Caroline Wysocki had done her share of traveling as a member of her elite U-18 club soccer team, the FC Stars of Massachusetts, so when it came time to look at colleges, the Agawam senior and honor student wanted to find a school close to home. Her parents couldn’t fault her reasoning, mom Colleen recalls: “She said, ‘If I’m going to be playing soccer for the next four years, I want you all to be able to come and watch me play.’ ”

No doubt they will. Colleen and her husband, Bill, will have to travel only as far as Durham, NH, for their daughter’s home games at the University of New Hampshire next fall. Caroline signed a national letter of intent to play for the Division 1 school in a ceremony Wednesday in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center. As a bonus, her parents can still say their daughter is a Wildcat.

And one that will not soon be forgotten at Williston. “Caroline is one of the best overall athletes that I’ve ever coached,” says soccer coach Jen Fulcher. “She can be dangerous anywhere on the field. We put her up front, and she came up with numerous big goals, numerous game-winning goals, and was a threat from start to finish in every game.”

Indeed, Ms. Wysocki broke the Williston school record for most goals per game in a season, netting 15 in 16 games. That season total is also the second highest in school history.

Such success reflects a work ethic that impresses even her parents. “There were many nights when she would come home after sports practice at Williston,” her mother recalls, “and then go to Lancaster where her club team plays. You’ve got to be a pretty driven kid to be able to come home, sometimes at 10 or 10:30 at night, and then do your homework. I don’t think every kid could handle that, but she was able to. And she still made the honor roll.”

“I love to compete,” says Caroline, who was also recruited to play lacrosse. “And to create friendships with teammates and coaches that are like nothing else. Facing adversity can be difficult, but the positive energy from other people on my team keeps me going.”

One teammate she will miss is Emily MacDonald, who also signed a letter of intent Wednesday with Assumption College. The two have been playing together since they were 9 years old and together formed the core of a Wildcat team that will be hard to replace, says their coach.

Caroline and Emily “represent four-year impact players, both as people and as leaders—they were both captains of the team—and will certainly go down as two of the best players to play here,” Ms. Fulcher says. “They are the perfect balance of talent, personality, and leadership, and making everyone around them better.”

Caroline will be joining a UNH team coached by Steve Welham, who took over the program in 2014. Colleen said her daughter connected with Mr. Welham from their first meeting. “He was so enthusiastic about taking over the program, his vision going forward, and that was definitely another draw,” she says.

The Wysockis, both public school teachers, credit Williston with helping make their daughter’s next step possible. “Williston challenged her, athletically and academically, to a level she would not have experienced elsewhere,” says Colleen. “We cannot say enough about it. For us, it was a privilege to be able to have our daughter go there.”

View photos from the signing ceremony on Williston’s Flickr site.

Nick Garofano was originally recruited by Williston to play hockey. As a football running back, however, he eventually would rush for more yards and score more points than any player in school history. So what Division 1 sport will the Yorktown Heights, NY, senior be playing next year at the U.S. Military Academy?

Lacrosse, of course.

Mr. Garofano, a three-sport athlete and four-year honor student, signed his national letter of intent with Army West Point Wednesday in a ceremony in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center. He’ll be joining a Black Knights lacrosse team coached by Joe Alberici that reached the Patriot League championship game last year and took the league title in 2010. “On his visit to West Point, he just fell in love with the whole place,” recalls his father, Ralph. “The coaches were just awesome and stayed in touch with him.”

In his three seasons of lacrosse at Williston, Mr. Garofano has scored a total of 77 goals with 69 assists. He was named 1^st team All WNESSLA Division 2 after his sophomore season and his junior season, and he was selected as the William LaBelle Offensive player of the year for WNESSLA Division 2 after his junior season. As a player, he has stood out for his athleticism, his strength, and his determination, says his coach Christopher Dietrich. “He’s faster than most of the people who try to cover him. He’s got a really strong shot. He’s just a relentless competitor.”

That same competitive fire also came to serve him well in school, once Nick arrived at Williston, says his father. “He just jumped on board and became very intense in the classroom,” he recalls. “I don’t know if he would have been able to go to an Ivy League-type school or a West Point and be prepared in the classroom without going to Williston. I know he wouldn’t.” Adds his mother, Anna, “His determination and perseverance have made him a well-rounded young man. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

For his part, Nick credits Williston with providing him with a challenging but supportive environment. “What is so special about the program is that my coaches and teammates all want to see me succeed and pushed me to the best of my abilities, something that is very important to me,” he says. At the same time, says his father, Nick always pushed himself. “He woke up in the morning and went to the gym, always watches what he eats, lifts like a maniac,” he says. “He works hard.”

As dedicated as he is to lacrosse, Nick is not ruling out continuing his football career at West Point. That would not surprise his Williston coaches. “There is no question in my mind that Nick would be a tremendous college football player,” says Mark Conroy, Williston’s director of athletics and head football coach. “He is the finest running back I have had the privilege of coaching during my career.”

Whatever he ends up pursuing, Nick is sure to approach it with that same determination that helped him set athletic records at Williston, say his coaches. As an example, Mr. Dietrich recalled a lacrosse game last year against Taft. “The boy who was covering Nick was a senior, a very, very good defensemen. Nick has a competitive fire. When he is playing against someone who is supposed to be better than him, who is supposed to shut him down, those often are his best individual performances. We won that game 9 to 8.”

As for Nick, he had 5 goals and 3 assists.

View photos from the signing ceremony on Williston’s Flickr site.