Spring soccer season started cold, wet, and late, but by the time it ended in June, Harvard Soccer Club (HSC) teams had achieved some impressive results.
Two HSC traveling teams were undefeated in regular season play: three won Nashoba Valley Youth Soccer League (NVYSL) league championships; two received sportsmanship awards within their divisions; and one received a statewide award for sportsmanship. Two of the league awards are on display in the General Store; the third league award will follow shortly.
Harvard Soccer Club is the volunteer-run town soccer program, which provides children from pre-school through second grade the opportunity to play against other Harvard kids in their age group, and, for older kids, a chance to compete against teams from other towns.
A team for every age and grade
The youngest children could be seen playing on the fields on Depot Road next to the dump on Saturday mornings between 8 and 10 a.m. These teams are coed and composed of students in the same grade so that children have the opportunity to play with their classmates against teams of relatively equal skill.
Children in third through 12th grade play against teams in the NVYSL on Saturdays and Sundays. The league includes the towns of Ayer-Shirley, Pepperell, Athol, Groton, Stow, Leominster, and Townsend, among others. These “traveling” teams comprise players of the same gender but of mixed grades. Depending on the number and ages of kids who have signed up to play, these teams are typically organized by skill in an attempt to produce balanced teams within each age group. Teams across the club are coached by parent volunteers, with the exception of the U14 age group, which employs professional coaches.
HSC had 455 players in all age groups this spring, which was about 20 more than the previous year. These kids were organized into 24 age-based teams for in-town play and 32 for NVYSL league play.
Enrollment typically drops in the fall, with roughly 100 fewer children playing town soccer as the older players join school teams. This fall 17 teams will participate in league play, but only one team includes players beyond the U12 age group. While registration has closed for travel soccer and all in-town programs, enrollment is still open for children in pre-school through second grade. Interested parents should visit the HSC website at http://leagueathletics.com/Default.asp?org=harvardsoccer.org or contact Carl Beckett at cdbeckett@gmail.com.
Two teams finish undefeated
The boys under 14 years of age (BU14) Rec team was one of this spring’s top performers, finishing its season undefeated with a record of 7-0-1. Playing a fantastic final game against Leominster, a team it had tied 0-0 earlier in the season, the boys appeared headed for a repeat standoff. But after a scoreless first half, Elliot Stevenson broke the 0-0 tie midway through the second half with a beautiful long-ball goal from outside the box, and the boys went on to win 2-0 in a game described by some as one of the best Rec-level contests they had seen in a number of years. The boys U18 team also finished its season undefeated, outscoring its opponents 32-5.
The weekend after the regular season, while five other teams were preparing for league playoffs, a boys U10 team played in a league-organized tournament known as the 10Cup. This mini-tournament celebrates the end of the U10 season. Harvard’s team, composed of players drawn from four different U10 teams plus one U8 player, won all of its games and came away the champion of its flight.
The weekend of June 21 and 22 found five Harvard teams playing for league championships in the NVYSL NCup tournament. Two of the five played at home, while the other three teams played on the road at Pepperell and Tyngsboro. The winner of the NCup tournament in each of the 11 brackets, which were arranged by age, gender, and division within the league, would represent the league at the state tournament the following weekend, and in some brackets the second-place team would be going as a wild card.
The girls U12A team competed in the top flight (Div 1) its age group and went into the weekend as the fourth seed. While the girls had finished their regular season with a 4-3 record, it had not been easy, with key players forced to sit out games due to injury. But everyone was healthy and back for the playoffs. The girls went 2-1 on Saturday in the round-robin part of the tournament and earned the right to play for the championships on Sunday. Then, on Sunday, after losing to them the day before, the girls beat Northborough 2-0, winning the Div 1 NCup Championship and earning the right to play in the state championship.
The boys U14A team was also competing in the top flight for its age group, although the boys went into the weekend as the top seed, having finished the regular season at 7-1 and outscoring their opponents 33-6. The boys won all three of their Saturday games and had a come-from-behind 3-1 win on Sunday over Pepperell. The boys combined for a total of 19 goals, while allowing only one over the two-day tournament and also came home with a berth in the state championships and a Div. 1 NCup Championship.
Home field no advantage
The girls U14 and the boys U16 teams were the lucky teams who got to play at home. Both spent their day playing at the Harvard Park and the Depot Road fields. The girls team was the fourth seed in the second flight, having finished the regular season at 5-3. The girls finished Saturday at 1-2, having played very hard but finishing out of the playoffs on Sunday.
The boys U16 team finished the season at 4-3, entering the tournament as the third seed. The team won 2-1 in the last minute of their first game in the group stage against Maynard, a team they had played twice during the season and failed to beat. The second game against Athol was a 1-2 loss, but the boys secured their place in the final with a 6-2 win against Gardner.
In the final game on Sunday, played against Athol, the boys fell behind early to a goal from Athol’s top striker. Harvard played hard and was able to even the score in the second half. The game went into overtime and finished tied 1-1. Unfortunately, Athol won the game 3-1 on penalties, but the Harvard boys had earned a place in the state tournament.
Boys U18 take championships
The boys U18 took their 8-0-0 regular season record into the weekend, and the team went 2-0-1 to become the Div. 1 U18 champion. Adam Lorenz-Kruk, Mark Schwiegershausen, and Eli Wood each scored twice in the games on Saturday. On Sunday, Harvard played the U19 Div. 1 champions Ayer/Shirley for the NVYSL U18/19 championship and prevailed in a hard fought game by the score of 2-1. With the team down 0-1 at the half, Mark Ferguson broke free to score the equalizing goal, and Magnus Hermans headed a corner into the goal with 10 minutes remaining to seal the victory.
Three awards for sportsmanship
The three-day Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC), the state championship for youth soccer, was played the last weekend in June. While no Harvard team won a state title in its flight, they all performed well. Four teams from Harvard played over the weekend, more than any other town in the league. The boys U18 team suffered its first losses of the season, but only after winning one of only two games won by a boys team from the NVYSL. The GU12 team had the best showing of the weekend, finishing 2-1 after the first three games but missing the final rounds on Sunday due to goal differential.
The highlight of the weekend for Harvard was some recognition from the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association (MYSA). The BU16 team, which had entered the tournament as a wild card and struggled over the two days of competition, earned the BU16 Division 2 Sportsmanship Award. The GU12 team won the Sportsmanship Award as well in their Girls U12 Division flight. They also won one of the two MYSA awards for overall sportsmanship.
Rika Stevenson is the President of the Harvard Soccer Club.
BU18 League Champions. Back row from left: Coach Karl Schwiegershausen, Mark Schwiegershausen, Tom Hill, Adam Lorenz-Kruk, Magnus Hermans, Ryan Kennedy, Mark Ferguson, Eli Wood, Mitch Sklar, Coaches Scott Green and Brian McCullough. Bottom row from left: Nate Greene, James Kellogg, JJ Stadler, Matt Olejarz, Hunter Ashley, Luke Karis. Missing: Eric Alpine, Tyler Bandom, Ben Cadman, and Ezra Kraus. (Courtesy photos)
From left: Allyson Hendricks, Coach Tom Wiffen, Kyle Schoenberg, Brad Hendricks, Reilly Fitzsimmons, Ryell deRuijter, Matt Thornton, Henry Wilmont, Jack Armstrong (holding trophy), Charlie Pappas, Dmitri Dutkewych, Patrick Flanagan, Matt Canning, Sean Leisure, Shane Bilodeau, Jon Gall, Rory Vandorpe, Austin Franklin, Coach Austin Franklin, Justin Patenaude. Missing: Jake Catalina.
Girls U12 team NCUP award and MTOC sportmanship award. Top row, from left: MacKinlay Chipman, Sam Schoenberg, Jessica Mitchell, Olivia Kehoe, Bella Kehoe, Anna Laursen, Coach Heston Chipman, Caroline Mara, Lwiza Aitdowd. Bottom row, from left: Izzy Planchet, Olivia Noyes. Missing: Shea O’Brien, Elena Junkala, and Coach Ted Mara.
