabor graduate and New Bedford native Jaydah Bedoya will make her debut with the Puerto Rico National Team in their upcoming match against Santa Lucia on Dec. 1 in the CONCACAF Women’s Qualifiers.
Bedoya, who played at UConn, made three appearances with the Ecuador Women’s National Team from 2022-24. Most recently, she has been playing with the DC Power FC of the USL.
▪ New Bedford graduate David Abolarinwa, who also attended Dartmouth High, signed a professional contract with the Quad City Steamwheelers of the Indoor Football League. Abolarinwa, a 6-foot-2-inch, 280-pound defensive lineman, played four seasons at New Haven, finishing with 14 career sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss.
Four Massachusetts players were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region 1 team, which covers New England and New York. Selected: Andover outside Jessie Wang, Shrewsbury middle Claire Troy, Longmeadow setter Chloe Scott, and Covenant Christian outside Leanna Rothier. The 2025 AVCA High School All-America Teams, as well as the four AVCA High School National Player of the Year finalists, will be announced Nov. 18.
Congratulations to senior captain Jessie Wang on her selection to the 2025 AVCA All-Region Team! Jessie is only 1 of 20 players selected from ME, NH, VT, MA, CT and NY to make the Northeast team! Congrats Jessie!!! pic.twitter.com/V69n2p4AmO
— Andover High Volleyball (@Andover_vb) November 5, 2025
▪ Graduate student Paige Gillette, an Andover High graduate, became the all-time wins leader for Assumption field hockey with 47, passing Kylie Gargiulo’s 46 wins from 2019-22. As a senior at Andover in 2021, Gillette was the Globe’s Will McDonough Female Athlete of the Year.
▪ Westfield State senior Julianne Kelly, a Natick graduate, was one of seven Owls from Massachusetts to make the 10-runner MASCAC All-Conference team. Joining Kelly was Agawam’s Reese Stephens, Longmeadow’s Shea Hamel, Dracut’s Tealei Chandonnet (a Greater Lowell Tech graduate), Methuen’s Brooke Soucy, Billerica’s Samantha Panzeri (an Eagle Hill graduate), and Haverhill’s Brynne LeCours. It was the fourth-straight All-Conference nod for Kelly and Hamel.
▪ Brandeis junior Jackson Sullivan, a Greater Commonwealth Virtual School graduate from Somerville, was named Brandeis Athlete of the Week after reaching the semifinals of the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Fall Tournament, also known as the Big One. Sullivan rolled through the bracket, never surrendering more than 7 points in the 15-point bouts as the 21st seed, before falling to Brown’s Ansel Edison in the semis.
▪ Amherst junior Harrison Dow, a Concord-Carlisle graduate, was named to the NESCAC Men’s Cross-Country First Team for the second year in a row. Connecticut College junior Ellis Iurilli-Hough, a Melrose graduate, was named to the second team.
▪ Williams junior Tamar Byl-Brann, an Amherst graduate, was named to the NESCAC Women’s Cross-Country First Team for the second year in a row, as was Williams senior Kate Swann, a Mt. Greylock graduate from Williamstown. Williams senior Charlene Peng, a Franklin graduate, made the second team, as did Williams senior Fiona Picone, an Oakmont graduate from Ashburnham, and Tufts senior Elizabeth Donahue, a Reading graduate.
Salem High will hold its 2025 Athletic Hall of fame induction ceremony on Nov. 18 (6 p.m.) at Veterans Memorial Field House. Tickets ($50 per person, children under 10 free) can be purchased here.
This year’s class features: Alix Bryant (2014; soccer, basketball, track), Jessica Corneau (2007; gymnastics, track), Edwin Demoya (2011; soccer), Joseph Fabiano (1994; football, hockey, baseball), Joseph Freeman (1995; football, track), Brian Lockard (1978; cross-country, track), Jared Louf Woods (2013; football, basketball, track), Jamal Mercado (1995; football, track), Hannah Mullarkey (2014; volleyball), Sarah Mullarkey (2011; volleyball), Richard “Rick” O’Leary (1988; football, baseball), Beau Theriault (2008; golf, basketball, baseball), Paul Tucker (1976; cross-country, track), and Melikke Van Alstyne (2009; football, track).
8. Field hockey leaderboard
Addie Finlaw, Somerset Berkley, 4
Amelia Blood, Uxbridge, 3
Julianna Casucci, Uxbridge, 3
Julie Pacheco, Somerset Berkley, 3
Gabby Palermo, Nashoba, 3
Libby Baxter, Hingham, 2
Ella Dacey, Walpole, 2
Kenzie Heroux, Somerset Berkley, 2
Kate Schneider, Walpole, 2
Sabrina Tibbert, Lincoln-Sudbury, 2
Addie Finlaw, Somerset Berkley, 5
Ryan Crook, Somerset Berkley, 3
Ella Vaught, Somerset Berkley, 3
Ava Magnuson, Sutton, 5
Nathan Calcano, Abington, 4
Lucy Irwin, Central Catholic, 4
Bret Amorosino, Norwell, 3
Quinn Anderson, Sandwich, 3
Kaylee Barrett, Lynnfield, 3
Sabrina Fabrizio, Oliver Ames, 3
Aly Fernandes, Mansfield, 3
Sunny Gallagher, Rockport, 3
Brandon Gardner, Mansfield, 3
Libby Harper, Hull, 3
Zhunay Moulton, Auburn, 3
Lydia Proia, Natick, 3
Mya Ranieri, Braintree, 3
Taylor Bello, Hingham, 2
Ella Cammarata, Masconomet, 2
Gui Cardoso, Hopedale, 2
Carter Couto, Westport, 2
Ava Damiani, Lynnfield, 2
Maddie Fernandes, Mansfield, 2
Sophia Gauron, Hamilton-Wenham, 2
Bailey Kerrigan, Littleton, 2
Maeve Maroney, Hingham, 2
Garrison Murphy, St. John’s Prep, 2
Brianna Ramos, Hull, 2
Ava Quintin, King Philip, 2
Kaylee Barrett, Lynnfield, 7
Aly Fernandes, Mansfield, 7
Zhunay Moulton, Auburn, 7
Lydia Proia, Natick, 7
Brianna Ramos, Hull, 7
Ava Damiani, Lynnfield, 6
Sarah Tressler, Central Catholic, 5
Alex Corey, Littleton, 4
Morgan Lovell, Franklin, 4
Gus Tratnyak, Hamilton-Wenham, 4
10. Girls’ volleyball leaders
Chloe Dubuisson, Canton, 14
Mia Milani, Bellingham, 13
Emerson Delleo, Franklin, 12
Makayla Kuykendall, Franklin, 12
Melanie McDonough, Canton, 12
Val Nolan, Bellingham, 12
Madilyn Botelho, Joseph Case, 11
Kayla Dowdell, Joseph Case, 11
Olivia Alberti, Franklin, 10
Lily Rego, Joseph Case, 10
Phoebe O’Connor, Franklin, 38
Erin Bigham, Canton, 23
Soley Rodriguez Martinez, Canton, 22
Erin Bigham, Canton, 14
Emma Cunningham, Franklin, 12
Emerson Delleo, Franklin, 12
Makayla Kuykendall, Franklin, 10
Phoebe O’Connor, Franklin, 8
Olivia Alberti, Franklin, 4
Charlotte Yeulenski, Franklin, 3
Madilyn Botelho, Joseph Case, 4
Erin Bigham, Canton, 3
Mia Milani, Bellingham, 3
Val Nolan, Bellingham, 3
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
“We are proud to support this remarkable group of nonprofit organizations and the essential work they do across Massachusetts,” Sincere Foundation Executive Director Rebecca Reiner said in a statement. “Their collective impact strengthens communities throughout the Commonwealth and we are honored to help advance their efforts.”
According to the foundation, grant recipients were selected across three focus areas: food security, housing stability, and safe spaces. Organizations receiving support in the food security category alongside Food Link include The Open Door in Gloucester, Worcester County Food Bank, Food For Free, and other nonprofits working to increase access to nutritious food.
WORCESTER, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – A Massachusetts man has been indicted in connection with the death of a child.
Laura French, spokesperson for the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office, said 35-year-old Steven Stuart of Auburn was indicted by a grand jury on a murder charge. The charge stems from the 2017 death of seven-year-old Jayden Carlson.
Stuart was convicted in September 2015 on a charge of assault and batter on a child causing serious bodily injury in connection with an August 2012 incident involving Carlson, who was two years old at the time. Stuart was sentenced to six to eight years in state prison for that conviction.
French added that Carlson suffered serious, “life-altering injuries and subsequently experienced ongoing medical complications” following the 2012 incident. Carlson died in December 2017 as a result of those injuries.
Stuart has been arraigned on the indictment and is being held without bail. His next court date is scheduled for July 20.
Copyright 2026 Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.
Massachusetts voters will not have the opportunity to decide whether to end a decades-long ban on rent control after the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled Tuesday that it must not appear on the November ballot, citing the exemptions for religious organizations included in the question.
The SJC ruled that the initiative petition “impermissibly” relates to religion and religious institutions – something the Massachusetts Constitution states cannot be involved in the initiative petition process.
It’s the second ballot initiative struck down by the SJC in less than a week where the high court cited errors made by Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office, with justices issuing an opinion in May on a third ballot initiative regarding legislative stipends they said should not have been certified the AG’s office.
Last week, the SJC struck from the ballot a measure that would have gradually lowered the state income tax, citing a “misleading summary” authored by Campbell’s office. The SJC sided with Campbell on three other challenges to ballot initiatives certified by her office.
But even with the Attorney General’s office committing errors on three of six ballot initiative certifications, Campbell is defending her staff, and even calls it a “great record.”
“We have 47 (ballot initiatives) that we approved, we have 44 we certified. We had six challenges, and we got three wrong. I think that’s a great record,” Campbell said when asked by the Herald if the her qualifications, as well as those of her staff, should be called into question.
“That just tells me we have more to do to be better. Any institution, whether it’s media outlets or any industry, if they can get it 100% right every time…that doesn’t happen. We own these mistakes, I own these mistake, and now we’ll move forward to improve our process to get it right the next time,” she said.
When it comes to the rent control decision, Campbell had certified the question for the ballot. She reacted to the court’s ruling to block it shortly after it was posted by the SJC .
“We got the rent control initiative, we certified it. But we, of course, have to respect the court’s decision which was against us, and we got that wrong,” Campbell admitted during her monthly appearance on GBH radio Tuesday morning.
Campbell went on to say that her office attempted to explain in its summary, which appeared on the petition used to gather required signatures to qualify for the ballot, that religious institutions would be exempt from the law, if it were to pass.
The exemption for religious organizations controlling rental units was part of the language of the original petition.
“The court disagreed and said that even a minor reference to religion was not appropriate for a valid initiative, and we were just reviewing this. Obviously the decision just came out, and I think it was only the second time that the court has broken this standard, so it’s not like it happens frequently,” she said.
The plaintiffs, whom the SJC sided with in its ruling, claimed the petition should be disqualified because “religion is a factor in the application of the law,” citing a legal precedent that is key to the court’s ruling.
“The petition … concerns a generally secular subject matter — rent control. But, by including an express exemption for facilities operated solely for religious purposes, the petition impermissibly makes religion “a factor in [the petition’s] application.” And in order to enforce the proposed law, the exemption would require the government to determine if a facility is “operated solely for . . . religious . . . purposes,” and then make an enforcement decision based on the facility’s religious purpose (or lack thereof),” Justice Frank Gaziano in the SJC decision. “Further, the petition would confer preferential treatment on religious institutions by allowing them to increase rent prices, while limiting rent increases for secular facilities.”
The AG’s summary of the proposal stated that the rent control measure “would not apply to … units operated for educational, religious, or non-profit purposes.” Campbell had certified the question for the ballot, using a process that she has called “stupid” and said needs to be “revamped.”
Several other organizations involved in the fight for and against rent control are weighed in on the ruling, with rent control proponents calling it “disappointing,” and opponents celebrate.
“This decision is a massive disappointment after all the work that thousands of volunteers and advocates in every corner of the state put into qualifying our rent control initiative for the ballot, but it’s far from the end of our campaign to protect Massachusetts renters from excessive rent hikes,” said New England Community Project Executive Director, who also chairs the Keep Massachusetts Home campaign, adding that the plaintiffs were financed by “equity-backed real estate investment corporations.”
Housing for Massachusetts – a nonprofit organization against the rent control initiative, called it “the nation’s most extreme” rent control proposal in a statement celebrating the ruling.
“Today the Supreme Judicial Court confirmed that the nation’s most extreme rent control proposal was unconstitutional. While we firmly believe that Massachusetts voters were prepared to vote ‘no’ in November, today’s decision puts the issue to rest and protects our housing pipeline and our communities from the proven damage that rent control inflicts,” the organization said. “We are incredibly grateful to the countless small property owners, real estate professionals, elected officials, and community leaders who supported our coalition, and we look forward to working together to create more homes and tackle affordability through real policy solutions.”
The rent control question was the last of this year’s ballot questions still pending with the SJC.
Meanwhile, the SJC also ruled this week to allow a question to move forward that would switch the state’s primary election system to an all-party primary, proving to be a significant influence on what voters will decide on in the November election.
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