Tewksbury BU 12-1 Opens Season With Huge Win

(Editor's note: The following information was submitted by the coaches and administrators of the Tewksbury Youth Soccer League.)

Tewksbury BU12-1 – 3, Wakefield - 0 

The Tewksbury Boys Under 12-1 team started the spring season on the right foot with a 3-0 win over Wakefield's BU 12-1 team.  While the Redmen were more successful finding the back of the net, Wakefield controlled the middle of the field and won all the loose balls.  Tewksbury really tightened up in front of their own net thanks to tough defense by Ameen Kalkorhan, Chris McCabe and Cam Legvold, among others.

 They were also opportunistic in Wakefield's territory.  At the 9 minute mark Chris McCabe converted a corner kick from Adam Colon into the net with a text book one-timer.  Tewksbury held a 1-0 lead at the half with Wakefield pressing hard.  Chris Repucci was up the task all game with some great saves and aggressive plays to the ball.  At the 39 minute mark, Gavin Slattery crossed the ball from the left side of the goal and David Durante put himself in great position to drill it into the net to put his team ahead 2-0.  Jack Bicknell made the same play from the left side on several occasions and came on strong in the second half. 

Alex Papgeorgiou,  Max Ducette, Sam Fortier, David Gammon and Nick Paolillo showed the promise of a good season.  The third and final goal of the game came at the 48 minute mark.  Connor Dane put a shot on net off of a corner kick that was deflected out to Adam Colon at the left corner of the 18-yard box.  Adam arced a the shot perfectly to the far right corner of the goal.  Congratulations to the Redmen for the win and a tip of the hat to Wakefield for good, tough play end to end. 

Tewksbury BU10-1 0, Waltham - 1

 The season began with a great intensity. The first line starting with Chad Boschetti, Riley Frost and Mike DellOrfano came out strong. They had some great plays and passes. Kyle Braciska and Garrett Miskell worked well together making some great defensive plays assisting Mike Reppucci at net. The next line came out just as fierce as the first. Brandon Melo, RJ Florino, and Ryder Neadson placed some pressure on Waltham, bringing the ball up the field with some great passing. Mike R continued to make some great saves.

Andrew Maresca along with Lucas Frost protected their goalie from Waltham. Lucas and Mike R. did all they could to reflect the goal, but Waltham scored. Waltham came back out and quickly made another attempt, but Mike R made the save! Brandon & RJ made a great play up the field with a shot miss, then Brandon had a corner kick to Ryder with another near miss. Second half was just as intense. Mike D & Riley worked well together with some great passing along with Chad who passes the ball to Riley, who makes the shot, but was aimed to high. Garrett with Kyle at defense made some great efforts along with Ryder to keep the ball from being shot at our goal. RJ with a great sprint across the field which made a one on one attempt for the ball. Lucas & Andrew continued to make great strides together. Andrew from half field saved the shot on goal.

Mike R. had an extraordinary game at net. Waltham had many attempts at goal but due to our great defense and great goalie (Mike R) only 1 goal was scored.

Tewksbury BU14-1 - 3, Reading - 2

 Tewksbury BU14-1 team won its season opener in an exciting manner this past Saturday 3-2 over Reading.  Tewksbury kept the play in the Reading half of the field during the first 10 minutes of the game.  Nick McKeon of Tewksbury came into the game like a ball of fire and at the 12 minute mark scored to put the home team up 1-0.  Reading came back about 5 minutes later and tied the score 1-1.  Tewksbury did not let the goal affect their determination.

Reading was applying some pressure, but the Tewksbury defense, held their ground.  At 25 minute mark, Tewksbury went ahead on a goal by Co-captain Mitchell Miskell, who picked up a loose ball in front of the net and wasted no time in planting it in the back of the net.  Reading came back strong and almost scored, but Co-captain Shane Silvia cleared the ball on the goal line and preserved the lead for Tewksbury.  With 3 minutes left, the Reading striker broke through the Tewksbury defense and scored to tie the game at 2-2.

The second half saw both teams going up and down pretty much evenly.  The scoring chances were few for both teams and when they happen, the defense usually stopped them.  With 5 minutes left Tewksbury goalkeeper Alex Botazzi made the save of the game by stopping a Reading striker on a partial breakaway.  Alex dove at the striker’s feet and was able to trap the ball with his feet as the Reading striker tried to go around him.

As the time was running out, Anthony Barinelli took the ball up the left side and was stopped by a Reading mid-fielder. Anthony’s persistence on winning the ball caused the Reading player to foul him, resulting in a free kick from just over the half field mark.  Tyler Sar took the kick and sent a well placed ball towards the net.  The ball bounced in front of the net and the Reading keeper was unable to play the bounce as he watched it go over his hand and into the back of the net.  The game ended immediately after the re-start.  Great last minute heroics by the Tewksbury team and a very hard fought victory.

Next week Tewksbury plays rival Wilmington at Frasca Field at 1:30PM.