New England Aztec – a History: 2007 Boston Aztec WPSL, NPSL Seasons, Part One Aztecs Divisional Rivals Advance to WPSL And
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New England Aztec – A History: 2007 Boston Aztec WPSL, NPSL seasons, Part One Aztecs Divisional Rivals Advance to WPSL and NPSL Championships Beverly, MA - July 29, 2007 - Although the Boston Aztec minor league seasons have come to an end, two of their divisional rivals from the WPSL and the NPSL advanced to the league championship matches. The WPSL finals will be held in Tampa, FL on July 28-29. The Eastern Conference champion New England Mutiny, a team the Aztecs played to a tightly contested 0-0 draw this season, advanced to the final after a 5-4 PK win over the South Conference champion Tampa Bay Elite. The game finished in a 1-1 draw. The Mutiny will face the Midwest Conference's FC Indiana tonight, who defeated California's Ajax America from the West Conference after another 1-1 draw and a 4-3 win on PKs. Three of the teams in the finals rank in the top 20 women's soccer teams in the world. Ajax is ranked 2nd, Indiana is 7th, and the Mutiny are 17th, according to the Women's World Football Rankings. For results of the finals, log on to www.wpsl.info. The NPSL finals were held in San Diego on June 27-28. The Queen City FC Blues, who were 3-0-0 against the Aztecs this season, took the Northeast Division champions and advanced to the final after a 4-4 draw and a 5-4 win on PKs. They took on the Southern California Fusion from the Southwest Division in the finals, who earned a 1-0 win over Wisconsin's Madison 56ers from the Midwest Division. The two California sides, the Sol and the Fusion, also field squads in the PASL and were finalists in the 2006- 07 PASL International Finals in Mexico along with the Aztecs. The Blues fell to the Fusion in the final, for a match report log on to www.queencityfc.com. Aztecs Demoner Named To 2007 All-WPSL Third Team .Beverly, MA - July 26, 2007 - Boston Aztec M Gabriela Demoner was named to the 2007 All-WPSL's Third Team. Demoner is an All-American from Franklin Pierce College, and was selected to the WPSL team of the week twice this season. She left the team prior to the final weekend to join her native Brazil in preparation for next month's World University Games in Thailand. For a full list of the 2007 All-WPSL team, log on to www.wpsl.info. Lady Aztecs beat Laurels 4-0 as WPSL, NPSL seasons end Matt Lemire and Barrie Lindsay profiled in the Ipswich Chronicle Erickson named to WPSL Team of the Week Revs star Michael Parkhurst pays a visit to Aztec Registration Celebration Beverly, MA - July 15, 2007 - The Boston Aztec WPSL side finished the 2007 season with the most wins in their history at 5-4-1. First, the Lady Aztecs earned 4-0 win over the Northampton Laurels F.C. on Saturday, July 14 at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, PA. The Aztecs jumped to an early lead in the opening minutes of Saturday's contest with a goal from former BU captain Lauren Ciccone on an assist by Fairfield University All-Star Alex Caram and made it 2-0 at the half with a Kristin MacDonald goal. MacDonald played at Beverly HS and Indiana-Purdue and is now the Girls Varsity Head Coach at Beverly High School. The Aztecs scored two more in the second half, one each by Mexican WNT player pool member Myriam Del Pozo and UMass-Amherst striker Britt Canfield. As for the second game of the weekend, it was a much different result, a 2-0 loss on the road to New York AC. The Lady Aztecs went down 1-0 at halftime, and were unable to recover after a knee-injury to co-captain central defender Caitlin Leary. As for the Boston Aztec NPSL men's team, a tough season became that much tougher as the squad was forced to cancel its last regular season match in Buffalo against Queen City FC due to injuries. The Aztecs finish their inaugural campaign in the NPSL at 3-5-2. Queen City was awarded a 1-0 win by forfeit, and due to league rules the Aztecs relinquished their playoff spot, giving QCFC a bye into the conference finals. Although other teams have forfeited matches to the Aztecs in the past (notably the Montreal Xpos last winter in PASL action), this is the first time the Aztecs have ever been forced to withdraw from a match. According to Aztec President Mike Kersker, "we had 14 guys for the trip at midweek, and by Friday it was down to only seven healthy bodies. As much as we wanted to play, we felt that the risk to our players and their college seasons was too great." IN OTHER RECENT NEWS: Boston Aztec players Matt Lemire with the men and Barrie Lindsay with the women were profiled in the Ipswich Chronicle recently. Both players are from Ipswich. Lemire played at Ipswich HS and has played for UMass-Amherst and San Diego St. in college, while Lindsay played at the Waring School in Beverly and is headed for Wheaton College in the fall. For more, read the story here. Also, Meotis Erickson was named to the WPSL's Team of the Week for her hat trick vs. the SoccerPlus CT Reds. She was named as an honorable mention selection. Had it not been for a four-goal performance by the Reds' Tiffany Weimer in the same match, "Mo" would likely have been named as a Co-Player of the Week. Read "Mo's Memoirs" 2007 WPSL journal at www.aztecsoccer.com. Lastly, the Aztec Soccer Club had a busy week at the youth level as well. The club hosted their 2007 co-ed youth camp at Governor's Academy from July 8th - July 12th, as well as the Registration Celebration for the 2007-08 U11-U18 youth teams on July 11th at Soccer ETC. New England Revolution All-Star Michael Parkhurst made a stop at the Registration Celebration and signed autographs and posed for pictures. Photos from the camps and registration NOW ONLINE!! Check out the Aztec Photo Gallery. WPSL TEAM OF THE WEEK: JULY 6-JULY 8 F Tiffany Weimer - WPSL CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK (SOCCERPLUS CT) - The Penn State Nittany Lion legend & USWNT Pool member scored 5 goals and an assist in two must-win games over the weekend in victories over Philadelphia and Boston, including all four tallies versus Boston on July 8th. Down 3-1 at the half to the Aztecs, Weimer scored a "natural" hat-trick in the second half alone to keep the Reds' playoff hopes in the North Division of the East Conference alive. F Brittany Potts (RIVER CITIES F.C.) - RCFC kept pace in the Midwest race, notching two wins over the weekend as the former Ole Miss striker & All-SEC selection scored two goals and an assist on July 8th vs. F.C. Twente 3 IL. On July 7th vs. Chicago, she scored an unbelievable bending restart and then hit the crossbar later in the game - all this after a goal-assist performance the week prior in a win over F.C. St. Louis. F Lydia Hastings (ATLANTIC CITY DIABLOS) - After being traded from the CDSA Future to the Diablos last week, the Region I ODP member went on to score four goals in her debut against the Maryland Pride and on the next day, added another goal to bring her tally to five in two games. With the wins, the Diablos are at the top of the Mid-Atlantic Division (East Conference) and have clinched a playoff spot in the East. MF Kelly Waeckerle - WPSL CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK (F.C. ST. LOUIS) - FCSTL registered their first victories of the 2007 season in two hard-fought matches against F.C. Twente3 IL and the Chicago United Breeze. The St. Louis native & All-Atlantic 10 Conference selection for SLU played strong defensively from her outside midfield position and remarkably, was also involved in six of the eight goals scored by FCSTL this past weekend - while scoring four and assisting two by herself. MF Sherice Anders (SAN DIEGO W.F.C.) - For the second straight week, the former Boston Breaker makes the WPSL TOTW - this time as a midfielder. And, for the second straight Sunday, Anders scored two goals for the SeaLions including one off a direct free-kick to lead San Diego to a 2-1 win and its first season-sweep of the California Storm in six years. The second-place West Conference side had already beaten the Storm by a 2-0 score in Sacramento on June 16th. MF Hannah Hand (CLAREMONT STARS) - In their July 7th game vs. the Lamorinda East Bay Power, the New Mexico State star & U.S. National "B" Team member assisted on the first three goals in the second half to break the 0-0 stalemate at half-time wide open in the eventual 6-0 victory in West Conference action. MF Shannon Strong (SAN FRANCISCO NIGHTHAWKS) - The captain for the Nighthawks showed her leadership once again, as she tallied two goals in a match for the second time this season in the win over F.C. Sacramento - a volley off a cross and a driven 25-yard shot. This is her second appearance on the WPSL TOTW this year. D Amanda Harris (SONOMA COUNTY F.C. SOL) - The speedy NSCAA All-Far West Region selection for Sonoma State has been one of the best and most consistent performers for Coach Emiria Salzmann this season after a move from striker to right back - and has been virtually indefensible.