New England Aztec – a History: 2007 Club News
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New England Aztec – A History: 2007 club news U18 Boys Kevin Sena (Winthrop), Jesse Marks (St. John's Prep) named class valedictorians. The Aztec Soccer Club wishes to congratulate Kevin Sena and Jesse Marks of the U18 boys team who have both earned recognition as valedictorians of their graduating class. Kevin is a senior at Winthrop High School and was an All-Star in the NEC last fall, while Jesse is a senior at St. John's Prep in Danvers, a team that earned an undefeated season en route to the Division 1 State Championship. These achievements are a credit to the effort they put in on the field and in the classroom. As the 2007 spring season moves into its later stages, we would like to take this time to wish all of the graduating seniors on our U18 and U17 boys and girls teams the best as they move into the next phase of their lives. These student-athletes are role models for the younger players in our organization, and for the younger students in the schools they attend. Good luck seniors, and thank you. Aztec U18 Boys / Fall '07 College Aztec U18 Girls / Fall '07 College Dana Bergstrom - Syracuse Univ. Jesse Marks - Yale Chrissie Chater - Florida Institute of Technology Kevin Sena - Brown Kelly Cox - St Anselms College Daniel Sargent - Westmont College (Santa Barbara CA) Jen Courossi - Springfield College Joe Larocca - St Anselms College Shelly Danley - Ithaca College Anton Dasilva - Merrimack College Jill DiBenedetto- University of Rhode Island Paul D'Angelo - University of Southern New Hampshire Katherine Farrar - Bowdoin Samuel Houston - Gordon College Lauren Keating - Assumption College Kyle Grimaldi - University of Rochester Chelsea Keller - Ohio Wesleyan Rodrigo Pardo - Wentworth Colleen Liffers - Wheaton College Devin Pleuler - Wentworth Kirsten Lundquist - Middlebury College Joe Ryan - Endicott College Taryn Martiniello - Brandeis University Xavier Salinas - Merrimack Stephanie Naugler - St Anselms College Zachary Mintz - Salem State College Keri Nobil - Columbia University Richard Greene - Framingham State Kellie Oberholtzer - West Carolina University Matthew Tieri - Lasel College Jess Scioli - Manhattanville College Gregory Doucette - UMass-Dartmouth Jackie Sousa - Long Island Univ. at CW Post Daniel Quach - undecided as of 5/7/07 Danielle Tenaglia - Stoney Brook Univ. Freddie Gonzalez - undecided as of 5/7/07 Liz Theberge - St. Joseph's of Maine Note - U18 Rafael Santos is a Junior at Boston Latin, Thomas Cahill is Katy Verette - Salem State College a Junior at Wakefield Note - U18 Alice Palazzola already attends St Anselms Aztec U17 Boys / Fall '07 College Bryan Lee - Endicott College Aztec U17 Girls / Fall '07 College Deanna Maccario – UNH, Katie Colbert – UNH, Sam Grody - UConn Rikki Sartor - St. Anselms College, Barrie Lindsay – Wheaton Aztec Minor League Seasons Heat Up While Youth Seasons Wind Down Aztec women travel to face the Mass. Stingers; Men head to Atlantic City Aztec U14-U18 Girls, U17 Boys to play in Mass. State Cup; U15 Girls win NESC Memorial Weekend Tournament; U15, U17, U18 Boys, U13, U16 Girls Finish Season in First Place Beverly, MA - May 31, 2007 - As some of the Aztec Soccer Club's youth teams prepare for State Cup matches this coming weekend, the WPSL and NPSL minor league teams head on the road for their second matches of the season. The Boston Aztec WPSL squad (1-0-0) takes on the Mass. Stingers (1-1-0) on the road Saturday, June 2nd, while the Aztec NPSL team (1-0-0) head to New Jersey to take on the Atlantic City Diablos (1-0-0) on Sunday, June 3rd. The Boston Aztec men have a three game road trip before returning to UMass-Lowell to take on the Atlantic City Diablos on Saturday, June 16 as part of another doubleheader with the Lady Aztecs. The women have two games on the road before returning home on June 16 to take on the Northampton Laurels. Meanwhile, the Aztec Soccer Club congratulates the players and coaches on all of its youth teams for a successful spring 2007 season. The Aztec U14- U18 girls and the Aztec U17 boys qualified for the 2007 Mass. State Cup, while the U13 and U16 Girls, along with the U15, U17 and U18 boys, all finished their seasons in first place. The U15 Girls also took home the championship at the New England Soccer Classic on Cape Cod over the Memorial Day weekend. The Round Robin phase of the Mass. State Cup tournament will be held this weekend at various locations including UMass-Amherst and Citizens Bank Park in Lancaster. On the girls side, all four Aztec Premier teams and one Jr. Aztec team will represent the club in pursuit of their first state championships. The U18 and U16 girls, who as previously mentioned are atop their league standings, automatically qualified based on their performances in 2006, and are seeded second and fourth respectively. The U17 girls (3-0 over SF Vikings), the U15 girls (2-1 over Fuller Hamlets) and U14 girls (2-1 OT win over VSA United) all won their way into the round robin part of the tournament, clinching their spots with the noted victories in May. The U17 Boys, who went 7-0-0 in the spring, also won their way in with a 2-0 win over the MPS Boston Bulldogs this month. The U14 and U15 girls each needed three wins to advance to the final round, as did the U17 boys. The U17 girls needed just the one win in the qualifying rounds to advance. And though the U13 girls and the U15 and U18 boys will not participate in State Cup, each had fine seasons. The U18s finished 6-0-1 and allowed just four goals this spring to finish atop their league standings, while the U15s 6-0-1 record had them sitting alone in first place in their group as well. The U13 Girls finished atop their group without having conceded a goal all season. It should also be noted that the U17 Girls finished their season tied atop their group with a 5-0-2 record, with goal differential the only difference in officially finishing in first place. The Aztec Soccer Club focus is on development, especially at the youngest ages up through our Jr. Aztec teams (U9-U14). Too many clubs and coaches place a premium on winning at the youngest ages, often doing so at the expense of teaching proper technique. The Aztec philosophy believes a player's skills and tactical awareness need to be developed enough to crack the varsity in high school and college. And thus far in the spring of 2007, the Aztec philosophy appears to be working, as the Aztec Premier teams (U15-U18) earned a combined 39-10-7 record in the top leagues in the state. Aztec U18 Dana Bergstrom named NCSAA D1 Player of the Year and other youth news In Aztec SC youth news, Aztec U18 player Dana Bergstrom was named NSCAA D1 Player of the Year. She will attend Syracuse next fall. Also, the U16 Girls season came to an end in the semifinals of the MASS State Cup last weekend. Led by Head Coach Matt Kersker, who has also served as Head Coach for the Gloucester High School Girls Varsity for the past two seasons, the Aztecs made their fourth consecutive trip to the State Cup Semifinals (Finalists in 2005). Although the team was disappointed not to advance to the finals, the team accomplished a great deal this season, winning the MASS Premier League Division 1 Championship with an undefeated 7-0-0 season. The U16 Girls, made up of many elite high school All- Stars from the region (roster below), also won their division at the 2007 MAPS/MSSL College Showcase Tournament in Philadelphia. The team won the Fair Play Award as well. The Aztec U17 Girls and U15 Boys also finished their seasons this past weekend, bringing the 2007 Aztec youth regular seasons to a close. The U17 Girls were promoted into the MASS Premier League D1 for next season after a 5-0-2 spring and a PK shootout victory in a two-game promotion match series against the South Shore Selects. The U17 Girls are led by former Salem St. College All-Star Doc Simpson. The team is made up of High School Varsity Starters, Captains and All-Stars from Andover HS, Austin Prep, Beverly HS, Danvers HS, Deerfield Academy, Governor's Academy, Marblehead HS, Masconomet, Newburyport HS, North Andover HS, North Reading HS, Peabody HS, Pingree School, Revere HS and the Waring School. As for the U15 Boys, the team earned promotion for next spring into the MASS Premier League after a 6-0-1 regular season and a finish in the top half of their 6-team promotion tournament last weekend against Eastern MA FC, Middlesex Phantoms, Hammer SC, Nashoba United and Elite SA. The team is led by former Beverly HS Boys Varsity Coach and former Beverly State Representative Mike Cahill. Among other up-and-coming players, the team features Ian Mulholland, a Mass. Bay Independent League All-Star as a freshman from Winthrop at Boston Trinity Academy. Aztec SC is now the lone club soccer program serving the area with all of its U11-U18 Boys and Girls teams playing in the top divisions of the MASS Premier Leagues. Aztec is the only program located within 20-25 miles of the Aztec's home facility of Soccer ETC in Beverly to achieve this distinction. Six of the Aztec youth teams (U15, U17, U18 Boys; U13, U14, U16 Girls) won their divisions this past spring. Eight of the ten Aztec U14-U18 boys and girls teams in the MASS Premier League will play in Division 1 or 2 in 2008.