Hingham Youth Soccer sent two teams to the recent Massachusetts Tournament of Champions competition
HINGHAM – Two Hingham Youth Soccer teams competed at the recent Massachusetts Tournament of Champions event.
Champions of the Coastal League, the boys grade 5-6 and grade 7-8 squads both made the trip to Lancaster for the annual three-day soccer tournament back in June. The HYS girls grades 5-6 and 7-8 youth teams did well in the Coastal Cup playoffs and just missed qualifying for the MTOC this season.
Hingham Youth Soccer president Steve McCoy said it was a “big achievement just to qualify for the MTOC playoffs. It’s a great experience for the kids to compete against some of the best youth soccer teams in the entire state.”
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Both local teams came out of the competition with a 2-2 record and made it to the semifinals of their respective age groups.
The grade 5-6 boys defeated both Grafton and then Nantucket while losing to Sharon before being officially eliminated by Pembroke.
The grade 7-8 boys team suffered a rash of injuries late in the tourney and ended up playing their final game with 10 players, losing to Natick, 5-1. They began their run with victories over Wilmington and Cold Spring followed by a loss to Nantucket.
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“It’s great seeing all of these teams play together,” McCoy notes. “Some of these kids have been teammates since kindergarten so they all know each other and enjoy playing soccer together.”
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Members of the grade 5-6 boys team are Jack Carey, Connor Downey, Isaac Hertzog, Aidan Holmes, Ethan Kadish, Carter Kubec, William Manning, Nolan McManus, Efa Morgan, Chase Murray, Cormac Murray, Patrick O’Connor, Brendan O ‘Neil, Kwaku Oppong, Oliver Sargent, and Thomas Skayne. They are coached by Sean Downey and Kevin Holmes.
The grade 7-8 boys are coached by Neil Murtagh, Grant Owen and David Coppola. Teams members include Evan Benham, John Casey, William Connelly, Spencer Coppola, Coleman Donohue, John Fabbro, Luca Greco, Jake Lopes, Jack MacLachlan, Jack Monroe, Christopher Murray, Brian Murray, Ryan Murtagh, Liam O’Brien, Callum Owen, Gabriel Tesler, Ethan Theis, Van Martin and Ethan Warhaftig.
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McCoy said the league overall handled the changes with COVID “really well” over the last couple of years. Hingham is traditionally a strong town for youth soccer with one of the largest enrollments in the area. There were 1,300 players in the program during the spring season and a similar number is expected for the upcoming fall season.
“We usually have around six teams per age group, so we were big enough to keep things in-house with 7-on-7 games and no travel” when COVID spiked, McCoy said.
Registration is open for the upcoming fall youth soccer season. You can find more information at hinghamyouthsoccer.com.
Email the reporter at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter, @DavidWolcott1.