Jennifer Toland's college notes: Algonquin lacrosse duo boost Endicott to NCAAs
Jackie Healy and Bella Rino met when they were freshmen at Algonquin Regional, and they’ve been together as teammates, classmates and best friends ever since.
After four successful seasons playing lacrosse for the Tomahawks — Healy was a two-time T&G Super Team selection, and Rino graduated from Algonquin with four school records, including the single-season mark for saves — the pair continued together at Endicott, where they have helped lead the Gulls to 50 victories over the last four years and, this season as seniors, the team’s third straight NCAA Division 3 Tournament appearance.
“(In high school), we were both looking at Endicott, but it wasn’t really, ‘If I go here, you’ll come with me,’ ” Rino said. “It was kind of separate, but it was bonus that we were both looking and we both decided to commit here.”
Rino and Healy, who are both from Northboro, played major roles in Endicott’s 11-10 victory over Roger Williams in the Commonwealth Coast Conference final last weekend. Rino made 11 saves, and Healy scored the winning goal in overtime.
“I honestly wish I could remember the whole thing leading up to it; it all happened so quickly,” Healy said. “It was amazing. I’ve been watching film to try to relive it.”
With just under a minute and a half left in OT, teammate Julia Lantieri intercepted a Roger Williams pass in stride and passed the ball to Aleah MacKay, who found Healy on the right side of the net. Healy scored her 26th goal of the season.
“The second there was an interception, all of our defense said, ‘This is it,’” Rino said. “I knew the second Jackie got the ball she was going to get it done, and I saw the ball go in the back of the net, and we all kind of blacked out at that moment. It was surreal.”
Healy was named CCC Offensive Player of the Week, and Rino, who made 21 saves in two tourney games, CCC Defensive Player of the Week.
The Gulls (14-5) face Misericordia University in an NCAA first-round game Saturday in York, Pennsylvania.
“It’s amazing that we get to keep playing and practicing together,” Healy said. “We’re not ready to leave this sport.”
Healy earned All-CCC second-team honors this season, and Rino was named CCC Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in her career.
Healy and Rino finished classes Tuesday afternoon, and they will both graduate May 25 with nursing degrees. They’ve spent a lot of time together off the field, too.
“We pretty much spend every second together,” Rino said. “We always laugh, but we’re in all the same classes, have the same lifts, the same practice schedule, we get dinner together, we have the same friend group. It’s really nice to see how close we’ve gotten in college.”
Added Healy: “We were both really happy we were going to have another four years together because playing in high school was so much fun. In college, we’ve grown even closer because it’s a different lifestyle, and we see each other all the time. We’re almost like sisters after these four years. It’s been great.”
NCAAs for Bison teams
The Nichols men’s and women’s tennis teams will play in the NCAA Division 3 Tournament this week.
The men’s team, which captured its eighth straight Commonwealth Coast Conference championship, will face Wilkes University on Friday at Amherst College.
The Bison enter the tournament 15-6 and has posted 15 or more wins for the 10th year in a row. Nichols has won its first-round NCAA matchup each of the last four seasons.
The women’s team, which won its third straight CCC title in the fall, will face Colby-Sawyer in the first round of the NCAAs Friday at Bowdoin.
Nichols (15-1) is making its third straight NCAA appearance and fourth overall.
'Purple Reign'
The premiere of “College Basketball’s Purple Reign,” a documentary which chronicles and celebrates Holy Cross men’s basketball’s 1947 NCAA and 1954 NIT championships, is 6-8:30 p.m. Monday at Xavier High School in New York.
“I think there are so many elements to the story that are of interest,” Rich Kaner, the documentary's executive producer, said. “It’s a compelling story.”
Kaner, who runs a sports marketing agency, began research for a book called “Hoops Hotbed on the Hudson,” about basketball stars from his home area of Hudson County, New Jersey, and that turned his attention to the HC documentary.
Many of the stars of the ’47 and ’54 teams were from New Jersey and New York.
The documentary combines lots of nostalgia and interviews with HC’s greats, including Bob Cousy, the last living member of the 1947 team, and George Kaftan, the MVP of the ’47 tournament, who passed away last year, as well as with the standouts of the 1954 team such as Togo Palazzi, Tom Heinsohn and Ron Perry.
The documentary trailer can be viewed at www.purplereignfilm.com.
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.