Nationals marks the end of the 2018-2019 season, but the club moves forward together. We look back fondly at the memories we’ve made throughout the past several months, and look forward to next season! We would like to thank everyone who has supported us and been involved with our club for this incredible year. Check out our recap of each team in the following article!
D1 Men
As we snuck into the Elite Division for Nationals, we finished in 5th in the country! This year, we had many new faces join BTH, and those new faces were ready to play their part! They faced a challenging group phase, but pulled through with 2 solid wins at the end of the tournament; the last being a nail biter victory of DC Diplomats (25-22).
D2 Men
No bench? Less experience as a team? No problem. Our D2 guys came to Nationals with fire in their eyes and passion in their hearts. While they placed 8th in the nation for the Open Division, they earned 1st in the resilience they showed on the court. Many players were new to the club and even new to the sport! This experience was invaluable for the individual players and the team. Next year, we’re expecting big things!
Women
The women’s team story feels like an underdog story. At the end of last season, more than half the original roster had left; moving on to great things, we’re sure! As this season approached, we didn’t know who we’d have on our team. How many players would show? How much experience will the new players have? How do we move forward without a coach? So many questions!
With a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work, we made it known in the Northeast Team Handball League early: Boston was here to play their heart out. We finished second in the league, only being beaten by NYC. Through the face of injuries and people moving back home, new faces were there to fill in the big spots we were missing. We had found our incredible coach, someone who knew the team inside and out. Players stepped up and became leaders in their specific positions. Flying through the group phase as the top seed, we were set to face Chicago in the Semi-Finals. A tough game that showed some of our weaknesses relegated us to the 3rd place championship game against our familiar opponents, DC.
The intensity didn’t stop there. A very physical game lead to several two minutes on both sides, a very low scoring game as Boston’s strong defensive play matched up to DC’s high movement offense. The game was consistently tied… till the end. At the end of regulation time, two 2-minute penalties set Boston behind by two players, and a missed penalty shot led to DC winning by one goal in the last 30 seconds of the game. DC took third, 16-15.
A tough, close loss is always difficult, but there is so much to be proud of on this team! A semi-final loss that seemed damning in team moral forced everyone to step up and show they were playing for each other in the 3rd place game. The bench showed incredible support. Those who took the court showed support for each other and put it all out on the line. This is the second year that our women have finished 4th in a row… We already have our eyes on next year. Our BTH women are getting closer and closer to taking a medal at Nationals. It hasn’t happened yet, and we’re hungry to make history; to add to the ever-growing list of Boston sports champions.