Commissioner's Cup Champions, and on to State-wide tournament!

Seven Malden Youth Soccer teams went to the Commissioner's Cup, three emerged as Champions, one as Runner-up

Seven of nineteen Malden Youth Soccer travel teams went to the Middlesex Youth Soccer League's Commissioner's Cup tournament last weekend. While all nineteen teams, comprised of 275 players ages 8-17, had successful seasons, these seven finished near top of the Middlesex Youth Soccer League. For Division 1 and 2 teams, the Commissioner's Cup is a three game elimination playoff to determine who will represent Middlesex at the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions. Division 3-5 teams play a three game round-robin to determine the Cup winner and a runner-up.

BU16: On to the state tournament
A combined Malden-Melrose Boys U16 team, coached by Foster Morales and Lenny David, is the only Malden team team that made it through Division 2 unscathed. That the team exists at all is owed to the commitment and perseverance of former rivals who wanted to play this season, no matter what. The Malden (especially President Ken Antonucci), Melrose, and Middlesex youth soccer organizations worked together to create for the boys what turned out to be a fantastic team. They are now bound for the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC), representing the Middlesex Youth Soccer League in Division 2!

GU12: Out, on penalty kicks
Also in Division 2, Coach Jose Zayas's Girls Under-12 team, played a long and exciting first-round match against Wilmington. With only 9 players (one sub) against a 15 player team, Malden scored first and held Wilmington one goal by the end of regular time. Both teams went scoreless through two ten minute halves of overtime, so the winner was decided by penalty kicks. Unluckily, the Malden girls' season ended with a 3-2 loss on penalty kicks and no trip to MTOC.

BU12: Winners of Middlesex Youth Soccer Commissioner's Cup!
The Boys Under-12 team, coached by Mario Antonio Riquelme Iturriaga, Kim Brookes, and Esad Sinanovic, clinched the Division 4A title with three games left in the season and almost finished undefeated. In the Cup, after beating an inspired Wilmington team 1-0, the boys finished off Wakefield 3-0 while Wilmington pulled off a tie against Somerville. That meant Malden only needed a tie against Somerville. That match ended 2-2 and the boys are now Division 4 Middlesex Youth Soccer League Cup Champions.

BU12: Winners of Middlesex Youth Soccer Commissioner's Cup!
Having been undefeated through the regular season, a second Malden Boys Under-12 team, coached by Robert Navas, became champions this weekend. After a narrow 1-0 win and then a heartbreaking loss, the boys won their last game 5-1. Their 1-1-1 record left them tied with Somerville on points, but because they had beaten Somerville head to head, they are the Commissioner's Cup Division 5 Champions.

BU14: Two late goals knock them out
The Division 2 Boys Under-14 team lost in the quarterfinals. Coaches Rick Caceda and Hugo Ruperti's team kept the game scoreless with good defense until near the end of the second half when Tewksbury made two late goals. The team now looks to rebuild for next season as ten out of their eighteen boys are moving on to high school. They hope to make it to MTOC next year.

BU14: Commissioner's Cup Runner's Up
Coaches Roberto Quesada-Diaz, Ken Antonnuci, and Jean Crevecoeur's Boys Under-14 team had a 7-1-2 season. In the race for the Division 3 Cup, the boys won one, lost one, and tied one giving them a tournament total of 4 points. The decision then defaulted to goals against. Malden, having only allowed 4 goals, earned Runner-Up.

GU16: Out of MTOC running
A combined Malden and Everett Girls Under-16 team lost an emotional game in the finals of the Division 2 Commissioners Cup to a very talented Tewksbury team. Losing their keeper and then their captain to flu symptoms, the girls pressured the Tewksbury defense but couldn't crack it and lost 4-0.

Congratulations to these seven teams, and good luck to the Malden/Melrose U16 boys in the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions this weekend.