New England Aztec – a History: 2006 Boston Aztec Seasons Aztecs 2004-05 PASL Recap
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New England Aztec – A History: 2006 Boston Aztec seasons Six Boston Aztec WPSL, NPSL & PASL players earn collegiate awards Beverly, MA - December 12, 2006 - Six members of the Boston Aztec Men's & Women's teams have earned Collegiate Accolades for fine seasons in the fall of 2006. Brett Maron, GK for the Aztec WPSL team was named a 3rd team All-New England for Fairfield Univ. A Billerica, Mass. native, Maron started 18 of the 19 games she played, leading the Stags to a 9-7-4 record while posting a 0.93 GAA. Alex Scavo, a fullback with the Lady Aztecs who plays at Franklin Pierce was named a 1st team All American. Scavo, a native of Toronto, Ontario, started 21 games for the Ravens in 2006, leading the team to an 18-3-1 record and their sixth consecutive NE-10 title. Christian Figueroa, from the Boston Aztec NPSL team, was named a 1st team All New England midfielder for Umass-Lowell. Figueroa, a North Andover native, helped the team to a 7-4-6 record starting 16 games and scoring 2 G with 2 A. Nick Figueiredo, also from the Aztec NPSL team, plays for Bowdoin and was named a 2nd team All American Forward. Figueiredo, from Wilmington, MA and St. John's Prep, started all 15 games for Bowdoin, leading the team in scoring with 12 G, 1 A for 25 pts. Yuta Kizaki, a Midfielder on the Aztec PASL squad and native of Karat-Su-Shi, Japan, was named a 1st team All New England for Salem St., while teammate Andrew Angus from Charlestown, Mass., was named a 3rd team All New England forward for the Vikings. The pair helped lead SSC to a 15-5-0 record in 2006. Aztecs 2004-05 PASL Recap DESPITE NO LOSSES AT NATIONALS, AZTEC MEN KNOCKED OUT ON GOAL DIFFERENTIAL Sacramento, CA - March 20, 2006 - The dream of back-to-back National Titles came to an end for the Aztec Men in California, knocked out of the tournament on goal differential. Despite wins of identical 3-2 scores over the Wenatchee (WA) Fire and Arizona Inferno, the Aztecs were knocked out by eventual champion Sacramento. The Aztecs knew they had to win to advance, but were knotted up vs. Sacramento 3-3. Ali Kaba had 2 goals in the semifinal round for the Aztecs. AZTEC MEN WIN BACK-TO-BACK PASL NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL CROWNS O'Neil Gray scores with 30 seconds left to give the hosts the win BEVERLY, MA - Feb. 6, 2006 - The Aztecs captured their second consecutive Premier Arena Soccer League New England Regional Championship with a thrilling 6-5 victory over the visiting New York Shockers on Saturday, February 25th at Soccer Etc. Veteran defender O'NEIL GRAY (Former Salem St. All-New England) was named MVP of the match after striking for his second goal of the night, a far-post, upper-corner lightning bolt with just over thirty seconds to play to break a 5-5 tie as the 300+ capacity crowd went wild. The Aztecs and Shockers traded goals in a 2-2 first half with ANDREW ANGUS (Boston-City MVP) and MARKENS BENOIT (Two-time NCAA Champ at S. Conn. Univ.) scoring for Massachusetts. In the second half, the Aztecs speed and possession kept the Shockers under pressure for most of the rest of the game. The home team managed to build two-goal leads of 4-2 and 5-3, and looked poised to capture the New England crown by a comfortable margin. Ipswich's MATT LEMIRE (UMass-Amherst) had two goals for the Aztecs. New York was, however, able to generate a consistent counter attack that caused occasional havoc in the Aztec defensive end, and after climbing back into the match, the visitors tied the game at 5-5 on a penalty kick with just over two minutes to play. But the Aztecs would respond on Gray's magnificent strike just before the final whistle and defender Tony Lage's goal line save in the last ten seconds, stunning the crowd and taking the crown. It was the Aztecs second straight win over the Shockers in the PASL New England Finals, as the Aztecs won 8-7 in Albany in March of 2005 en route to the 2005 PASL National Championship. It was the fourth game between the rivals this season, with Aztec winning three, all by scores of 6-5 (the others were in NY on Dec. 3rd and Feb. 4th), while avenging a 3-2 loss to New York at home on Dec. 10th. It was also the final home game for four-year veteran BENNY O'BRIEN. The former Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth star will be heading back to his native Minnesota at the end of the season. Now the Aztecs have three weeks to prepare to defend their PASL National Championship in the National Finals March 17th to 19th in Sacramento, CA (moved from Las Vegas). AZTECS PULL THE PLUG ON THE SHOCKERS! 6-5 Comeback Win Clinches League, Home Field for Playoff Albany, NY - Feb. 6, 2006 - The Mass Aztecs pull the plug on the Shockers! With the final regular season game set to decide the regular season champion for the New England Region and the New England Region Playoff seeds, the Aztecs traveled to the New York for the second time this season to battle the shockers in what would turn out to be one of the best games in the Aztec Men's history. The game kicked off at 2PM at Sports City Center in front of a crowd of 300+ fans. The Aztecs and the Shockers battled back and forth for the first 11 minutes of the game to a scoreless tie. The Mass Aztecs broke the scoreless tie in the first quarter in the 12th minute by a goal from Dave Evans assisted by Luigi Mirisola. The Shockers then scored 4 goals in the second quarter to go into the half as the Aztecs made a couple of mental mistakes that proved costly as the home team Shockers capitalized to get ahead. The third quarter was the start of most of the Aztec action. The Aztecs opened the second half with a quick score from Ali Kaba assisted by Andrew Angus to cut the deficit to two goals. A few minutes later, Dave Evans struck again when Chris Ethier played a perfect layoff for Evans to strike into the goal. The deficit was now cut to 1 goal, but the Shockers then scored once again to increase the lead to two goals. The Aztecs were awarded a power play as the Shockers committed their sixth foul of the half. The Aztecs quickly capitalized with a goal by Dushawne Simpson, Assisted by Ali Kaba. One minute later Ali Kaba struck for the second time in the game when a great through ball from defender Tony Lage put Kaba a couple of steps ahead of the Shocker defense, Kaba was then able to finish with a stutter step shot, that threw off the Shockers goalkeeper. With three minutes left in the game and the score tied at 5 each, Andrew Angus fought the Shocker defense to win a loose ball and put away the eventual goal winner. The Aztecs finished the game with a display of defense as they committed their 6th foul and played the last 2 minutes of the game with a player down. The Shockers tried and tried to penetrate the Aztec power play defense but were unable. Aztec defender O'Neil Gray made an incredible heading save as the Shockers final shot of the game was away from Aztec Goalkeeper Peter LeVasseur. "I could not see the ball, if O'Neil didn't head that out, it was a goal for sure. He made the best save today," said LeVasseur about O'Neil Gray. The Aztecs complete one of the best comebacks in their club history, but it was especially sweet that it was against New York, who the Aztecs battle every year for the New England Region title. Aztec Men win Two Games in One Day Beverly, MA - Jan. 28, 2006 - The Aztec men's team played a double header on Saturday January 28, 2006 versus the NH Red Star and the CT Pythons. The Aztecs traveled to New Hampshire early on Saturday to face the NH Red Star in Bedford, NH. The Aztecs arrived at the New Hampshire facility safe and sound after a tough scare when the van and lead car both ran off the road to avoid a roll-over accident ahead. No one was injured. The Aztecs proceeded to play vs. NH with a shaky start after the earlier events. During the first quarter of play the Red Star took a 2-1 lead. Mounir Boughamrani scored the first goal for the Aztecs assisted by Dom Martignetti. At the beginning of the second quarter, the National Champions got back into form and began to strategically dissect the NH defense. By half time the score was 4-2 in favor of the Aztecs. Goals scored by Dushawne "Doc" Simpson, Arlindo Neto and Luigi Mirisola. The second half of the game showed once again the ability of the National Champs to put away teams both defensively and offensively. The Aztecs scored three more goals two by Matt Lemire and one by Andrew Angus to complete the 7-4 victory of the first double header. Domenic Martignetti also had two assists to help the Aztec offense. The second game of the double header took place back in Beverly at Soccer, Etc.