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Page 28 <strong>Medway</strong> & <strong>Millis</strong> Local Town Pages www.localtownpages.com <strong>May</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />
Sports<br />
Milford’s Loss a Huge Gain for <strong>Medway</strong> with Ava Vasile<br />
By Christopher Tremblay,<br />
Staff Sports Writer<br />
When she was in the firstgrade,<br />
her father came home with<br />
two lacrosse sticks from a huge<br />
sale at a sporting goods store, and<br />
from there Ava Vasile found a<br />
passion for the sport.<br />
“We went out back to play<br />
catch, but I was so bad, I dropped<br />
every single ball. I felt so bad for<br />
him, it must have been frustrating<br />
as I was so god awful,” Vasile<br />
said. “Growing up, I was a tom<br />
boy and was always interested in<br />
trying new things.”<br />
Living in Milford, she joined<br />
the Milford Youth Lacrosse<br />
League and began her ascent<br />
upon the lacrosse ladder. Vasile<br />
would play in the Milford league<br />
up until the sixth grade; the following<br />
year, Milford didn’t have<br />
enough kids, so they formed a<br />
co-op with <strong>Medway</strong>.<br />
When it came time for high<br />
school, Vasile applied for an open<br />
spot at <strong>Medway</strong> through School<br />
Choice and was chosen to attend<br />
the school. It was tough for her<br />
mother at first, because she was<br />
the one driving her daughter to<br />
school every day.<br />
“I decided on <strong>Medway</strong> as I<br />
was looking for a more of an academic<br />
challenge as well as taking<br />
part in a better sports program,”<br />
she said. “I knew that I wanted to<br />
play college sports and thought<br />
<br />
<br />
Milford resident Ava Vasile picked <strong>Medway</strong> High School through school<br />
choice, and <strong>Medway</strong> High got a great student and phenomenal athlete<br />
in lacrosse and track out of the arrangement.<br />
that <strong>Medway</strong> gave me a better<br />
chance to accomplish that.”<br />
Although she knew a lot of the<br />
girls from her youth team as well<br />
as her club team (Storm Lax),<br />
Vasile was still rather nervous<br />
during the <strong>Medway</strong> High School<br />
lacrosse tryouts.<br />
“I was very nervous at first,”<br />
she said. “Meeting a new team,<br />
trying to fit in and have the other<br />
girls like you.”<br />
It wasn’t long before the Mustang<br />
athletes had accepted the<br />
midfielder.<br />
“Ava takes the draws for us,<br />
and is so fast that she can take it<br />
right down the field and score,”<br />
<strong>Medway</strong> Coach Cassandra Mc-<br />
Gill said. “I’m glad that I don’t<br />
have to defend her as an opposing<br />
coach. Her biggest strength is<br />
her speed, as well as being a very<br />
versatile athlete.”<br />
The senior has been playing<br />
for the <strong>Medway</strong> varsity team<br />
for four years, the last three for<br />
Coach McGill. During her first<br />
three years, Vasile has had 625<br />
draw controls, including 134<br />
alone last year. The next closest<br />
athlete to her had 25. Vasile has<br />
also racked up 160 goals and 52<br />
assists with her 100th goal coming<br />
in the tournament during her<br />
sophomore campaign.<br />
Vasile gravitated toward midfielder<br />
,because she enjoys running<br />
and the position allowed her<br />
to do just that, run.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“I love playing attack and<br />
scoring, but I also love the ability<br />
to play defense as well. I’m<br />
an aggressive person on the field<br />
and love pushing people around;<br />
it’s like beating someone up<br />
without the consequences,” she<br />
said. “Running allows me to get<br />
my energy out. If I’m at home,<br />
I can’t sit still and need to run<br />
around the house.”<br />
With all that pent-up energy,<br />
Vasile decided to join the track<br />
team to work on her speed to<br />
make her that much more dangerous<br />
on the field. Having never<br />
run in an organized fashion, the<br />
Milford native soon found out she<br />
was successful on the track level<br />
as well as on the lacrosse field.<br />
“She is something else,” <strong>Medway</strong><br />
Track Coach Andrew Nassiff<br />
said. “By the end of her freshman<br />
year, she had taken four seconds<br />
off her 300-meter time, and<br />
through the years she just keeps<br />
getting better. Her junior year,<br />
she won everything and helped<br />
us to our first (Tri Valley) League<br />
Championship in decades.”<br />
This past season, she participated<br />
in the Nationals running<br />
the 300, 400 (finished 8th), 800<br />
and Sprint Medley. She has also<br />
won the State pentathlon and is<br />
10th in Massachusetts. Last year,<br />
she was the New England Champion<br />
in the 55 meter hurdles and<br />
was second in the states in the<br />
300. Not bad for a sport she took<br />
up to help her speed in lacrosse.<br />
Not to be outdone on the lacrosse<br />
field, Vasile was named a<br />
top ten All Star in the TVL and<br />
last year was the Small Division’s<br />
Player of the Year in the TVL.<br />
While Vasile seems to have a<br />
grasp on just about everything,<br />
McGill wants her star midfielder<br />
to do more.<br />
“She’s a phenomenal athlete,<br />
but I’m looking for her to know<br />
when to take it to the goal and<br />
when to dish it,” the lacrosse<br />
coach said. “I think she puts a lot<br />
of pressure on herself as the go<br />
to person. If you tell her to take<br />
the ball and score nine out of 10<br />
times she will; one on one she can<br />
beat anyone.”<br />
As she enters her final season<br />
with <strong>Medway</strong>, Vassile has already<br />
committed to play at the University<br />
of Vermont next year. The senior<br />
had looked into a couple of<br />
schools that included the likes of<br />
the University of Albany, UNH,<br />
UMASS and UCONN as well as<br />
Vermont.<br />
“It was down to Vermont and<br />
UCONN,” she said. “I loved the<br />
Vermont campus and the girls on<br />
the team. It felt warm and welcoming,<br />
unlike some of the other<br />
schools.”<br />
Vasile is hoping that in her<br />
final season with the Mustangs<br />
that she can help lead the team<br />
into the Division 2 East Tournament<br />
and get past that dreaded<br />
second round. Each of the past<br />
two seasons, <strong>Medway</strong> was sent<br />
home in the Quarter Finals. Last<br />
year Groton Dunstable ended<br />
<strong>Medway</strong>’s season and the year<br />
before it was the eventual Division<br />
2 East Champion Walpole.