An Army in a Never Ending Battle for Wins:
By: Angelina Martirano
Breath taking, exciting, and definitely interesting describes how the Madison Junior School boys soccer team plays. These boys work their hardest at achieving their win within 60 minutes. They work together and play strong with the help of their amazing coach Mr. Bovery. He is a very inspiring coach. He has been coaching for 10 years now and thinks that his team has improved as a whole, even though they do not have many wins. Mr. Bovery is teaching the boys foot skills and how to use them in a game and lots of conditioning.
Talented 7th graders Brendan Armstrong, David Delevan, Aidan Kane, Michael Katz, Mathew Leone, Zachary Ruiz, and Rafael Stankiewickz and 8th graders Lucas DiGiacomo, Troy Edwards, John Flanagan, Jack Hanson, Colin Kidd, Ian Magnani, Brendan Mulcahy, Ryan Selquist, Ian Skinner, Benjamin Waksman, and Christian Wong. Just some of the top scorers on the team are Ian Magnani, Brendan Mulcahy, and Jack Hanson. Mathew Leone is the only 7th grader who has scored after 8 games. The boys’ team lost their first game 6-5 on a penalty kick in the last 30 seconds. It was unlucky but they played a great game. Even though the boys have lost many games they come out strong and try their best, while having fun.
There were 3 kids who had injuries. Lucas DiGiacomo broke his toe in the beginning of the season. He was injured but he still gave motivational speeches as “Coach Lucas”. Next, Brendan Armstrong hurt his hand playing goalie. He was only out for the rest of that game but he was missed because several goals were shot later in that game. Last, Aidan Kane was out for a week because of his pulled hamstring. Even though he was hurt he still went to games and supported everyone. These players did their best to heal fast so that they could get back on the field.
The boys team is very good at scoring and defending. Their formation is either a 4,4,2 or a 4,3,3. A 4,4,2 means that there are 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, and 2 forwards/attacks. A 4,3,3 means that there are 4 defenders, 3 midfielders, and 3 forwards/attacks. The forwards/attacks are: Troy Edwards, Jack Hanson, Lucas DiGiacomo, Mathew Leone, David Delevan, Ian Magnani, Brendan Mulcahy, Ryan Selquist, and Christian Wong. The midfielders are: Aidan Kane, Mathew Leone, Zachary Ruiz, David Delevan, Lucas DiGiacomo, Rafael Stankiewics, Ian Magnani and Christian Wong. Lastly, the defenders are: David Delevan, John Flanagan, Lucas DiGiacomo, Michael Katz, Colin Kidd, Ian Magnani, Ian Skinner, and Benjamin Waksman. The goalies are Brendan Armstrong and David Delavan as backup.
“We killed Bernardsville, and I got no shots on goal while I was in because our defense was so strong.” Jack Hanson announced. Jack Hanson was terrified to play in goal but he had to because they didn’t have their goalie due to injuries. Their backup wasn’t playing in goal at the time. Even though Jack was terrified he got over the fear because of their super strong defense and overall team. He will now offer to play in goal if they need another backup.
This average middle school team has turned in to an army fighting in a never ending battle for their wins. This team may have lost many games but they never gave up and never stopped listening to each other.