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Odyssey Boys Teams Go 6-6 at Nordic Cup U19s reach semi-finals; U12s/14s each finish 2-1
For the first time, OSSC sent 4 teams to a major regional tournament on the boy’s side of the club. The Nordic Cup, held in Burlington, VT, welcomes approximately 200 teams from all over the Northeast, as well as Canada, for a weekend of competition. In 2010, the Odyssey girl’s teams went as a group and enjoyed a challenging and successful weekend. Less than two years after OSSC restructured the boy’s side, designating Paul Stinson as DOC for those teams as the club transitioned from then-outgoing president Mike Sheridan to current president Corinne Banker, four robust and competitive teams joined their compatriots on the girl’s side to head to Vermont. Colgate Assistant Coach, Bill Boyle led the U16 boys through a tough campaign, finishing 0-3, with two one-goal losses. Given that most of the U16 players are in fact U15s, being so competitive, if not as successful as the boys would have liked, bodes very well for the future of that group. Additionally, it is very worth mentioning that Sam Caton, a goalkeeper for both the U16s and U19s was only able to play for one team, by tournament rules. As the U19s do not have a GK in their age group, Sam serves double duty and was forced to play exclusively for the 19s. Dan Keck did his usual excellent job in the goal, but the 16s missed having both GKs, as they are both effective outfield players who give the starting players rest, something in very short supply in a tournament playing 3 games in two days. With some help from the other Odyssey coaches as he juggled the U11 girls simultaneously, Hanns Von Packal led the U14s to a 2-1 record in a tough bracket. Rebounding from a tough loss on Saturday morning, the boys knocked off a Canadian team 4-0 in convincing fashion, and then a Milton, VT team 1-0 in the last round on Sunday. Equally as young for their age group as the U16s, the U14s have improved tremendously from a year ago, and are beginning to come together into a very talented group. The U12 boys got off to a hot start on Saturday, winning 8-1 and 3-1, but fell 3-0 on Sunday to miss the playoffs later that evening. A very strong showing for a group which only had 6 true U12s among the players; several 10 year old boys proved they can play at a high level and contributed significantly to the team’s effort. This is another group which struggled a year ago in all competitions, and has improved noticeably in the 2011 campaign. A large number of newcomers has helped, but the players who returned in 2011 from the previous year’s U11 team have grown as players in leaps and bounds, and the weekend’s results confirmed this. Lastly, the
U19 boys came into the tournament weekend having dropped two disappointing games
at home in the CNYJSA league, and were under a bit of pressure to perform at the
level they expected of themselves. Defender Cary Reifschneider scored the
game’s only goal against Berkshire Ajax in the opening game Saturday morning,
from a Luke Dorsey corner kick, starting a great weekend of performances by the
outside backs. An afternoon win over Seacoast United by a 2-1 score featuring a
spectacular charging attack by Luke Dorsey down the right flank, followed by a
fine cross to Travis Regner who headed home while being challenged by both the
GK and a defender started the game off well. While Seacoast continued to battle
and push the OSSC boys, Dorsey took a Juan Herrero pass and found the back of
the net with a long-range, curling shot to the far post. Seacoast was able to
sneak a goal back, but the defense held, and OSSC was 2-0 going into Sunday’s
crucial final game. Fatigue and an impressive opponent in Vermont’s Synergy
club snapped the winning streak, although the OSSC boys final 2-1 record was
good enough to get them the wild card draw for the semi-finals. A mere hour
later, facing the host Nordic team, a valiant but ultimately insufficient effort
led to a 4-1 loss, although Chris Pawlikowski’s first goal of the year from 40
yards out was a bright spot! All in all, the weekend was a great break in the routine for all the boys, and many important lessons were learned by all the teams. The successes recorded are evidence of the hard work the boys have done over the past few years as the boy’s side of the club has matured. Certainly expectations will be high as next summer’s tournament approaches, and the OSSC teams will continue to do the club proud. Special thanks to board members Corinne Banker, Penni Conley, and Deb Babowicz for their efforts in arranging hotels, handling the finances and generally spearheading the considerable workload of getting ten teams to Vermont with paperwork all in order and things so well organized. Annette Keil deserves a HUGE thank you for all the scrambling she had to do to get the guest players passed in time to have their passes for the tournament as well. The various team managers who worked so hard to organize their respective teams did an amazing job as well, and all club members should be proud of the fine group effort put into the weekend’s fun.
  
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