by
posted 07/06/2009 
| | EYSA U14 Boys Win Maine Tournament | | |
Exeter Youth Soccer Association U14 Boys Close Out With Tournament Win –
Brunswick Maine was host to Seacoast ME Coastal Challenge. This is the
largest Spring Tournament in our area. Teams from as far away as
Connecticut and Vermont travel to Maine to participate. For some teams this
would be there farewell as many move onto High School in the fall. One such
group ventured from the Exeter area. A team that for many was formed as a
U10 Boys some four years ago. The core has been together for the past 3
years. Isaac Baybutt, Sam Young, Carter Johnson, Jack Darmody, Connor
O’Hurley, Tom Wolters, Matt Swanton, Hunter Vars, Corey Guen, Miles
Herrick, Adam Urquhart and Parker Dubuque have played together for over 100
games. Others have joined the core group and brought talent, passion and
energy, Ki Davis, Kevin Gendron, Peter Eisenhaure, Skippy Girard and Chip
McNaughton.
They were the class of the tournament, going undefeated and not allowing a
goal to be scored against them in the 3 qualifying matches. Saturday’s
first game set the tone as they dominated a team from Maine with a 4-0 win
with goals by Carter, Peter and two by Skippy. Saturday afternoon play
resulted in a 3-0 victory with goals by Matt, Adam and Chip. Sunday morning
results were another shutout 3-0 with goals by Carter; Peter stretched the
score to 2-0 and the game ended on a tally by Tom. Onto the Championship.
The Championship match would place the EYSA U14 Boys versus the Seacoast
United squad from Epping. The score was 0-0 at half time. About midway
through the second half an Exeter player was tackled just outside the
Seacoast penalty box. Seacoast set the wall as Exeter selected Skippy to
take the kick. It would take a magical shot to put the ball in net as
Seacoast covered all the angles. Skippy approached the ball drove it with
the outside of his foot to the right of the wall where there was a slight
opening to the net. The ball had great spin and as it appeared around the
wall the Seacoast keeper was surprised by the location and the ball found
its home just inside the post. With a little over 3 minutes to play a
Seacoast player broke free down the sideline. As our defense closed we made
our only mistake of the day. A hard sliding tackle resulted in a penalty
kick and a 1-1 score. An overtime periods of two 5-minute periods under
the golden goal rule passed with no score. Onto a shootout. On the field
for Exeter would be Skippy, Peter, Tom, Adam, Kevin, Carter, Isaac, Sam,
Ki, Hunter and Connor. This would not be a quick ending as each team
matched the other and each keeper made pressure filled saves. After the
first five resulted in a tie we moved in to sudden death penalty
kicks. Deep into the line-up at number nine Kevin Gendron’s shot hit the
cross bar and caromed down into the goal. Exeter now waited to see if
Connor could make one last save. The Seacoast player had a chance to keep
the drama alive but Connor blocked his shot. The team streamed on the field
to pile onto their goalie in celebration. A victory was achieved and an era
ended in dramatic fashion.
One cannot end this story without mention of the parents of this team. The
coaches and your sons have appreciated your commitment and passion. Your
sons could not have done it without you. You should be proud of how they
have grown and progressed as they have learned how much commitment it takes
to be a winner. It is not the final score that matter the most to us but
the simple fact that they played the beautiful game with Pride, Passion and
Determination.
