The Leominster Boy’s Soccer Team had a successful 2023 season. They faced many challenges but managed to be named champions of the Central Mass Tournament.
“Coming into the season, I was thinking we would score a lot of goals, but we were inexperienced defensively,” Steve McCaughey, Head Coach of the boys soccer team said. “I thought we would be very good, but I wasn’t sure about better than the previous season.”
One of the team’s first struggles was the lack of goals they scored. “We only scored two goals in our first seven games,” McCaughey said. In an attempt to fix this, they changed their formation and moved some players around which resulted in goals being scored and going undefeated for 13 straight games.
McCaughey believed that his team was the top team in their league from the beginning. Westborough and Algonquin were believed to be their biggest competitors, but Shrewsbury unexpectedly was a tough team too.
“I entered the year thinking we would win the Central Mass Tournament and by the time we started the tournament we were playing very well,” McCaughey said. “Certainly entering the tournament, I knew if we played as well as we could, we would win.”
The team defeated Nashoba 2-0 in the final, which resulted in them being named Central Mass Champions.
They then moved onto the State Tournament but unfortunately fell 2-1 to Concord-Carlisle, the number one team in only their second game.
Issac Chambass, starting goalkeeper, was named best goalie in their league and made All-State. “He gave up fewer goals per game than any goalies I’ve ever coached at the position,” McCaughey said.
Senior Ajani Guzman also made All-State. He was another crucial part of the team, as he was the leading goal scorer in the league. McCaughey believed that when Ajani started scoring more there was a shift and the team started winning more consistently.
Senior Captain Facundo Amaro also made All-State. Amaro is the starting center back, “The first player I ever put into my starting lineup is Facundo, because the center back position is so critical,” McCaughey said.
Chambass, Guzman and Amaro were not the only standout players in this exceptional team. Four other players were named League All-Stars, including Senior Captains, John Lima and Aaron Silvera.
“We’re losing 5 senior starters, obviously some critical players like Ajani and Facundo,” McCaughey said. “To lose 3 out of 4 starting backs is very challenging.”
It will be difficult to replace the players lost, but McCaughey believes that his returning players will put in the work in the off season and step up to have another successful year.
