Boys’ soccer team had quite a tournament run

Warriors made sectional final for the first time since 1997

Published in the December 18, 2015 edition.

By DAN BYRNE

WAKEFIELD — It was a banner season in 2015 for the Wakefield Memorial High School boys’ soccer team as Head Coach Matt Angelo led his team to the Div. 3 North final, but Wakefield’s bid for a sectional title ended in defeat as the Warriors lost to Swampscott in the teams’ third match of the season.

It was a season ripe with drama and coach Angelo was able to expound upon the story lines that unfolded.

“We came into this season losing 10 seniors from the previous year. We lost almost an entire starting line up with the exception of two players (Mark Melanson and Andrew Auld),” Angelo said. “That meant we had to fill eight starting positions. That also meant we had to fill an entire bench of newcomers.”

With such a fresh bunch of players early season struggles were predictable as the coach pointed out.

“We anticipated early struggles. The plan was to learn and adapt from the early season mistakes and really make an impact in the second half of the year.”

An 0-4 start to the season didn’t give any indication of what was to come. In the first four games the Warriors were outscored a combined 14 goals to six. They lost the opener to Lexington 3-0 and the second game of the year to Reading 3-1.

Their first match up of the season against Swampscott came three games into the season and the Warriors left with another defeat by a 5-3 score. They came closer in the fourth game of the year but remained winless as they lost to Arlington 3-2.

“We just weren’t clicking in the beginning of the season,” Angelo said. “We simply weren’t capitalizing on our scoring chances. More importantly, we weren’t putting together a full 80 minutes of soccer. That was sort of the theme in the first half of the season. Even in our wins, we still weren’t putting together 80 minutes,” said Angelo.

The first win of the year came against Stoneham, as the Warriors broke out of their early season skid with a 7-1 win.

“The goal is obviously to win games,” Angelo said. “But it is also my job to make sure the team is constantly progressing. Wins are great. But the boys will tell you, I’ve been more upset at times with quality of play during wins, than I was during losses.”

Things turned around a bit after breaking the ice with their first win. In the next game, the Warriors worked to a hard fought 0-0 draw with Wilmington. They followed that up with a 2-0 victory over rival Melrose.

“At the midway point during the season, we still believed we were far better than our record indicated,” Angelo said.

Following the victory over Melrose, Wakefield went 2-3-1 in its next four games. In that stretch the team dropped a 3-0 contest on the road against Burlington, defeated Watertown, then tied 2-2 with Belmont. Another big win against Stoneham, 5-1, gave the Warriors another tally in the win column. But things came back down to Earth as they fell in their next contest 1-0 to Wilmington.

The next game was the home replay with Melrose on Oct. 16. With little more than a week to go in the regular season, a win was critical for the Warriors to continue to control their hopes of making the tournament.

The Warriors and Red Raiders fought through one of the most physical and exciting games of the season and, devastatingly, the Red Raiders were able to get a late second half goal to cancel out the early goal that put the Warriors ahead in a 1-1 game.

Taking a draw in that game meant the Warriors had to make the remaining games count, and that started with a trip to league leader Burlington. The Warriors made it very difficult for the eventual league champs on their home turf but the end result was indecisive as the game ended in a 2-2 draw. However, coach Angelo noticed a shift in his players’ mentality following that game.

“The turning point in the season came in our second game against Burlington,” Coach Angelo said. “Burlington was the eventual champion of the league this year. If we lost this game, we were essentially out of tourney qualification. We also have a history of playing Burlington at their place (on their Senior Night). They have knocked us out of tourney contention two years in a row on their Senior Night (in 2012 and 2013).”

“We played the best we had all season in that game. We walked away with a hard fought 2-2 tie that kept our tourney hopes alive,” added Angelo. “From that point on, the atmosphere changed. We were a confident team. We began playing with an edge to us. We bullied teams around with our physical play. Everything all of a sudden began to click.”

Following the tie with Burlington, there were just two games to play in the regular season. The first game saw the Warriors notch another league win, 3-1 over Watertown.

The last game of the year was the rematch with Swampscott. This time around Swampscott faced a seasoned Warrior squad and the Warriors got the better of them in the second game by a 4-2 score.

“The Swampscott game was our most complete game of the year,” said Coach Angelo. “It was a great end of regular season game. We played our newly-formed rivals in a back and forth barn-burner of a game that saw multiple goals, fouls, cards, great goalkeeping and high quality play. We defeated them 4-2 on our Senior Night. It was also a great redemption game. Their coach even acknowledged that we were a completely different team he didn’t recognize from before.”

As the Warriors wrapped up their regular season on a high note, their fate rested in the hands of their league opponents.

“We finished the season with a record below .500 and had to await the result of Wilmington vs. Belmont to see if we would finish second place (in the M.L. Freedom division) and get our berth.”

Luck was on the Warriors’ side as Wilmington fell to Belmont 1-0, placing the Warriors in the tournament as an 11 seed.

The Warriors drew sixth-seeded Triton in the first round and pulled the upset with a 1-0 win.

“I could tell the boys were nervous,” said Coach Angelo. “We hadn’t won a tourney game since 1999. I could tell they wanted that more than anything.”

“Triton proved to be a worthy opponent. We battled them for 80 minutes. They controlled much of the second half. However, an early goal from Mark Melanson proved to be enough.”

That set up a game with third-seeded Pentucket. Again Wakefield knocked off the higher seed, with a 2-1 win to advance to the semifinals.

“Our second game was against Pentucket. They are routinely making deep runs in the tournament. We knew we would have our hands full,” Coach Angelo said. “This game was amazing. We were down a goal for the majority of the game. However, we were outplaying them in every area. We had two goals disallowed (which we disagreed with the calls). We came back and scored two goals with only 20 minutes left of the game. It was by far the best we played all season long. It was the best example of a team reaching full potential.”

In the semifinals, Wakefield took on 10th-seeded Tewksbury in a game that saw the Warriors dominate again and bring home a 2-0 win at Manning Field in Lynn.

“We dominated them for the entire game,” Angelo said of the Tewksbury game.

Wakefield had earned its spot in the Div. 3 North final and set up a rare third match with its new non-league rival, Swampscott.

Wakefield had its chances in the game and came close to going ahead on a number of occasions but, ultimately, Swampscott got the better of the Warriors and Wakefield fell in the final by a 2-0 score.

“Our game vs. Swampscott was intense. It was sort of a best of three situation. Both teams knew each other very well. Unfortunately they came out on top by capitalizing on their chances,” Angelo summarized. “I know the boys were devastated losing in the North D3 final, as they should be because they are competitors. There is only one team that is happy when the season is over — the champion

“We were a team that no one believed in and we went the furthest since 1997. I will not call it an underdog story. Underdog teams are those who shouldn’t win but do. Our tourney rank meant nothing. I still believe we were the best team in that tourney. We proved to everyone what our worth was. For that, I am a happy coach. We reached our full potential.”

Coach Angelo had a complete transformation of his team, from a struggling 0-4 start to the Division 3 North final. Wakefield finished with a 9-9-4 overall and 5-7-4 in the league

“I honestly think those early season struggles is what made us dangerous and what kept the team intact,” Angelo said. “Our team morale this year was as strong as its every been. It made us mentally tough. By the end of the season, we weren’t scared of going down by a goal, or two, or three. We had been there before. A team that is not intimidated is a very dangerous team. As the season progressed, that is exactly what we turned into. We weren’t afraid to grind out games.”

Some outstanding players made the successful season possible and coach Angelo made mention of a few standouts.

“Our senior leadership this tourney was outstanding. Zack Dacoli stood on his head in net. Andrew Auld was playing the best I’ve ever seen of him. Jonathan Ingalls had huge minutes for us. Andrew DeCecca was unstoppable in the back. Mark Melanson was a dominate midfielder and led us to victory. Mo Janga, in my opinion the MVP of our tourney run, was invaluable. Also, our underclassmen rose to the challenge. Alejandro Winsor was phenomenal. Dan Kerrigan and Cole Kraus were forces for us.

“Next year,” Coach Angelo said. “The goal is the same as every year. Qualify for the tourney and make a run.”

Wakefield had a number of players recognized with post season accolades including: Middlesex League Freedom division Honorable Mentions were Andrew Auld, Alejandro Winsor and Andrew DeCecca

The M.L. Freedom division All-Stars were Mark Melanson, Juan Maysonet, Mo Janga and Zack Dascoli. The Eastern Mass. All-Star was Maysonet.

The captains for the 2016 season will be Braedan Langlois, Winsor, TJ Sellers and Maysonet.