On September 14, Xaverian’s varsity soccer team took down Bridgewater/Raynham High School in a hard-fought and tight 1-0 road victory. During the course of the action, Hawks star Dante Mancini ’18 took a knee to the side of his thigh from an opponent. Mancini shook it off at the time, grinding through what he assumed to be nothing more than “a normal Charley horse.” However, that night, some swelling occurred. By the time he finished practice the following day, he knew something was wrong. As it turns out, the injury escalated unexpectedly to become a season-ending thigh injury for Mancini, an unfortunate blow to the soccer team.

Before coming to Xaverian, Mancini had playing experience in soccer, football, and lacrosse. During freshman year, he achieved his foremost goal of gaining a spot on the varsity soccer team after an impressive showing in tryouts. Mancini earned a Second Team All Conference award his freshman year, while also being named the Unsung Hero of the team. In his sophomore year, he continued to impress, winning First Team All Conference. Last season, as a Junior Captain, he earned the honors of Massachusetts All State Player, Eastern Massachusetts All Star, team MVP, and First Team All Conference.

Reflecting on his school career, Mancini described his best achievement as the team’s memorable sophomore campaign, in which Xaverian was ranked last among fellow Catholic Conference schools during the preseason. Despite being seen as the lowly 17th best team, the Hawks found a way to triumphantly beat the odds and earn a spot in the playoffs. Mancini recalled their “thrilling double-overtime win” in the first round as the highlight of the season.

Having never experienced any serious medical problems on the field in the past, the season-derailing injury in September came as an unwelcome surprise, derailing his promising senior campaign. What he at first thought was a minor injury was actually a rare syndrome - Compartment Syndrome, in which his left thigh doubled in size due to a popped blood vessel and internal bleeding, creating days of what Mancini called “shooting and throbbing pain,” and shutting down his hopes of a strong season on the field.

Now, Mancini visits the doctor every two weeks and was initially given a recovery time of three months. Thanks to pushing himself in physical therapy, stretching frequently, and taking his rehab step-by-step, he is now four weeks ahead of schedule and looking forward to being fully healthy soon. He cited that one major difficulty of his rehab is getting back into shape, as he can’t run much now and this is a painstakingly long process. That hasn’t stopped him from setting his sights on a college soccer program, despite missing his senior season. Dante is considering a range of schools, including Wentworth, Northeastern, and Roger Williams, and hopes to show his talents during summer practices with his chosen college’s team in order to gain a walk-on spot.

When asked to describe Dante’s role on the team, fellow soccer teammate Matt Mancini (‘19) (no relation) called him a “leader” that “knows the game really well and always has good input on how to improve.” Xaverian soccer lost Dante for his senior season, but whatever college or university he goes to will be gaining a great teammate who has stared adversity in the face and has done his best to push through it. This “freak injury” put an obstacle in Dante’s playing career, but, as any Xaverian student knows, Hawks don’t back down from a challenge.


This article was written and submitted by Xaverian Communication Corps members, Hunter Broadbent ’19 and Joshua Mould ’19.