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There are 12 groups of Blazer teammates that were high school teammates and chose to continue playing together at Hood. In a quick overview of the athletics departments at Messiah College and Stevenson College, both in the Middle Atlantic Conference, each have well over 20 groups between the men's and women's programs.

• The mens soccer team at Hood has four groups: Damascus High School, Md. (Nick May, Eric Diehl, Brian Kolb), Toms River North High School, N.J. (Juliano Pillari, Christiano Pillari, Ryan Tutzauer), Brunswick High School, Md. (Joe Fawley, Colin Shields, Drew Demich), and Chesapeake High School, Md. (Joey Fontanez, Mitch Mattox).
• The mens cross country team has one group: Arundel High School, Md. (Matt Dyjack, Nathan DuBell).
• The mens track team has two groups: Arundel High School, Md.( Dyjack, DuBell, Nikko Thomas), Northeast High School, Md. (Derrick Wood, Dylan Wood).
• The womens basketball team has one group: Middletown High School, Md. (Rachel Kessler, Brittney George).
• The womens lacrosse team has one group: Frederick High School, Md. (Brigid Ayer, KayLynn McCarthy).
• The womens soccer team has one group: Thomas Johnson High School, Md. (Sam Norris, Lia Miller).
• The womens volleyball team has one group: Middletown High School, Md. (Ashley Park-Brouse, Rebecca Rieser).
• The womens track and cross country team has one group: Kent Island High School, Md. (Caitlin Bean, Caitlin McGrath).

Senior Eric Diehl graduated from Damascus High School in 2010. Eric said that "soccer was the main reason that I looked at Hood. I came to Hood for the combination of academics and athletics." Eric had the unique opportunity to play at Hood under Brian Wall, who was a teacher at Damascus and Eric's club coach for Potomac Soccer Club.

When asked about his high school teammates, Eric said, "Yes, I would say we are friends (haha). We always had something connecting us to keep us together and around each other. Having a teammate come with me did help the transition because it provided a friend and partner that we were already comfortable with to help ease the transition into a team of people we do not really know yet."

Freshman Brian Kolb attended Damascus High School along with Eric. "I desired to come to Hood to play soccer and because it was close to home," Brian said. "It helped that I already knew I had two friends on the team that I would be able to talk to and hangout with. I have gotten to know them better now than I did back in high school. Having them helped my transition from high school to college soccer. I felt like I could relate to them more than the others because we were from the same place and saw each other grow."

Freshman Colin Shields and Drew Demich attended Brunswick High School, where they won the Maryland 1A State Soccer Championship in 2012. They followed fellow Brunswick alum Joe Fawley to Hood, where they also met up with their Brunswick head coach, Kenny Putnam, who was added to the Blazer mens soccer staff this summer.

"One of the main reasons for coming to Hood was to continue playing soccer with people I have been playing with my whole life like Drew, Joe and coaches Kenny and Matt," said Colin. "I knew that going into the season I would at least know two other people that I am not only friends with, but also teammates with."

Drew added that he decided on coming to Hood because of his love for the campus, the people that he had already met at Hood, and the opportunities that he was going to have at Hood, both for the soccer team and with his academics. "Having teammates also coming to Hood made the decision easier because I knew coming in I would have friends. They helped a lot because we had each other before we really met everyone else."

Drew and Colin are rooming together this year. "Colin is my roommate and we are always with Joe so we are all still 'close' ," Drew said. Colin said it is cool to see what Drew and Joe are like outside of school and sports. "They helped a lot with the transition because they would push you more and more."

Hood Senior Matt Dyjack said that having the opportunity to run at Hood definitely affected his decision to eventually attend Hood. Matt's older sister Abby attended Hood and graduated in 2011. Abby played for the Blazer womens lacrosse team and was named all-CAC second team in her senior season.

"My sister also went here so I already knew a couple of things about the athletics programs and academics. Having teammates and my sister already at Hood definitely played an impact on coming here. Being here with people I already knew helped me adjust quicker to the new environment."

Matt is also involved in a sports that goes over the entire school year: with cross country being in the fall, indoor track running from December to March, and then outdoor track wrapping up in early May. Junior Nathan DuBell attended Arundel High School along with Matt. "Having run XC (cross country) and track has allowed me to get to know them better than I would have just through school. Without playing a sport, I may not have talked to them or had to the ability to get to know them as well."

Hood College Athletics Page
Hood Photo Diary, Ran by Charlie Covell

• All photos credits to Charlie Covell.
• The first image is of Rachel Kessler, Brittney George, and Eboni Staples (left to right).
• The next image is of the men's soccer team. Christiano Pillari, Eric Diehl, Juliano Pillari, Drew Demich, Joe Fawley, Mitchell Mattox, and Nick May are featured in the image.
• The final image is of Matt Dyjack finishing a race without his shoes on his feet.