Big Weekend Ahead For Boys And Girls Soccer Teams

It's business as usual for the Tewksbury High boys soccer team, who will be playing in the MIAA state tournament for the third straight season when the Redmen host Malden Catholic on Saturday afternoon.

But for the Tewksbury High girls soccer team, it's a whole new world.

The boys earned the number 12 seed in the Division 2 North tournament bracket, and will host 21 seed Malden Catholic at 2:30 p.m. at the Wynn School field.

The girls were seeded 10th in Division 2 North, and take on Saugus at Anna Parker Field in Saugus, also at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon. It is the first time in eight seasons that a Tewksbury high girls soccer team has qualified for the state tournament.

For the boys, it's the first time Tewksbury has hosted a state tournament game in 23 years. Tewksbury last hosted an MIAA tourney game in 1987, when current Tewksbury High hockey coach Derek Doherty was a senior. The Redmen had to shovel several inches of early-season snowfall off the field in preparation for that game, and coach Steve Levine expects this week's rainfall to create less than ideal field conditions, as well.

"They (Malden Catholic) play on (artificial) turf, so they're gonna have to get their feet dirty,"  Levine said. "They better have their shoe polish ready, that's for sure."

Regardless of the field conditions, the Redmen appear to be peaking at just the right time. TMHS is riding an eight-game unbeaten streak into the tournament, and the Redmen are fresh off a three-win week that helped them clinch the Merrimack Valley Conference Division 2 championship last week.

"We're going in strong," said Levine, who will be retiring from coaching soccer after the state tournament run is over. "We scored 14 goals in our last three games. The kids have been resilient all year long and they're on a mission right now. I have no expectations for them, but I also know that they're not going to be happy just to be there. They really want to win some games."

The big challenge for the Tewksbury boys is going to be to overcome the loss of senior co-captain Johnny DiGiorgio, who suffered a concussion in the final game of the season. DiGiorgio, who is the team's top defender, will be out for 10-14 days.

"Losing DiGiorgio really hurts us," Levine said. "He's been the backbone of our defense all year. We're going to have to take one or two of our top scorers and move them back to compensate."

Senior attackers Tyler McQuesten and Stefan Monteiro will both see some time at midfield, while senior midfielder Colin Foley will move back to stopper and junior defender Andy Chabak will take DiGiorgio's spot at the back.

Scott Middleton remains at sweeper while Richard Kirby and Derek Sabbag will man the outside defensive positions.

"We've got away with playing some very inexperienced kids on defense this year because whenever they've made mistakes, Johnny has been there to cover up for them," Levine said. "Everyone is going to have to step up their game."

Malden Catholic finished with an 8-8-2 overall record, good for fourth place in the powerful Catholic Conference behind St. John's Prep, Boston College High and Catholic Memorial. Tewksbury and MC have just one common opponent, which is Chelmsford.

Malden Catholic beat Chelmsford twice this year by scores of 3-1 and 2-1, while the Redmen tied Chelmsford on two occasions. MC went 6-2 at home, but lost six road games.

"They're a big team and they're good in the air," Levine said. "But it doesn't make any difference because we've played all types of teams this year and we've played with everybody.

"We just have to come out strong and play our game," he added. "Our kids are resilient enough to go deep into this tournament."

GIRLS PLAY AT SAUGUS

It will be a day of firsts for the girls as first-year coach Kelly Barrio takes 18 players who have never before played in an MIAA  high school soccer tournament game on the road to Saugus.

The Sachems finished third in the Northeastern Conference Small School division behind Danvers and Gloucester. Saugus, which finished 12-5-1, is seeded seventh in the MIAA Division 2 North Sectional bracket.

Tewksbury and Saugus have no common opponents, but Barrio is familiar with many of the Saugus players, having taught in the Saugus school system for three years before coming to Tewksbury last year.

"I've actually taught 14 of the girls on that team when they were in middle school," Barrio said. "So it's going to be interesting for me. They've scored a lot of goals this year, but the focus isn't going to be on Saugus, it's going to be on us playing our best soccer."

After winning just one game in their first six contests, the Tewksbury girls have gone 9-3-0 in their last 12 games. The Redmen won four of their last five games to clinch first place in the Merrimack Valley Conference Small School Division and qualify for the state tournament.

Sophomore striker Nicole Chaet has hipnotized opposing defenses scoring 15 goals while freshman striker Aly Spencer has added nine. Sophomore goaltender Rebecca Davies has posted nine shutouts while senior sweeper Heather Carroll, sophomore stopper Caitlin Ludka, freshman midfielder Sara Semenza and senior midfielder Laurne Spencer have solidified the middle of the Tewksbury line-up.

"We've got better and better as the season has gone on," Barrio said. "If we're playing our top notch game, I think we can compete with anybody."