Dracut Soccer Girls State Finalists

Girls…. Are they tough enough? These girls were mentally and physically tough enough and it paid off. The Dracut, Girls Under-12-1 team finished an amazing season, full of hard work, endurance, lots of mud, ran, heat and humidity, as Finalists at the state championship at the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC) in Lancaster.

It was not an easy road for these girls’ they had to fight for every inch to get to the MTOC final. The team finished with a regular season record of 8-2-0, good for second place. As a second place team they earned the opportunity to play for the “wild card” spot in the league semi-finals. To earn the “wild card” spot they played Chelmsford on a muddy, rainy Monday night. Still tied after a full game, and two overtime periods, they went to penalty kicks (PK’s). Dracut won after 9 penalty kicks, with their keeper Rebecca Fisher stopping the final Chelmsford attempt. The Dracut girls then won the second game against Reading on Wednesday night for the final spot in the league semi-finals. They were the “under dogs” on their way to the Commissioner’s Cup.

On Saturday morning Malden gave the Dracut girls a tough game in the semi’s. Still tied after a full game, and two overtime periods, the Dracut girls once again lined up for PK’s and won the semi-final. On Father’s Day, the Dracut girls played an excellent Tewksbury team in the finals. Tewksbury was tough opponent to play on a very hot and humid day. After being tied 1-1 at the end of regulation play the Dracut girls went to overtime & PK’s against Tewksbury and won. They are the Girls Under 12 Division 2 Champions for the Middlesex Youth Soccer League (MYSL) and went to the state championship (MTOC) in Lancaster to represent the league. This was definitely a Father’s Day to remember for coaches John Lane, Jim Fisher and all the team dads who watched their daughters work so hard all season.

In Lancaster, Dracut won two out of three of the round robin games which earned them the “wild card” spot in the state semi-final. They were again the “under dogs”. The MTOC semi-final was played on Sunday morning, with Dracut playing against an excellent Leominster team. The game remained tied after both regular time and overtime sending the game into PK’s. The Dracut girls took some excellent shots on net and won the semi-final 3-1 on PKs. That Sunday afternoon, Dracut played their final game of the season against a very talented Carver team. Dracut played hard, controlling much of the game but Carver scored the winning goal with 2 ½ minutes left in the game to win 2-1. Dracut simply ran out of time, if only it had gone to overtime & PK’s…

These girls, this Dracut GU12-1 team, the MYSL Division 2 Champions, the Second Place Girls Division 2 team in Massachusetts, are also known as Jessica Carnevale, Lauren Chapman, Hailey Cockroft, Caleigh Collamer, Emma Daly, Rebecca Fisher, Rachael Flores, Kayla Gooch, Joni Hill, Valerie Hines, Shaye Lane, Kendra Kukulski, Kiersten McElhinney, Rachel Santos and Emily Tierney. They were coached by John Lane and Jim Fisher this year, supported by their family, friends and of course their “good luck charm”. We are ALL so proud of each and every one of you girls!!

Dracut Soccer Sends 3 Teams to MTOC

Three Dracut Soccer teams have won championships Middlesex championships and will now play for a state title at the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC). Congratulations to the GU18-1 team and BU14-1 team lead by Coach Dennis Goodine and the GU12-1 team lead by Coach John Lane (myself).

MTOC is played on Friday June 25th thru Sunday June 27th at the Mass Youth Soccer state fields in Lancaster. Please come out to cheer on our 3 teams to victory and see some of the best soccer players in the state.

Schedules:
GU12-1
Friday, June 25th 10 am and 6 pm
Saturday, June 26th at 1:30 pm

BU14-1
Friday, June 25th 11 am and 6 pm
Saturday, June 26th at 12:30 pm

GU18-1
Friday, June 25th 12 pm
Saturday, June 26th at 8 am and 3:00 pm


Good luck next weekend, GO DRACUT!

Registration now open!

Greetings Dracut Soccer Nation!

Registration for the fall 2010 travel soccer season is now open! You can save $20 by registering on-line at http://www.dracutsoccer.com/registration.aspx before June 3rd.

All players must attend at least one tryout date to be eligible for a one team and preference for a spot if we do not have enough players to form teams. We encourage players to attend all tryouts but if you are not able to attend any for a valid reason please contact us.

Tryout dates and times are posted on the Dracut soccer website at http://www.dracutsoccer.com/Travel.aspx. Please note that dates and time are subject to change so check back before tryouts. We do our best to avoid making changes but sometimes circumstances dictate changes.

U9/U10/U12 tryouts will be held at Veterans Park and U14 tryouts will be held at Dracut High School. Please email travel@dracutsoccer.com with any questions.

Thanks

Dracut Soccer Travel Subcommittee

Coaching application announcement from Dennis Goodine, DSA travel head coach.

Hi Coaches,

For those of you that don't know, it's time to submit your "Coaches Selection Criteria Form" to be a Head Coach of a Travel Team for the Fall season. If you know anyone that is interested in being a Head Coach in the Fall, please forward this email to them. Attached is a Coaches Selection Criteria Form for you to complete and submit to the Head Travel Coach by May 7th. http://www.dracutsoccer.com/Travel.aspx Please email form back to me (travel@dracutsoccer.com) , or mail to Dracut Soccer Association.

All forms will be reviewed by the Head Travel Coach and Travel Sub-Committee, coach recommendations will be made to the DSA Board of Director's for approval.

Coaches that will not be returning in the Fall, please email me to let me know.

Hope your having a great season!

Dennis Goodine
Dracut Soccer Association

Welcome to the Spring Travel Season!

Well our first week of the spring season wouldn't start without canceling the first weeks games at Veterans. The fields are just to soft to play on. The town of Dracut has granted our permits as of earlier this week but we have deemed the fields not ready to play on. The town does an outstanding job with Veterans Park Field but mother nature hasn't helped with this overly wet start to spring. We have limited space to play on so we must be careful by not getting on the fields too soon. It's a process that has proven to be successful.

Good luck to all the teams with away games this week and good luck to all teams for the spring season. I hope to see a few of our teams in the playoff hunt later in the season.

Goal Differential

It is important for coaches to be aware of the goal differential during a game to prevent the score from getting out of control. The differential is not a concern only at the end of games but should be front and center during a game. Kids (and parents) do not like to be on the losing end of a lopsided victory and these differentials have lead to many kids leaving the game of soccer. If it’s not fun kids will not play, after all who wants to play a game that’s not fun.

As coaches we can work to prevent this from happening by recognizing the game trends early on and working with your players to challenge them more and to keep the score under control. Coaches can move players back from an attacking position to a defensive posture while also preventing defenders form passing half. At the same time require that all players must pass the ball a minimum number of times before they can shoot. This will vary based on age group, U10s 4 times, U12 6 times and U14 8 times. You may also want to have them work on other skills such as crossing or passing back to reset the attack. In the end please be aware of the score and work to keep it under control. You can take a negative situation (no competition) and turn it into a learning experience.

If you need suggestions contact a fellow coach or any member of the travel subcommittee.

Dracut BU10-3 vs Lowell

A dominating performance by the young men from Dracut was lead by stellar goal keeping and a powerful offensive attack. Multiple players joined in the scoring which allowed the boys to work on passing and team play. The final score was Dracut 5-1.