CMass Girls Div. 1

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The Mid-Wach realignment will help Nashoba and hurt Westboro.

Good call. Looking at Westboro's non league schedule they could have some problems.

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Good call. Looking at Westboro's non league schedule they could have some problems.

So where do the teams all fall with the realignment? is there somewhere we can see the new groupings? Thanks

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So where do the teams all fall with the realignment? is there somewhere we can see the new groupings? Thanks

http://www.mwlma.org/g5-bin/client.cgi?G5genie=382

B is only 4 teams. Only the league winner automatically qualifies.

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http://www.mwlma.org/g5-bin/client.cgi?G5genie=382

B is only 4 teams. Only the league winner automatically qualifies.

Thanks. I see 5 teams. Also based on the MIAA site, tournament qualification is still listed as winning % 50% or greater. Is this a new tournament qualification for 2016? Thanks.

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Thanks. I see 5 teams. Also based on the MIAA site, tournament qualification is still listed as winning % 50% or greater. Is this a new tournament qualification for 2016? Thanks.

Fitchburg will not be playing in that league for soccer. They usually play in the lowest MidWach division. 50% or greater has been in play for well over 20+ years.

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Question is does Gonk go undefeated?

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No they will not.

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Question is does Gonk go undefeated?

I'd say so. They have the top scorers back and look tough to beat. Half their games will be blowouts.

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Thanks. I see 5 teams. Also based on the MIAA site, tournament qualification is still listed as winning % 50% or greater. Is this a new tournament qualification for 2016? Thanks.

It used to he that the top 2 teams in each division qualified, regardless of record. Now only the top team qualifies automatically. The 50% rule still applies.

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It used to he that the top 2 teams in each division qualified, regardless of record. Now only the top team qualifies automatically. The 50% rule still applies.

Top 2 teams in a league automatically qualify if the league has 5 or mor teams. If it has only 4 (which for soccer the Midwach B will have) then only the league winner automatically qualifies.

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It used to he that the top 2 teams in each division qualified, regardless of record. Now only the top team qualifies automatically. The 50% rule still applies.

Thanks!

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Marlboro often gets criticized for having adopted club soccer later than other towns, but for the past 6 or 7 years they've had a relationship with GPS (originally as MPS) and that has helped. Not many still play for GPS but at least the kids and the families started to see what non-volunteer coaching and decent competition can do. It has also helped that NEFC has been so active right in our backyard at Fore Kicks.

That said, Marlboro girls HS soccer has been starting to see the results of this the past few years. The senior class had five girls (all club) starting as freshman. That was the first wave to hit. They are all NEFC (elite, premier, united, barca) trained, and battle tested. Three were CMass all-stars and one was all-state last year. Junior class is a little thinner but three are/were Scorpions Elite players and two playing varsity since freshman year. The Sophs may be the real strength of the team, with a Stars ECNL striker, an NEFC elite (BBA) middie, an NEFC Premier keeper, and other NEFC trained players. And the incoming Freshman may have the best of the bunch, another NEFC Elite (BBA) player and other NEFC trained kids. The pipeline is stocked as the current 8th graders are almost all NEP and NPL girls who will keep the talent pool coming for years to come.

Unfortunately for MHS, like any town, perhaps the best player in town (NEFC/BBA) goes to the AMSA charter school. Second best player in town (NEFC/BBA) goes to The Groton School. Another sure-fire starter at AMSA, another likely starter at Hudson, an excellent player at Worcester Academy, and one of the better talents and pure athletes to come through the youth program and GPS had to give up the game due to multiple ACL tears as a freshman. It's all woulda/coulda/shoulda but it shows that either the talents/skills are getting much better for Marlboro kids, or that this is some kind of weird golden age window in time. I'm pretty certain it's the former and the kids are finally reaching the level of other towns (and not just one or two other players but a lot of them).

I realize that having club trained players since an early age doesn't necessarily mean automatic victory, but the skills are far superior to what Marlboro has had in the past and more on par with the top HS teams in the region now. The only thing that can throw a monkey wrench into Marlboro's success now is the coach being able to get these girls to play the way they've been trained to play and the way they've played when they've won national and regional championships with their club teams. The coach is a former Marlboro player and D1 college player. She was an excellent player and had very coaching along the way. She is an outstanding person and role model for ANY teenage girl, but she's just an average coach (in my opinion) right now. Marlboro's players will have to eclipse the coach's talents with their own if they are to win anything this year and in the near future. My guess is that a club coach comes in to take the reigns in the coming years and raises the program to an even higher level. This recently happened with AMSA hiring Ben Okaroh (FC Blazers co-founder; former pro player; former Nigerian national team player; 2-time all-american at BU) as the girls soccer coach. I think MHS will take note and look for something similar.

Like most rising programs Marlboro will probably win some games they shouldn't and lose some games they should win. Those are the growing pains they have to overcome to eventually be a perennial contender. Off-the-cuff prediction is 12-6 with a good seed in the CMass Playoffs but losing to Algonquin or Westboro. I think those are the two teams to beat.

TL;DR - Marlboro HS is a vastly improving program thanks to better youth soccer training.

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Millbury 3-1 my prediction. They return everyone. They were great last year. Gonk is the only team that can beat them and vice versa. I will be at that game definitely.

Algonquin being held to 1 goal? That's pretty optimistic.

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Gonk 1-2 losses
Wachusett 3-4 losses
Shepherd Hill 7-8 losses
Shrewsbury 10+ lossses
Leominster 15+ losses

Nashoba 3-4 losses
Westboro 4-5 losses
Marlborough 4-5 losses
Groton-Dunstable 10+ losses

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What's up with Shrewsbury year after year? I never seem to hear good things about their program from a W/L perspective. Is it the quality of their youth soccer program? Attrition to private school? It would seem that with a population similar to Marlborough and Needham it would have the same potential...

All of the above. A long, terrible history of problems in the town program -- from the board to coaches to parents. Common denominator is adults and egos. The parents of a few players, not just a couple of nutjob coaches, have had a bigger part in making things worse than this thread would lead one to believe. It's pretty sad when you consider how good things were at one point.