WILMINGTON, MA — Below are Wilmington Youth Soccer travel game summaries from last week.
Wilmington BU9-1
The Wildcats saved their best performance of the year for the season finale, but fell just short of beating the Melrose 10-1 team. Brennan Walsh got the start in goal and got the crowd excited early with a tremendous save on a screeching shot. He made it look easy as he deflected the ball away from the goal.
Zack Guyette and Oliver Ferror played defense in front of Brennan and fought hard to turn back the ferocious attack of the Melrose top line. They tirelessly defended the goal and blocked multiple shots before they could reach the goal. They worked with Cullen Walsh to work that ball up the field for the Wilmington counter attack led by Jack Bourque and Anthony Heigham.
After surviving the initial onslaught from Melrose, Wilmington got on the board first when Casey Lanagan dribbled up the right side and sent a perfect cross to Tommy Lewis who found the back of the net from the penalty spot with his opposite foot. A couple minutes later, Tommy returned the favor feeding a pass to Casey who blasted the ball by the Melrose keeper.
Melrose responded with a couple of goals of their own to finish out the first half with the game tied 2-2. Melrose scored first in the second half, but Wilmington answered quickly. Goalie Mick Keogan passed cross-field to Jackson McDonald on a goal kick. Jackson made a perfect long pass to Casey on an aggressive diagonal run to goal. The ball squeezed past the defender and met Casey in stride and Casey blasted home a goal for his first brace of the season.
Lukas Poirier and Jack spent most of the day harassing the Melrose backline. They gathered passes out of the defensive end from Oliver, Jackson and Zack and made runs at the Melrose net. They were unable to find the back of the net, but they helped Wilmington keep possession in the Melrose defensive third for most of the second half.
Wilmington fell behind 4-3 with less than 10 minutes to play. Once again, they answered quickly to even the score. For the second time, it was goaltender Mick Keogan who started the counter attack. After making one of his many saves of the afternoon, he put the ball down at his feet and found Anthony breaking down the right side. Anthony aggressively charged the goal and slid a shot just passed the charging Melrose keeper to tie the game.
Melrose scored late in the game, but the Wildcats refused to concede the game. They dug the ball out of the net and quickly lined up for a kickoff. Within seconds they had pushed the ball up the left side and found Lukas near the goal. His shot was partially blocked and pushed just wide of the left goal post. Despite intense pressure from Wilmington, Melrose was able to close out the game for the 5-4 win.
Although the comeback fell short, Wilmington did surprise Melrose and pushed them to the brink. Melrose barely escaped the Wildcats after beating them 16-2 and 9-3 earlier this year.
Wilmington BU9-2
A fantastic and strong last 3 games helped the Boys BU9-2 team finish towards the top of the standings. The team had set themselves up for a possible run to the Commissioners Cup as they defeated Westford on a home and away series with Wilmington coming out on top 4-1 and 4-0. Those games displayed goals from Ayden Balter, Lincoln Levesque, Koko Shinohara, Tyler Florencio, Jack Murphy and Layne Coutu.
The season came to end at Melrose where the Wilmington team was victorious once again. The slow tempo suddenly accelerated as Jack Murphy put a shot in net, assisted by Ryan Muise and Tyler Florencio. The Melrose counter attack was stopped by strong defensive plays from Kaleb Molina and Cameron Jenks, alternating at defense. Brendan Fitzgerald running up and down the flanks kept Melrose chasing, while the strong net protection of Ayden Balter kept the first half at 1-0 in favor of Wilmington. As the first half came to an end, it appeared that Wilmington was in control of the game. Melrose surprised the Wilmington team at the 8th minute mark of the second half as they rallied for their only goal of the game. The Wilmington team reacted by playing a hard, fast and beautiful passing game that kept Melrose running in circles. The last 3 Wilmington goals came fast and furious at the 18th, 19th and 21st minutes on goals by Jack Murphy, Layne Coutu and Lincoln Levesque. The assist on those goals came from a team effort led by Kaleb Molina, Ryan Muise and Koko Shinohara. Tyler Marinho and Danny O’Mahony’s ball skills were missed as the final whistle closed on a great season for this hard-working BU9-2 team.
(NOTE: Summaries provided by the Wilmington Youth Soccer Association.)
Like Wilmington Apple on Facebook. Follow Wilmington Apple on Twitter. Subscribe to Wilmington Apple’s daily email newsletter HERE. Got a comment, question, photo, press release, or news tip? Email wilmingtonapple@gmail.com.
Wilmington Apple 