High school soccer notebook: Masconomet girls on a roll

For Masconomet girls soccer coach Alison Lecesse and her players, soccer is life, and the sport itself has become ingrained in the three communities the school represents through years of dedication and a commitment to developing youth programs.

Now late in the 2022 season, Masconomet is one of only a few programs with a perfect record, sitting at 12-0-0.

“I think this team is deeper than any of the other teams I’ve had in my six years (as head coach),” said Lecesse. “I think this is the deepest team. This year, we’ve had the most juniors and seniors starting, whereas before, we’ve had more of a mix… They’ve been playing together for a long time. Some of them have been playing since (they were) 4-years-old at town soccer. To have them playing together at 18 is pretty cool.”

Definitely an impressive statement, considering the fact that the Chieftains had consecutive undefeated regular seasons between 2017-18 during Lecesse’s first two years at the helm. Since 1978, Masconomet has been one of the commonwealth’s winningest soccer programs, with an overall record of 660-141-80.

But the Chieftains could still be on the verge of history. So far this season, Masconomet has outscored its opposition at an astonishing clip of 40-3, and has seemingly shown complete domination in doing so with nine shutouts. It’s largely due to the bonds that Taylor Bovardi (eight goals, seven assists) and her teammates have developed on the field. The Chieftains have also been propelled offensively by junior Lauren Boughner (12 goals, three assists) and sophomore Amanda Schneider (eight goals, five assists).

Off the field, Bovardi and other team captains such as Kendall Skulley participate as coaches at the youth level. Lecesse and her staff have always emphasized the importance of having student athletes become active within Masconomet’s local communities, most notably in the towns of Boxford, Middleton and Topsfield.

“I feel like (coaching) really brings us together,” said Skulley. “We feel like mentors doing it. Coming up through the years, I always looked up to the older players that I saw at the field. Now, when we go to the youth clinics, they see they’re role models, and them helping. I feel like they feel included more with the (youth) program than ever before.”

The Chieftains are chasing Oliver Ames in the Div. 2 power rankings, currently in second with a rating of 4.0530.

Can Masconomet complete the perfect season, and win its first state championship since 1989?

“I certainly hope so,” said Lecesse. “That’s always the goal. You never know. There’s still a lot of games for seeding purposes around the state. Once you get into the tournament format and you win or you’re done, it’s whoever has the game that day. You could be the better team and not win. We certainly hope to push it through all the way to the finals and win that. But we’re realistic, in that we have to have a long-term view, long-term goals, but take it day-to-day. Focus on one day at a time.”

St. John’s (Shrewsbury) building a winner

After serving as the Associate Director of Admissions and boys varsity soccer coach at Hebron Academy in Maine for over a decade, Kurt Swanbeck decided to take a leap of faith last year, and accepted a few similar roles at Catholic Conference institution St. John’s (Shrewsbury).

Last season, St. John’s embarked on an impressive run to the Div. 1 Round of 8, where they fell to Newton North (a 1-0 loss in penalty kicks).

Now the Pioneers (12-2-1) are no longer a secret, and the scary part is they’re getting healthier.

“I’ve got a phenomenal problem right now, which is that we’re almost coming back to being 100 percent healthy,” said Swanbeck. “We will be by the time playoffs start, just as long as somebody doesn’t go down in the last few games here, but we haven’t had the same team on the field once since the beginning of the year with all key injuries, one after the other… It’s just been that way all year, but we’ve had good depth.”

Shortly after the high school season concluded last fall, senior Jorgo Karamelo sustained a torn ACL in his left leg during a club game with the Boston Bolts.

Eight months later, Karamelo is back to sniping goals for St. John’s, already with seven on the season.

“I had a lot of people tell me that it was really up to me and how hard I was willing to work,” Karamelo said. “I just had to put it into my head that (this) was my last year, and that I would like to play college ball. I had to do everything to come back. I tried to go to (physical therapy) every day.”

The Pioneers’ top two stars from last year are now at UConn (Kwame Adu-Gyamfi) and Stonehill (Shane Fonseca). However, turning the page to the next chapter has proven easier than expected, as St. John’s welcomed Matthew Bergquist to its ranks.

Bergquist isn’t your typical transfer student. After playing with the New England Revolution’s Academy for the better part of the last few years, the senior midfielder and center back decided to take his talents to the MIAA for the high school experience.

To Bergquist, it was a dream experience to play soccer at Gillette Stadium alongside future Revolution players such as Esmir Bajraktarevic and Noel Buck. But over time, the daily grind of life as a semi-pro soccer star began to take its toll, and he opted to enroll at St. John’s for his final year of high school eligibility, with the ultimate goal of working on a future career.

“I’m from Shrewsbury, and I always saw myself becoming a Pioneer ever since I was a young kid,” said Bergquist. “I figured, why not join the team and see how it goes. Obviously, we’re having a pretty good year, so it’s been awesome so far.”

Bergquist is also known for his prowess in the defensive end. The senior has finished with four clean sheets to go with an assist in just seven matches played.

So far, St. John’s has also received stellar performances from seniors Matt Morin (11 goals, seven assists) and Matt Larkin (two goals, six clean sheets) as well. As of Friday, the Pioneers were slotted second overall in the MIAA’s Div. 1 power rankings (4.0762 rating).

“I think the sky’s the ceiling,” said Larkin. “Our goal right now is states. We want to win it, and we hope to not fall short. That’s our only goal right now.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/Da9RoOX