By Dan Brosgol with photographs by Ruby Kennedy
In the fading daylight on Saturday afternoon on the banks of the Charles River, the Bedford U14 boys Xplosion wrapped up a perfect season of travel soccer with a 4:0 win over Wellesley, finishing at 9-0-0, or 10-0-0 including a forfeit victory from earlier in the season.
A season that began in the heat of late summer concluded in the sub-freezing wind chill of a mid-November afternoon, but through it all the boys played a thoroughly enjoyable brand of team soccer that led to their unblemished record and a season’s worth of fond memories.
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All images (c) Ruby Kennedy, 2015 all rights reserved
The Xplosion were led by 8th graders Nicolas Bousse, Andrew Harrison, Quinten Houck, Ryan Knight, Wesley Liou, Dexter Kennedy, Jeffrey Mascoli, Matthew McMillan, Alex Oleksinski, Matias Ou, Andrew Presti, Chris Venuti, Andrew Wang, and Joseph Watson, and also featured 7th graders James Brosgol, Brendan Coyne, Connor Loughlin, and Shaan Manocha to round out the roster.
The boys began the year with a hard-fought 1:0 win on the road at Concord-Carlisle, which was followed by an easy 4:0 victory in their home opener against Arlington. Week 3 featured a tough come-from-behind 2:1 win at Dover-Sherborn, and in Week 4 the boys dispatched Brookline 7:0 at Sabourin Field to end their pre-Columbus Day schedule.
With a 4-0-0 record firmly in hand, the Xplosion moved up two divisions, from 2-E to 2-C, for the second half of the fall season, and, if anything, their play improved against stiffer competition. In their first contest in the higher division, they handled previously undefeated Needham with ease, 2:0, and then continued their winning ways with a 4:1 win in Watertown. The schedule ended with wins at Newton (3:0), at home against Natick (3:0), and the final game at Wellesley. Their 30-2 goal differential was tops in Division 2 and may lead to a promotion to Division 1 in the spring season, which begins in April.
Congratulations to coaches Steve Kennedy, Ron Presti, and Dan Coyne for their hard work and leadership, and to the boys for their quality play throughout the season. If nothing else, the Xplosion’s dominating performance bodes well for the future of the BHS boys soccer program, which will no doubt benefit in a few years from the talented pool of players that is coming up the pipeline.
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