27 February 2007

Dominant Sachems do double

The Sachems FC boys under-10 team earned the Massachusetts Futsal 2007-07 league and tournament championships in January with an undefeated 6-0 division record and a thrilling, 5-3 finals victory over the Lexington Crusaders.

The top seeded Winchester side jumped to a 2-0 lead behind goals from Philip Woolston and Ben Beyer, but conceded two after Ben Hagan nodded past nearly unbeatable Sachems goalkeeper Charlie Booth. Level again, the boys in black fought for to regain the lead. Woolston scored again off a nifty feed from Yoav Barkai to retake control. Barkai later shifted his way to the finish line for a 4-2 Sachems lead that held at halftime.

Lexington drew within one after the break, but the Arsenal boys locked in defensively, with the glue-like Charlie Cacciola man-marking Crusader star Jamie Wheaton for the final 20 minutes of the match. With the Lexington defense containing the always attacking Patrick Foley and the dangerous Spencer Anton, and the Sachems cautiously going forward, Barkai was a one-man Ronaldinho in the latter stages. The result was still in question in the the closing minutes until Woolston blasted in third of the championship to earn the Sachems the victory.