By Scott Souza/Daily News staff


WALTHAM — Waltham High graduates Abby Auld and Tori Bergantino spent so much time talking with all the family, coaches and former teammates who had come see them that they never made it around to talking with each other.

About 20 minutes after her UMass-Lowell team got finished knocking off Bergantino's Bentley College squad, 2-0, in the first meeting of the season between the Northeast-10 archrivals Wednesday night, Auld started over to her three-year WHS partner-in-crime when she turned around and noticed the River Hawks were headed for the bus.

``Tori, my team is leaving!'' Auld hollered in apology across the Bentley turf. ``I'll talk to you on the computer!''

And so the reunion went. The closest the former Hawks really came to renewing acquaintances in the Waltham homecoming actually came with about five minutes left in the contest when Bergantino, a freshman Bentley midfielder, took a pass on the near sideline and Auld rushed up from behind, coming within a second or two of the pickpocket.

``I was so focused on the game I didn't even notice,'' said Bergantino of sharing the field opposite Auld for the first after nearly a lifetime of being teammates in three sports. ``But seeing her on the other side is strange, it's very strange.''

``I did (notice),'' admitted Auld, a UML freshman, ``but I didn't want to make it obvious and say: `Hey, Tori, what's up?' She wasn't really marking me, but it was still awkward.''

While Auld's team won the battle, it was still another very encouraging night for the two former Tribune All-Stars on the home side. Bergantino, who has started three of five games, played extensively in the first half with several steals and passes that drew raves from both her current teammates on the Bentley sideline and her former Waltham High ones in the stands across the field. Bentley classmate and former Watertown star Stephanie Sideris also saw a lot of action as the freshman forward played nearly the entire second half off the bench after starting the first four games of her college career.

``It's been amazing so far,'' Sideris said. ``I love the team. I love playing. It's awesome to be getting playing time so early.

``I love everything about it. The speed, totally, the intensity, everything together.''

After helping the Raiders to the Division 2 state semifinals two years ago, Sideris somehow lifted a Watertown team with nine freshmen on the roster back to the Division 2 North Sectional quarterfinals as a senior last year. After an exhaustive, overtime effort against Arlington that was one of the best you'll ever see out of a high school field hockey player, her Raider career ended with a loss in the next round and Sideris began planning for the next stage of her career at Bentley.

Despite a coaching change that saw Bentley alumna and former Lasell College coach Jessica King take over for renowned longtime coach Kelly McGowan, Sideris stayed on track to attend and play at the perennial Division II power. With an assist already to her credit, Sideris is making the transition from high school star on the Victory Field grass to immediate college contributor on the lightning-fast Bentley carpet.

``There's a lot more passing and a lot more communicating,'' contrasted Sideris. ``This is a totally different surface for me, so it's a lot faster.
``You just have to do your one job out there so that the rest of the team can do their their jobs, and get the job as a whole done.''

Bergantino's path into the lineup was a little more circuitous. The two-time Tribune All-Star earned a WHS scholarship to the school and opted to accept it independent of a field hockey future.

Once at Bentley, Bergantino decided to try out for the new coach, and made the Falcons as a walk-on.

``I was very pleasantly surprised,'' said the former Hawks field hockey and lacrosse standout. ``I was going to try out no matter what, and I figured I would see whatever happened happened. I am very happy I made the team and that we (she and Sideris) are playing so much. It's been the best experience.''

While Bergantino's strength and aggressiveness often allowed her to win the play at Waltham High, she said a combination of effort and smarts is needed at the Division II college level.

``I think it's mostly being really patient and waiting,'' she said. ``On defense, you have to be extremely patient. In high school, you can just throw down a tackle and it will work. Here, it doesn't.''

About 20 miles away, Auld is also testing the waters as to what will work and what won't in college. In high school, the four-year varsity player and 2007 Daily News Tribune Field Hockey Player of the Year could do just about whatever she wanted on the field and make opponents look silly. But with only one senior having graduated from last year's NCAA finalist, nothing has been guaranteed at UML.

``I know there's a lot of high expectations because there was only one senior last year,'' she said. ``Obviously, if we made it that far last year, the coach feels that with three new players and only losing one player we should make it that far again.

``It's hard. There's eight forwards on the team, so I really have to work my butt off to get some playing time.''

Auld wound up playing the final 15 minutes of Wednesday night's homecoming to the delight of a considerable Waltham contingent in the stands.

``It's just awesome to see your kids play in college anyway, and to have two, and to have them contribute, is a great feeling,'' said Waltham coach Denise Nugent, who attended the game. ``That was really important to (the current players) to be there to see them. It's something for the kids to aspire to be like (Auld and Bergantino) themselves.''

Though the transition from high school to scholarship-level college sports can be difficult, Auld said she was helped with some words of advice from older sister Tricia Auld - a former UMass-Lowell soccer star - and a River Hawks preseason bonding trip.

``When I first walked in, I was so nervous,'' she admitted. ``But for preseason, my team went to Bermuda and we got a chance to play the Bermuda national team every day. I think that helped a lot because I wasn't walking in not knowing what I was going to be doing and not knowing anyone.''

Now that she has gotten more comfortable with the college routine, Auld has seen the differences between playing on one of the best teams in the state in high school and playing on one of the best Division II teams in the country in college.

``I think the skills here are a lot more cleaned up,'' she noted, ``especially with the passing. You are supposed to be able to one-touch it to the sides. It's just, like, really quick. In high school, there's a lot more dribbling. They actually try to simplify it in college. You just go right down the sideline and get it in, whereas in high school it's all over the place.''

Both Auld and Bergantino were all over the place after the game Wednesday as both had to check in with plenty of family members and former classmates.

A year ago, the pair of Hawks and Sideris were together on the Tribune All-Star page at the conclusion of their respective high school careers. From the looks of things Wednesday night, the end to a great high school run for all three has opened the door for plenty of continued success at the next level.