Medway High School Freshman Boys 2006

Season Record: 9 - 4 - 0

Level 3 Soccer Expectations.doc

Freshman Boys 2006 Roster and stats

FALL 2006 Season Notes:

Pre-season double sessions are over!  The teams have been selected.  Now it is time to ready our team for the challenges ahead.  I thought we look very good playing two 20 minute periods against Franklin's JV team on Saturday, 9/2/06.  I saw lots of positive things happening on the field that we can build on.

Regular practice schedule:  be on the field and ready warm up by 2:45 PM every non-game weekday.  We will practice until 5:30 PM.

Team captains have been elected.  Congratulations to J. Davock, N. Lynch and C. Trindade!

9/17/06 - Many thanks to the Lynch's who hosted our first pasta dinner and to the families who supported the effort.

9/18/06 - Team photos will be taken on Monday, 9/18 at 2:50 PM.  Please be on the turf field right after school.  Our game vs. Westwood will follow at 3:30 PM on the grass field.  Its time to post a win on the scoreboard!  Six players still have to return their signed acceptance of the team's substance policy.  Lets get them to the coach as soon as possible.

9/20/06 - All of the signed Substance Policy forms have been returned.  Thanks players and parents.  Two good wins in a row!  Good job beating Westwood 2 - 0 and Ashland 8 - 1.  T. Adams and D. Graham played well in their first appearances in goal this season while N. Lynch got some quality time on the field.

9/23/06 - Got an email from Mrs. Pearson telling me that B. Pearson broke two bones in his wrist and will be out of action (no sports activity) for 6 - 8 weeks!  We are going to miss him in our midfield.  But there is some good news (and just in time), J. Cahill should be back to practice on Monday, 9/25 and available to play against Hopkinton on Tuesday at 5:00.

9/24/06 - Don't for get the pasta dinner at the Niemczyk's on Monday night after practice - 6:00 PM.

9/27/06 - What a GREAT game!  I guess Mrs. Niemczyk puts on a powerful pasta dinner!  Yesterday the Freshman boys of Medway completely dominated the team from Hopkinton.  All of the things we've been working on in practice since the start of the season just fell into place: give and go passes, overlapping runs, play the way you face, send the ball to the corner flag then cross to the front of the net.  It was a beautiful thing to watch.  You've made so much progress now let's keep going in a positive direction.  We're not perfect and there are many things to work on.  We must remain focused.  Our next game is a week from Thursday at Medfield.  They beat us 1 - 0 in our first match of the season; I don't think they will do it again!

PRACTICE SCHEDULE UPDATE -

9/30/06 - The Medway Mustang Soccer Club would like to thank the following Freshman Boys Team players who volunteered their Saturday morning to work at the annual Medway Mustangs Soccer Club yard sale. J. Davock, C. Hatch and N. Leader worked from 7:15 to 11:00 and were significant contributors to the success of this year's event.   We also want to thank the parents of players who also devoted their time...this will be your event in the coming years! If interested in working with or joining the Medway Mustangs Soccer Club board of directors please send an email to cjorourke1@comcast.net- Carole O'Rourke, President, Medway Mustang Soccer Club. 

10/3/06 - Boys, it is time to remind you of our team's player priorities, Family/Faith, Academics, Athletics. I am told that progress reports will be issued this week.  Your grades are more important than your playing stats!  If any of you are having difficulty in your classes I urge you to seek extra help after school NOW before it becomes a problem.  No one will be penalized for being late to practice due to after school extra help sessions.  You can look to your teammates to be study partners and homework helpers; this is also part of being a team.  Don't let yourself down and don't let your team down by not getting the job done.

This just in from Mr. Pearl, AD:  Reminder, no seeds, gum or juice products are allowed on any turf fields (Westwood, Medway, Holliston, Medfield).

10/5/06 - Well, that didn't turn out the way we expected it to; 4 - 1 loss to Medfield.  They moved the ball from side to side much better than we did and their strikers were fast.  Our sweepers had their hands full today and had to work hard.  T. Newton played a good game at fullback and P. Sheard scored his second of the season on a nice shot that beat the keeper to his right.  C. Park made some perfect tackles in the second half.  P. Halloran served up some nice corner kicks but we just couldn't finish.  Medway should have scored a couple more and Medfield should have scored at least one less but that's the way the game goes sometimes.  Optional shooting practice tomorrow from 10 - 12 for those who can make it and again on Monday, same time.

Schedule change:  The Holliston game on Thursday, 10/12, has been canceled.  Holliston no longer has a Freshman team.  We now have a replacement game vs. Nipmuc on Thursday, 10/12 at 3:30 at Medway HS.

Don't forget OPTIONAL shooting practice @ 10:00 - 12:00 on Monday, 10/9.

10/10/06- Much better!  The first of three in a row went of well.  2 - 1 vs. Westwood, who had 3 sophomores playing with them this time.  A huge thank you to Tim Adams who did a fine job as a substitute referee.  Westwood's AD apologized for the scheduled referee absence even though it wasn't Westwood's fault.  There is a shortage of high school referees this season and scheduling has been difficult.  This isn't the first issue we have had this season.  Nice goals scored by J. Cahill, his first of the season and P. Sheard, his third assisted by R. McHale.  N. Lynch made 6 saves and the sweepers, J. Davock and C. Trindade, cleaned up the rest in front of the net.  I saw some beautiful passing and teamwork today.  Let's keep it rolling tomorrow as we travel to Franklin.  We will face off against Westwood again on Monday, 10/16, back in Westwood.

10/11/06- Medway 4, Franklin 0  boy, I like the way that sounds.  Franklin beat us up twice last season.  Goals were scored by P. Sheard, his 4th in 5 games, assisted by H. Mott; C. Park (2); A. Niemczyk (3) and T. Adams (3) assisted by P. Halloran, who leads the team in points with 5.  N. Lynch and D. Graham shared the goal keeping job today stopping all 6 Franklin shots to secure the clean sheet.  And can you believe the great header shot from M. Bev that hit the post!  A very good effort by everyone.  Let's see if we can make it three wins in as many days as we take on Nipmuc tomorrow in Medway @ 3:30. (Probably on the grass field.)

10/12/06- Three games in three days is a lot to ask of any team at any level and these guys played very well.  I am extremely proud of the way our boys played against Nipmuc's JV team today.  A 2 - 1 loss was still a good showing against that team.  P. Sheard's, 5th goal in his last 6 games, a nice finish off a beautiful cross from T. Adams got us on the board in the first half.  N. Lynch was awesome today making 29 saves!  Are you kidding me?  That's a 93.5% save ratio.  Sweepers J. Davock and C. Trindade played very well.  P. Halloran put up some nice corner kicks but we couldn't convert.  And the Cahill's have been just flying this week.  The boys will get a well deserved rest this weekend.  No practice on Friday.  We travel back to Westwood on Monday.  Well played, boys!

10/16/06- A slow start but a good finish today to sweep our 3 game series with Westwood. The Westwood team got better every time we met this season but better wasn't enough to beat us. They scored first even though Medway controlled most of the play. Our second squad went into the game and showed a lot of energy and speed. J. Cahill put a great pass on the feet of A. Niemczyk who dribbled straight toward the goal keeper and beat him to tie the game with his 4th of the season. Half time 1 - 1 and N. Lynch who made 2 saves in the first half limped off the field with what we hope is a minor knee injury. New keeper, T. Adams, and a new 40 minute game to play. A. Niemczyk went in to replace Adams on the right midfield. The first squad came out stronger and faster than at the start of the game and really made a difference. Several quality corner kicks from P. Halloran were served up then one found M. Bevilacqua in front of the net; his header bounced off the keeper right to P. Sheard who slotted home the game winner, his 6th goal in 7 games! Second squad finished off the half to preserve the 2 - 1 win.  We will train tomorrow and Wednesday and play at Ashland on Thursday.  We may do some interesting things with the line up for that game.

10/19/06- If soccer is known as "the beautiful game" then we played an ugly first half of kick ball today.  Even though we scored two goals, we did not play the kind of soccer we have been training to play.  Both goals were the direct result of Ashland turnovers in front of their net but we must give credit where it is due; we still had to put the ball in the net.  The first goal of the game, and it turned out to be the game winner, scored by our #1 sniper - P. Sheard who extended his "goal a game" streak to 6 and now has 7 goals in his last 8 games.  The second came off the foot of A. Niemczyk, his 5th of the season.  D. Graham didn't have to make a save in the first 35 minutes of play.  The second half looked more like Medway soccer.  We controlled the ball better and made nice passing plays to generate scoring chances.  N. Lynch scored his first two goals of the season.  The first, unassisted and the second assisted by T. Newton  to complete the scoring at 4 - 0.  T. Adams made 2 saves in the half to keep the clean sheet.  We tried players at different positions in the second half.  Of particular note, I thought B. Isabelle played well at sweeper and J. Davock and T. Newton worked together very well at striker and outside mid, respectively.  Missing from today's action were: B. Pearson who is confirmed out for the season, P. Halloran who was ill and tri-captain C. Trindade with a foot injury suffered in practice.  Our next game is on Monday, 10/23, at Hopkinton @ 3:30.

10/23/06- One quick strike was all it took today to beat Hopkinton 1 - 0.  C. Park scored his 3rd of the season on a corner kick from A. Niemczyk in the second minute of the game.  Good play all over the field.  Notable today was the play of our stoppers D. Choate and N. Leader who also took an extra shift at center mid.  These guys really did a good job keeping Hopkinton from entering our defensive third of the field.  You wouldn't know from the score but Medway dominated this game from start to finish.  Hopkinton's best chance came in the closing seconds of the game when they were awarded a corner kick and had all 10 field players inside our 18 yard box.  Just as the shot sailed over the bar the referee blew the whistle ending the match.  Our last match of the season will be played at home on Wednesday at 3:30 against Franklin.

10/25/06- Medway Boys Freshman Soccer Team finished out their very successful season (9 - 4 - 0 record) with a 3 - 0 win over visiting Franklin!  Good seasons seem to go by so quickly and bad ones last for ever...this one flew by.  A successful season for most spectators and fans is determined by win, loss record and goals scored but as a high school freshman team coach I measure a successful season by the number of times I hear the players come off the practice field talking to each other saying things like "that was a great practice" or "we get better every time we play".  To provide an environment that is both developmental and fun for the players at the same time is important to me.  On game day I measure success by the number of times the players make me smile by making a beautiful cross like the one C. Hatch made today resulting in a perfect header goal in the first half by P. Sheard or a highlight reel play like M. Bevilacqua going horizontal for a brilliantly executed side volley that beat the keeper. It didn't matter that he was offside and the goal was called back.  Or how about B. Isabelle working hard all season to score a goal and finally does it with 7 seconds remaining in the final game.  To read in N. Leader's profile: "Great Season Boys!!!!! Looking forward to next year!!!!".  To watch the improvement of A. Schult day after day, game after game.  C. Trindade asking to play goal in the last game and making 5 saves in 40 minutes of shut out soccer.  The continuous hard work of R. Cahill and R. Schwartz all season in practice and in games.  The parents of players coming out of the stands after a game to say "thanks, coach".  The number of times I come home from practice in a season and say to myself "God, I love doing this!".  These are the things that make up a successful season.  This was a very successful season.  Congratulations, boys!

Mark your calendar now and save the date!  The Medway High School Boys Soccer Banquet will be held on Thursday, January 4, 2007 at the Medway VFW on Holliston St.  Ticket prices are: $15 per person for parents/adults and $10 for siblings; players admission is free!  Watch your regular mail for a flyer with further details.  Hope to see you all there.