U-15s Prepare for Texas Football Club Blue Cup

Steve's Hetherington's rising U-15s have been busy over the last few weeks, training indoors and out and fitting in a handful of chilly friendlies, all in an effort to get ready for competitive play in Dallas, Texas the weekend of December 7 & 8. The team for '07-'08 will consist of 9 of the original 17 from last year with five new additions from last year's U-14 Phantoms team and four new additions coming from the Classics. In a lot of respects the team is an entirely new team and, given the technical ability, athleticism and ambition of the new players, it should be noticeably stronger on the field. It will take some time, however, for the girls to realize their full potential as a group. A lot of tactical work will be needed and the girls need to develop an understanding of each other and their styles of play.

To assure that this is achieved, the players and their families have committed to an ambitious schedule that has included three friendly matches over the past two weekends and a challenging tournament in Dallas in one week's time. The girls hosted the Sachem FC U-16s and FC Vikings U-17s on November 18. Both of these teams are division 1 MAPLE teams that display athleticism, technical ability and the cohesion that one would expect from teams that have battled their way through the MAPLE system to the point that they are playing in division 1.

The girls split the matches beating Sachem FC 2-0 and losing to the Vikings 0-2. There were nice passages of attacking build up and some very solid individual defensive efforts. the new keeper, Aubrey Ouellet looked quick and fearless.

Dana Sailor Battling one of the Vikings' Tough and Fast Strikers

New Girl, Haley Kunkel, Breaking Up a Cross

Astrid Alvarado, Holding off and Laying Off

Shawna Trunca, Attacking the Box

The next weekend, two days after digesting their Thanksgiving feast, the girls took on the Gary Karibian's COE U-17s (last year's state cup winners). The U-15s took a 5-0 thumping but the score line is not entirely fair to the girls. They had good passages of play in which they possessed well, linking up and breaking down the U-17s in the midfield. For all the attractive effort, the girls could not devise ways to get good looks at the U-17s' goal and, when chances did fall to the U-15s, they were not very economical with those opportunities. The U-17s, on the other hand, did not waste their opportunities in the final 18. That's why they are state cup champions and that's why they won 5-0. The U-17s' poise and efficiency was a great example and something to aspire for as the u-15s come together over the coming months.

The U-15s work will continue this weekend and on Monday night. The girls' will travel to Dallas next Friday for a weekend of challenging soccer against teams ranked from #16 to #35 in Texas. It will be the first real chance for the girls to start putting it together for their own state cup campaign coming this spring. The entire club is excited and optimistic about their prospects.

End of Fall Season Wrap Up

Len's U-12s After the Berkshire United Game

The season ended with two home MAPLE games this Sunday at the Nashua Corp Field. The U-10s closed the season with a hard fought battle against the Greater Boston Bolts and Len's U-12s dominated possession and had the great bulk of the attacking chances against Berkshire United but could not break onto the score sheet and had to settle for a 0-0 draw. Both games demonstrated the developmental strides that the girls have been making and highlighted issues that we will need to work on as we go indoors.

The U-10s defended well and alternated between periods of nice link up and possession and long balls played out of the back in hope that someone would get onto one and score. Len's U-12s played a very nice first half. The girls moved the ball in the back and across the midfield from one side to the other. When pressing hard in the final attacking third of the field and with lots of Berkshire United bodies jammed inside the box and behind the ball, our strikers began to lay the ball off to midfielders making nice runs. For the first time in awhile the girls had real width and depth when they got forward and it resulted in some nice chances which the Wanderers were a little unlucky to finish.

The previous weekend, the U-14s and Ryan's U-12s travelled to the Seacoast facility to play in the semi final matches for the GSYSL championship. Ryan's U-12s, a group with a majority of players playing up an age, fell to a strong Classics team 4-0 which ultimately won the championship. The girls had difficulty getting forward but they defended bravely and had good stretches of play in the defensive half. The U-14s fell to Seacoast in a pulsing 3-2 game marked by wide open play and end to end action.

Although the Fall season has ended, COE soccer does not. Len's U-12s and the U-14s are already training indoors at the NH Sportsplex and Ryan's U-12 s and the U-10s will follow them to the NH Sportsplex in January. Plans are afoot organizing indoor tournament play as well as the late winter/early spring outdoor season. Two senior teams have also come together -- the U-15s under Steve Hetherington and the U-17s under Gary Karibian. The U-15s will be travelling to Dallas, Texas in early December for their first serious play and the U-17s, along with the U-15s are now training indoors at the NH Sportsplex as well as outdoors at the Nashua Corp field.