Billy Peterson
Contributing Writer
Kelly Gallo of the field hockey team and Joel Altavesta of the football team have performed exceptionally well over the last week earning them Springfield Student Newspaper Players of the Week award for 9/2/12 through 9/8/12.
Athletes of the Week for 9/5/12 – 9/12/12
Kelly Gallo
Kelly Gallo has been unstoppable on the field during the opening week of the season. Gallo has helped lead Springfield to a fast 2-1 start on the season. Last week in a game against Brockport, Gallo tallied three goals and an assist, en route to a 6-0 victory. Gallo is happy with how the team has played in its first three games, but acknowledges that there are still things to work on. Last season, Gallo led the field hockey team with 11 goals and shared the team lead with five assists. This year, Gallo will be looking to help the team improve its record on the field, and earn a berth in the NCAA playoffs. Gallo and the team continue preparing for its first conference game, Friday Sep 14th against Clark University.
Q. How does the team look so far?
A. The team looks a lot stronger than it did last year. We’re all pleased after our first win, last year we didn’t win a game in September. It shows how hard we worked in the offseason.
Q. Do you consider yourself a leader on the team, now that you’re a junior?
A. Yes I definitely consider myself a leader more than I did in the past. But there are also many other leaders such as our captains Kayla and Mary Kate, who do a great job along with the rest of the seniors and our freshman goalie who has stepped up big for us.
Q. What are your team goals for this season?
A. One of the big team goals is to win NEWMAC’s and also to have a better record than we did last year. We would also like to play good games against the NESCAC teams and hopefully win a couple games against them.
Q. Do you think the team can go far this year?
A. Definitely, we have the potential to win NEWMAC’s if we play hard, and play our game throughout the whole season.
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Joel Altavesta
Joel Altavesta has been tough to bring down early in the season. In last week’s win against Husson University, Altavesta carried the ball 23 times, for a total of 116 yards. In addition, Altavesta added his first touchdown of the season. This is the first season where the Pride will be competing in the Liberty League, and Altavesta feels good about the teams chances to win the League. The senior will look to provide veteran leadership in the Pride backfield. On the season, Altavesta has rushed for 129 yards and one touchdown. The Pride face Mount Ida on Saturday Sep. 15th and Altavesta will be doing his part to help the team earn another win.
Q. After starting the season 1-1, how do you see the remainder of the season playing out?
A. I think we should have a real successful season. We started off slow in the first game, but we’re moving forward now and hoping to stay strong and get another win this week against Mount Ida.
Q. What are your goals for this year?
A. A few goals I have are too continue playing well and do my part to help the team win and keep the wins coming.
Q. What do you attribute your own personal success too?
A. Well, we’ve played good all the way around, are defense has been solid and the offensive line has been great. If it was not for the offensive line, the holes would not have been open. It has been a team effort.
Q. Do you think the team can win the Liberty League this year?
A. I think we have a good chance to win the Liberty League, and that is what we are striving for. There are going to be some tough games along the way, but we are going to do whatever we have to do to win.