New Beginnings For Milton Girls Soccer

The Milton High School girls soccer team will be hoping for three more points this season, but they will have to go at it without their most important player. The team just barely missed the playoffs by the short margin and was as solid as could be with Micaela Butlin between the pipes last season.

Butlin, a member of the class of 2010, is now starting for the women's soccer team at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, where she has taken control of the goalie position for the Riverhawks in her first year on campus.

Her old team, Milton, will be looking for a freshman to carry the tradition of great goalkeeping this season with Juliann Cosetta.

"We expect a lot out of her," said head coach Brian Borde. "She's a hard worker and she wants to be good."

Borde has had the luxury of having one of the best goalies in the state taking care of the all-important position for four years, but now he sees a new challenge in trying to coach up a young player.

"It actually makes it challenging and it makes it fun," Borde said of the coaching job he will have to do with his young goalie. "It's scary for her. She's also in the line of fire because we play a lot of good teams, but we have a good defense around her so we will be fine."

Veronica Chen will be helping Cosetta on the back line and Erin Feeney returns to put goals in the net. Feeney was Milton's leading scorer last season and Borde expects her to pick up right where she left off.

Borde, who has been coaching the girl's team for 15 seasons, lost eight seniors from his squad a year ago and he said he expects his team to be right in the middle of the pack of the Bay State League vying for those extra three points to catapult his team into the postseason.

But losing a senior like Butlin at arguably the most important position on the field, he realizes there may be some bumps in the road along the way.

"We have some good seniors. Erin Feeney is our returning goal scorer. One of the top players in the Bay State. She is really going to be the table setter in the midfield and in the offense."

"When you lost as many seniors as you did last year, you just want to be competitive," he said.