BCS XI

Inter Boston FC: 3 BCS XI: 3 [August 27, 2011]

2011-08-27T22:30:00.006-04:00

First game back from the Summer break, and BCS XI resumed league play in a similar way to how it ended the Spring, a draw that feels like a loss.

Missing about half of the squad, and playing with 3 brand new faces the outlook seemed bleak on the eve of Hurricane Irene. However, the new signings are strong, and despite a few lingering injuries the XI were able to be an imposing force on the field. There were definitely moments of brilliance, with passes pinging around the pitch, and some excellent possession. But the moments that weren't so good, ended up looking really bad.

Team captain Darren Johnson got the first goal with a nice long range effort that sailed over the keeper for a great goal. This got the team going and despite some slip ups here and there most of the possession and chances belonged to the visiting XI.

BCS XI went into the break 1-0 up and feeling pretty good. Early in the second half, Josh Gagnon swiveled at the top of the box to lob the ball over the keeper yet again, netting a 2nd goal for BCS XI, and Josh's second for the season. IBFC pulled back level through some sloppy defending and some rotten luck, but IBFC were rewarded for their efforts and direct play. Despite spurning his easiest chance of the match DJ snagged his second goal of the game with a similar shot as his first; this one a right footed blast from just outside the box with about 10 minutes remaining in the match. This also puts him into a three-way tie at the top of the Golden Boot race.

Inter Boston never gave up, and their persistent direct play got them a heart-breaking equalizer 3 minutes from full time. BCS pushed for the winner, but the thin squad and humid heat took its toll and both teams were forced to settle for a point, leaving the league table unchanged.

In two weeks, after the Labor Day holiday, BCS XI will be back at their Fall home ground of Conway Park in Somerville for a 9am kick off against their old foes Ballers FC, which will surely not be lacking in entertainment.

Independiente FC: 0 BCS XI: 3 [May 14, 2011]

2011-05-14T22:13:00.004-04:00

BCS XI kept up their winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Independiente in this week's BSSL action. The match, played under the lights in Charlestown, marked the visitors' third consecutive triumph by three goals and moved them into fifth position in the table.

BCS got off to a dream start just a few minutes into the game. Receiving a ball from the defense, Joe turned well and, despite being off-balance, released Marco with a through-ball. The winger's speed took him beyond the defense and a cool finish beat the keeper to make the score 1-0. Independiente's confidence, however, did not appear shaken, and their talent and composure on the ball was evident throughout the match. They knocked the ball well around the back and through the midfield, but were unable to create much in the attacking third. BCS pressed and defended well, winning the ball back often but failing to maintain any serious possession.

Despite a lack of consistent possession, BCS was again on the score sheet before halftime, and again through Marco. This time, Andy Hoot launched a ball deep into the corner, with the Independiente keeper racing out to head clear. Unfortunately for him, he knocked the ball straight to Marco, who gleefully stroked home a left-footed finish to make the score 2-0.

In the second half, as Independiente tired, BCS had numerous counter-attack opportunities. The home teams' lone center-back found himself isolated time and time again, as Adam, Marco, and Stu consistently raced forward. After strong defending meant numerous half-chances went begging, Stu broke through on a 60-yard run before his finish from a tight angle glanced in off the keeper and into the net to finish the scoring.

New signing Janny, playing his first game for the club and putting in a strong performance, almost grabbed his first goal for the club as Steve Houdlette raced forward and delivered a perfect cross into the box. But, with the rain now falling, Janny couldn't quite connect with his half-volley, and the scoreline finished 3-0.

It's always nice to play a game against our classy cross-town rivals. This was a great result for BCS and should provide some much-needed momentum as they prepare for their 2nd-round cup match against 2nd-division Mass United (formerly Carico) on Saturday, May 21st.

A special mention is owed first to Matt Schiller, who played his last game for the club on Saturday. His speed, tenacity, experience, and positive attitude will be greatly missed, and we wish him the best as he pursues his education at Stanford starting in the fall. The club would also like to extend its best wishes to keeper Dave Doucette, who is currently recovering from an injury suffered late last week. Get well soon, Dave, and we'll look forward to seeing you back out on the field!

Kendall Wanderers C: 1 BCS XI: 4 [May 7, 2011]

2011-05-12T11:52:00.000-04:00

This week’s league fixture was a rematch of the previous week’s cup encounter against Kendall Wanderers C. The game was played on a warm, sunny day at Ceylon Park in Dorchester. Despite the change in venue, the result was similar, with BCS ending up 4-1 winners.

The away team got off to a strong start, opening the scoring within five minutes. Darren started things with a through-ball to Marco, who did well to wait for support and slide the ball across the box to Adam, who fired home from close range. As the half continued, the weather began to take its toll, with both teams looking tired and the level of play somewhat deteriorating. BCS created several more half-chances, but nothing clear-cut, and the half ended 1-0.

In the second half, BCS XI’s strength in numbers seemed to pay off as their substitutes helped keep legs fresh. Stu took control of the midfield, and helped create the game’s second goal. He fought for enough space to release Marco with a through ball, whose touch and speed helped him separate from the Kendall centerbacks before coolly slotting past the keeper. It was a critical goal to help settle the tie, and well worth the yellow card he received for excessive celebration.

Stu was involved again soon after, heading in the third goal off a long throw from Andy Hoot, who himself did well to win a penalty but then blazed it over the crossbar. Then, to round out the scoring, Adam scored his first brace for the club, exceeding his goal production for the entirety of last season. Despite the 4-0 hole, Kendall kept their heads up and pulled a goal back, finishing from a tight angle at the far post to make the final score 4-1.

BCS XI next take the field in league action against Independiente on May 14th. The game will be played under the lights at Charlestown High School.

Kendall Wanderers C: 0 BCS XI: 3 [April 30, 2011] 1st round of McKenzie Cup

2011-04-30T22:47:00.001-04:00

BCS XI returned to the field on Saturday, April 30th to take on Kendall Wanderers C in Waltham, with the teams scheduled to meet again the following week in league play. This match represented the first round of the BSSL's cup competition, renamed last year as the McKenzie Cup. Both teams were struggling for results in the 3rd Division and were eager for a confidence-boosting win. In the end, BCS XI came out 3-0 winners and will advance to play Mass United FC (formerly Carico) in the second round on May 21st. This fixture will be a replay of last year's first round matchup.

BCS started the match strongly by applying high pressure on the Kendall defense, not allowing the home team to string together passes or penetrate the BCS defense. Offensively, BCS moved the ball well across the back line and through the middle, but struggled at first to make their possession pay off. With Ramo directing from the sidelines, frequent substitutions were made to ensure energy levels stayed high and the team executed its game plan.

Midway through the first half, BCS broke the deadlock. Beginning with a mis-placed pass from the Kendall centerback, Darren played a one-time ball to Matt, who flicked it on to Joe. Joe did well to out-muscle the centerback and shield off the goalie before laying it back to Matt, who finished well from the top of the box to make the score 1-0.

The BCS defense held strong throughout the first half, with Kendall rarely threatening in the attacking third. Brad and Andy Hoot anchored the defense and made numerous well-timed interceptions and tackles. On offense, BCS continued to apply pressure, with overlapping runs from Nathan and Andy Vesper proving especially dangerous. The visitors' best chance to double their advantage came when Nathan whipped in a cross from the right-wing which found Matt's run, but he was unable to direct his header on frame. The halftime whistle shortly sounded, with the score still 1-0.

Throughout the second half, BCS continued to maintain the majority of possession and make threatening runs into the box. Adam did well to maintain possession and play in the wingers, while Marco made mazy runs into the box and would have scored if not for an excellent recovering interception from the Kendall fullback. Logan, running onto a ball inside the box was taken down from behind in an NFL-style tackle while the referee swallowed his whistle. Numerous corners and crosses into the 18 resulted in half-chances, but BCS still couldn't find a second goal. On the other end, the defense endured several nervous moments as Kendall threatened to score on several occasions, but Dave and the defenders did enough to maintain the clean sheet.

The game was finally settled with less than 15 minutes to go. Joe pulled the ball back from near the end-line, with Marco dummying to leave it for Darren, who calmly laced the ball into the side netting from the top of the 18. With the game finally killed off, nerves appeared much calmer, and BCS was soon at it again. Josh, who had previously come close to scoring with a fine header off a corner kick, capped the scoring with an excellent shot from outside the box; he chipped the ball into the far post, top corner, kissing the underside of the crossbar giving the keeper no chance. Stu also went close with a driven free kick from 30 yards.

BCS will look to maintain their momentum in the cup in three weeks when they take on Mass United FC, while both BCS and Kendall will look forward to their matchup in the league next week. Based on the intensity and quality demonstrated in Waltham, it is sure to be a hard-fought match. Best of luck to both teams on May 7th.

BCS XI: 0 Harvard Medical: 2 [April 23, 2011]

2011-04-23T22:42:00.013-04:00

Coming off of 2 straight losses BCS XI was looking to right the ship at home for the second week in a row. However, they were handed another loss, and another scoreless game.

It was a hard fought match that was fairly even except for goal tally. Neither team created many chances, but Harvard Medical was able to put theirs away when the XI couldn't.

Best just to look ahead to next week's McKenzie Cup match in hopes of moving on to the 2nd round. BCS will be facing off against Kendall Wanderers C for the first time in two consecutive weeks.

BCS XI: 0 OHP Gunners: 1 [April 16, 2011]

2011-04-16T23:23:00.000-04:00

BCS XI returned to their home field on a windy, chilly day to take on the Gunners. It was a hard-fought, well-contested game, with neither team creating many clear chances or registering many shots on target. Gunners dominated possession throughout the first half, but were generally unable to break down the BCS defense, who maintained their shape and soaked up the pressure well. Neither team came particularly close to scoring, and the half ended scoreless.

The second half was much more even in terms of possession, with BCS creating several decent chances to score. In the end, however, Gunners' ball movement and creativity paid off, and they scored with a well-struck shot from just outside the 18. BCS pressed hard in the closing part of the game, but were unable to level the score, with a 1-0 result the final.

Ballers FC: 2 BCS XI: 1 [April 9, 2011]

2011-04-09T21:26:00.001-04:00

A long way from home out in Lancaster, MA BCS XI found themselves without their starting keeper and only 3 of their regular defenders, one of whom was filling in between the sticks. Jordan got the chance to show his keeper skills while Vesper got to fill in as a right back. Most of the rest of the roster stayed the same. Though we did finally get our first look of the teams final signing Ramo. [more to come on all the new signings]

The game kicked off late because the fields schedule them so tightly that by the time we got to our scheduled 3pm kick off they were about 20 minutes shifted. The XI warmed up on an adjacent field and were ready to go the moment the earlier game ended. The game began with a nervy start and neither team keeping great possession or creating many chances. This continued on through the first half. BCS really couldn't find their rhythm and the chemistry seemed to be off, though luckily the same could be said about the home team who have been a strong, offensive threat in years past.

The second half began, still 0-0 but saw BCS trying a different formation with 3 strong center mids of Darren, Stu and Josh and Marco, Adam and Chika up top, and the same back 4 of Hoot, Nathan, Houdlette and Vesper. This formation seemed to help create more attack and there were more chances in and around the 18 yard box. However, the unfamiliarity with the formation left some holes, especially on the defensive end. Finally the attacking pressure paid off and Marco working his way towards the goal on the left side found himself taken down in the box, and Joe stepping up and cooly slotting home the penalty shot for a 1-0 lead.

The lead didn't last as long as hoped and through some of the confusion of changing formations and defensive miscues BCS gave away a free kick in a dangerous area just outside the box. A large wall guarded the front post, yet somehow the Ballers player placed the ball into the back of the net leveling the scores at 1-1, with about 15 minutes to go.

A little more than 5 minutes later, the referee made yet another poor decision of some phantom foul, giving Ballers another free kick from about the same angle as the first, but about 8 yards back. The referee caused further confusion with some allegations that he had incorrectly signaled for it to be an indirect kick, and instructing BCS players to move away from the ball. His actions suggested he was getting the kick set up with the wall having 10 yards etc, however the Ballers player decided to take the kick quickly during the confusion and placed it right into the same part of the net as the previous goal. The BCS sideline was furious about the call, and the manner of the goal just added insult to injury.

Referee decisions figured heavily in this match with some yellow cards not appearing and others coming as quite a shock. Ballers contested that a shot of their from distance hit the crossbar and bounced down into the goal before being cleared by the BCS defense, and no goal given. For the XI there were shouts of handball on the goal line when Joe, in the midst of a crowd, kicked the ball right toward goal, and a Ballers player on the ground seemed to lift his hand to block the ball away.

So, while there was frustration by both sides about the poor referring BCS XI really should have played their game and put it to bed sooner. It's tough to give up a lead, and even harder to lose in the manner that it happened. However, lessons will be learned and certainly the XI will bounce back strong, next week at home, against the cross town rivals OHP Gunners.

BCS XI: 3 Inter Boston FC: 0 [April 2, 2011]

2011-04-02T18:04:00.011-04:00

BCS XI kicked off the 2011 season this Saturday, April 2nd, at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville. Having gained promotion last year and coming off an 11-game unbeaten run in competitive fixtures, the team was full of confidence but aware that the competition would be much stiffer this season. Their first opponent in the 3rd Division was Inter Boston FC, who finished seventh in the table last season but were just two points off of fifth.

As play got underway, neither team maintained lengthy spells of possession. Inter Boston seemed happy to work the ball around the back, but the BCS front line, led by Joe and Marco, put them under constant pressure. Behind them, the midfield and defense were well organized, and quickly won back any balls played into the BCS defensive half. On attack, the BCS tempo was quick, stringing few passes together before targeting the strikers. The play wasn't always pretty, but resulted in numerous half-chances and several corners during the opening 15 minutes of play.

The opening goal of the season came in somewhat fortuitous fashion. Good work down the right wing by Andy Vesper ended with the ball being cleared to Logan, who laid it off to debutant Jordan. The left back tried his luck from 30 yards, sending a powerful shot on target. The goalie was able to get in front of it, but the ball sneaked through his hands and over the line to give BCS a 1-0 lead.

BCS remained on top throughout the rest of the first half. They went close to doubling the lead several times, with the midfielders and strikers looking sharp and combining well in the attacking half. The Inter goalie made up for his previous mistake by diving low to save Darren's shot from the bottom-left corner, which Dave then matched in the BCS net by pushing a backwards header from his own defender just around the post. The BCS keeper had little else to do, with Brad, Steve, Jordan, Nathan, and James all playing well across the back-line to snuff out the Inter attack.

With the ice melted from the pitch for the second half, the play looked livelier and both teams were better able to string passes together. Inter began to shake some rust off and show their quality, and they began to keep the ball in the attacking half for sustained periods. They did well to break into the box on several occasions, but BCS was able to thank poor finishing and a couple fine stops from Dave for keeping Inter from scoring. With 65 minutes gone, BCS still looked a little shaky when Joe popped up to make the score 2-0 and put the game out of reach. Lurking outside the box, the striker pounced quickly to shoot from 25 yards and curl his effort just inside the top-left corner of the goal. The keeper had no chance, with the strike's power and placement making it untouchable.

Joe's effort seemed to take the wind out of Inter's sails, and BCS continued to threaten while not looking especially troubled at the back. Joe dropped into midfield to partner Josh, who put in an excellent display on his debut for the club, with Adam and Marco continuing to cause problems up front. Adam, who had previously been denied by a fine point-blank save from the Inter keeper, controlled well in front of goal and finished strongly to get off the mark for the season and make the score 3-0. Inter closed the game with a couple decent chances, including a free-kick that sailed just over the bar, but the home team's clean sheet remained in tact.

BCS XI are top of the table after this first round of fixtures and look forward to carrying their momentum into their next match, away at Ballers FC, on April 9th in Lancaster.

We would especially like to highlight the contribution of three of our new signings - Jordan, Josh, and Marco - who all turned in excellent performances and demonstrated why we were so eager to add them to the roster this season. It's clear they will all be valuable members of the team, and we also look forward to seeing our fourth new signing - Ramo - on the pitch after he recovers from his ankle injury.

Friendlies and Forward

2011-03-27T18:22:00.001-04:00

The preseason ended with a loss to the quick footed boys from out West. The new Division 4 team MetroWest FC came back from being down at the half to a few quick goals and a flattering score line.

The next week BCS XI lined up against old friends, newly promoted to Division 1, Groton House. Because of a scheduling conflict the field at Charlestown High was not available for this one, and a game time exodus saw both teams relocating to the field at Magazine Beach. The wind off the Charles River kept the ground frozen until well into the second half. This game was pretty even and a single goal scored separated the teams on the day.

Suffering two losses has not deterred the resolve of the strengthened XI and the preseason games served well in getting a good look at trialists and some new signings. Coach Joe was able to reassess tactics and formations based on the new players and feels confident in the preparations made for the home opener against Inter Boston FC. Check back on the site for more information on the new signings and the match report after the up coming clash.

Upcoming Pre-Season Friendlies

2011-03-18T10:40:00.003-04:00

Saturday March 19 will be the first match for BCS XI in 2011. Charlestown, MA at 8am the team will be facing off against newcomers MetroWest Football Club who will be playing their first year in BSSL. MWFC played their first game last week against Div1 opposition The Playwright and fell by a pretty hefty margin. Though, they will sure have their feet under them the more they play together. While MWFC is coming into the Saturday's game with a week's more experience on the year, they lack the overall experience and chemistry that BCS XI showed at the end of 2010. The XI have kept much of the previous year's squad together and are looking to start strong in 2011, however this first friendly match will feature a number of players on trial, so the full benefit of that chemistry might not be seen.

So, with at least one new signing and a handful of hopefuls BCS XI looks to continue their form of the previous year and get everyone back to match fitness.

Manager Joe Adu, is also working out details of another friendly for the following week against some possibly stiffer competition. There could be some inter-league action if things work out and the XI step onto the field versus a team from the Mass State Soccer League.

Spring Schedule

2011-03-01T11:52:00.011-05:00

The league finally released the 2011 season schedule to the managers, and will be posting on their own site some time in the near future. It seemed appropriate to get a jump on things and post a bit about our Spring games. Once again, BCS XI will be playing Spring Home games at Dilboy Stadium; these fine facilities have served the club very well.

March
19 - Pre-Season Friendly vs Metrowest Football Club - 1:00pm at Hillside School, 404 Robin Hill Road, Marlborough
MWFC is a new club in BSSL starting out in div4. They look to be a very organized club that will likely translate to a solid performance on the pitch. BCS XI has been in discussion with multiple clubs about pre-season games, but the MWFC game is currently the only one scheduled. Keep an eye on the calendar for more updates.

April
2 - Home vs Inter Boston FC - 9:00 am at Dilboy Stadium
9 - Away at Ballers FC
16 - Home vs OHP Gunners - 1:30 pm at Dilboy Stadium
23 - Home vs Harvard Medical - 9:00 am at Dilboy Stadium
30 - Cup game, Away to Kendall Wanderers C

May
7 - Away to Kendall Wanderers C
14 - Away to Independiente FC
21 - 2nd round of McKenzie Cup [win on April 30 means facing Kendall A or rematch with Carico]

June
4 - Home vs Eagles - 1:30 pm at Dilboy Stadium
11 - Away to Zoinks FC
18 - Away to The Druids

Annual BSSL Meeting

2011-02-01T18:19:00.003-05:00

A cold night in Wellesley saw the Bay State Soccer League administrators and team managers meet up for all the important business for 2011. By-law changes were proposed and ratified. And the elections resulted with BCS XI Presdent Logan Wangsgard as the Division 2 director. Obviously the team will still be playing in Division 3, but the way the elections worked out the open position in Division 2 made more sense to fill. So, congratulations to Logan and best of luck with your new duties in helping the league run smoothly.

Another important event at the meeting was the McKenzie Cup draw. The XI will face off against the recently relegated [to Div3] Kendall Wanderers C team. Another interesting storyline could happen if BCS advances to the next round where they would be up against the Kendall A team, or more excitingly last year's cup opponent Carico FC. The possible rematch in the 2nd round may be complicated as Carico is currently struggling with internal issues and may not be returning to the league for 2011.

All in all the meeting was important and successful both for the league and the team, as BCS XI strengthened current ties and started new relationships with other team managers. All of this will help the club grow and prepare for the upcoming season through inter-squad practices and friendlies.

2011 is looking good for the XI

2011-01-31T15:33:00.003-05:00

After a very successful 2010, BCS XI is poised for a strong 2011. The majority of the squad is staying on for another year, while the team looks to add a few more players to strengthen the starting XI along with more depth. There are a number of interested players, who are very talented, which will make final decisions very tricky for those in charge.

Some members of the squad are keeping fit and getting their touches in during weekly futsal games. This will surely help the team to hit the ground running when the Bay State Soccer League kicks off in mid April.

Check back later as the Annual League meeting will be held on January 31 and BCS XI will find out who their competition will be in the McKenzie Cup this year. Last year's match against Division 1 side Carico FC, was one of the most exciting and well played games of the year.

In the mean time BCS XI officers are working on setting up pre-season friendlies and other opportunities to tune up while checking out the competition.

2010 BCS XI Awards Ceremony

2010-12-11T23:20:00.015-05:00

Once again BCS XI gathered at Courtside Restaurant and Pub for a special event. This is a great spot in East Cambridge where they're always happy to accommodate the team. The award ceremony was a bit low key, but also a really enjoyable time for all in attendance. We even had a member of our youth team there with us. There was a good turnout to applaud the award winners and revel in the glory of our first year gaining promotion in the Bay State Soccer League. It was a fun time reliving moments from past games and looking forward to next season. 2011 should be even better for the XI.

Photos and more after the jump.

The awards handed out were:

Midfielder of the Year

Golden Boot

Our player coach, Joe Adu, really showed us how to do it this year with a team high 12 goals capturing the Golden Boot in style. Not only did our on-field captain, Darren Johnson, score more goals this year, but he kept us organized and motivated and was clearly missed when unable to play.

Outstanding Contribution

Defender of the Year

Brad Rawson had a tough first season with the team battling through injuries. He remained healthy through the 2010 season and it showed. His performance on the backline really helped solidify one of the best defenses in the league. Our midseason signing, Anirudha 'Chika' Vaghmare, proved to be a smart pick up by garnering his Outstanding Contribution award for a high goals per game average.

Most Improved

Tim Fleck had a strong first season with BCS XI as a winger, though it was in 2010 when played as an outside back that Tim really came into his own. Still willing to push forward, Tim's engine always allowed him to get back for some strong tackles.

Here's the whole group of award winners, well done boys.

2010 BSSL Awards

2010-11-20T18:06:00.008-05:00

Thanks to a strong finish BCS XI ended the year as Div 4 runner up and worthy of a bit of hardware from the league.

It appeared that we had the most support of any team at the event today, continuing to show how dedicated this group is; truly a top class organization.

The presentation itself got a bit of a slow start, and after applauding the MSSL trophy winners it was time for BSSL. Being the runners up of the bottom division we started things off. Our name was announced, the trophy was handed over with a handshake and that was about it. BSSL President Brendan Bartley continued in rapid fire succession through the rest of the divisions. Then after things were seemingly over Brendan went over to each of the division winners with the larger trophies which belong to the league and will have the names of the division winners engraved on them. It seemed a bit odd to just do this sort of after the fact instead of during the actual presentation; these are the large, more impressive trophies and they were treated more like an afterthought. For whatever reason Brendan seemed to be abandoned by the rest of the league leadership. There was definitely more of an event last year, but it was good to actually be recognized this year for our outstanding play.

The awards came during half-time of the Liverpool-West Ham game which was a bit of a disappointment for some, and some encouraging sights for others. Regardless of the Premier League result it was a good time for all involved hanging out together at the Lansdowne Pub.

The Druids: 2 BCS XI: 4 [Nov 13, 2010]

2010-11-13T16:06:00.000-05:00

BCS XI took on The Druids in Waltham for their final game of the 2010 BSSL season. Each team had already secured promotion to the 3rd Division, with The Druids having clinched first place and BCS XI second, so this game didn't mean much on paper. But, it provided an opportunity for the best two clubs in the 4th Division to display some classy soccer and to end the season with a victory. The match didn't lack action or excitement, with six goals and a red card resulting in a 4-2 BCS XI victory.

The quality of the sides was evident from the kick-off, with both teams confident on the ball and strong in possession. The Druids had a couple early giveaways in the back which led to half-chances, but BCS was unable to capitalize. The Druids repeatedly attacked with long-balls and by swinging in crosses from out wide, but the BCS defense repeatedly cleared the danger. Unable to break through from live play, Druids struck first on a corner kick, with their attacker rising highest at the far post to head back across goal into the side netting.

Down a goal, it didn't take BCS XI long to even things up. Solid build-up play earned a corner, which Joe took and swung over the keeper's head. It struck the far post and Matt played the rebound across goal, where Darren was on hand to head home the equalizer from close range. With the game tied again, Druids continued to press, and soon re-gained their lead with a shot from the top of the 18, just beating stand-in keeper Ye.

Yet again BCS XI responded with an equalizer. Druids were penalized for their goalie handling a back-pass after a scramble in the box. The call was much disputed by the Druid players and it really could have gone either way. After the referee got things in order, Darren tapped the indirect free-kick to Joe, who expertly picked his target to shoot low through the legs of the onrushing defenders. The rest of the half was scoreless, so the sides went into the half tied 2-2.

The Druids had most of the possession in the second half, but they were unable to find the net. Struggling to pick apart the defense, they settled for shots from distance. Ye made several great saves, but the majority of shots were well off target. BCS XI, on the other hand, made the most of their opportunities. Joe took a free kick which rebounded high off the wall and came down awkwardly for the Druids keeper. He kept the shot out of goal but pushed it right to Adam, who finished from close range to score the winner and his first goal of the season.

Adam was then involved in an incident which saw a Druids player sent off for a blatant, violent shove, directly in front of the referee. This being the Druids' third red card of the season, and second against BCS XI, the action cost them a three-point deduction in the table. But, even with ten men, Druids continued to push hard, and it was clear a one-goal lead wasn't safe. Fortunately, Chika did well to earn himself a breakaway, which he finished to seal the game at 4-2 with about 5 minutes left before being dragged off the field due to cramp.

Credit to both teams for playing one of the highest quality and most entertaining matches the 4th Division has seen this year. Each team demonstrated the quality that has led to their promotion, and they look forward to meeting each other again next year in the 3rd Division.

Top Star Tickets: 0 BCS XI: 5 [Oct 23, 2010]

2010-10-23T23:00:00.002-04:00

BCS XI came to this game with second place and promotion locked up. There was no possibility of moving up or down in the standings, but we still came dedicated to finishing this season strongly. Nearly all of our squad had arrived an hour early for pre-game warm-ups. Unfortunately, the same could not have been said about our opponent TopStarTickets, who were possibly mired by the certainty of finishing in the bottom half of the bracket and did not even have seven players ready to play until 10 minutes past the scheduled start of the match.

The match began with BCS XI fielding 11 against TopStar's 7, but started out at a somewhat casual pace. However, the intensity gradually picked up and some quick passing from Joe and Armand found Chika open on the far post for an early goal. It was the only goal that we scored before TopStar came up to full strength with players trickling in throughout the first 20 minutes of the game. Our second goal came from an incredible strike, driven hard from 25 yards out and off the right post by Andy Vesper.

We ended the shortened half at 2-nil. Both halves were reduced to 35 minutes due to the late start and the tightly booked referees refusing to let us play longer.

The second half scoring began with a free kick that Logan took quickly right over to Darren who chipped the defender back to Logan who made a spectacular effort by keeping the play alive in the box, and finding the space to lob a very tight angle shot almost over the keeper, who could only palm the ball down into the feet of Stu who finished on the far post. Chika nearly had a second goal on the day, but his effort struck the post and the ball rolled down the line, toward Logan only to be disastrously mis-cleared by a TopStar defender, who rebounded it off his teammate and straight back into the net. Matt capped off the scoring by netting the fifth and final goal with a left-footed, amazing half volley .

We firmly controlled this match, with Darren and Vesper dominating in the midfield. We put up a solid defense, anchored by Nathan and Ian at center back, with support from James, Hoot and Ye out wide. Our keeper Dave remarked that it was one of the easiest clean sheets that he has kept, but he certainly put in his work today by grabbing up loose balls and even taking a couple of collisions from a TopStar striker that didn't seem to know when to stop. This is the eighth clean sheet out of the 18 matches this year. There's no doubt that Dave made a great contribution this season in making that possible.

Well done, BCS XI. It was a great team display. Let's extend this great momentum through the last two games of the season and into Division 3!

BCS XI: 3 Commoners: 0 [Oct 16, 2010]

2010-10-16T23:08:00.000-04:00

BCS XI came into today's game with the Commoners knowing that, after consecutive wins over the table-topping Druids and third-placed DC Alliance, a win would mathematically secure promotion to Division 3 of the BSSL. Despite missing several key contributors, the team used this motivation to defeat the Commoners on a cold and windy day at Conway, cruising to a 3-0 victory.

The home team came out of the blocks strong, with the first chance falling to Matt just five minutes in, but the Commoners' keeper made a brave stop. BCS created several more half-chances, with the wingers putting in some good crosses and earning a couple corners. Some nifty possession finally paid off, with Darren releasing Chika with a lengthy through-ball. Chika still had plenty of work to do, but an excellent finish to the far post made it 1-0.

Throughout the first half, the BCS defense held strong, anchored by Brad and Steve in the center, with Ian, Tim, and James all holding strong out wide. The only shots Commoners were able to create came from distance, with Dave making several solid stops.

As BCS had thrown away a 1-0 lead the last time these teams met, the home team knew a single-goal lead wasn't safe. Stu came close to extending the lead, but his blast from close range following an indirect free kick in the box was blocked well. Before Commoners could really clear their lines, however, Armand and Andrew kept the ball alive on the top of the box, enabling Darren to control with his chest before holding off a defender and blasting past the keeper from 10 yards out. Up 2-0, the game seemed safe, but Chika's second goal near the end of the first half put the result beyond doubt.

Although BCS continued to create chances in the second half, the score remained 3-0. Stu especially made several strong runs into the box, but the Commoners' central defender was stellar, making numerous goal-saving tackles. More importantly, the BCS defense continued to hold strong, keeping yet another clean sheet.

Congratulations to the team for the excellent result, and especially for securing promotion to Division 3! It's been a fantastic season thus far, which we will continue on October 23rd against Top Star Tickets in Quincy.

D.C. Alliance: 1 BCS XI: 4 [Oct 9, 2010]

2010-10-09T20:18:00.001-04:00

It was a big game with both teams vying for the second promotion spot; the three point swing would be a huge advantage for either team in their competing bids for promotion.

The game started late at D.C. Alliance's home field with the home team remaining short a man or two throughout the match. Taking advantage of the man-advantage and particularly wide field, BCS XI attacked down the flanks to spread Alliance's defense. This strategy paid off midway through the first half, when Chika found the opening to send in a low-cross from the left for Ian, who calmly finished to put XI ahead 1-0. We kept a clean sheet through the first half. Ian, assigned to man-mark, completely shutdown Alliance's main attacking threat. Alliance found a few opportunities to strike in the first half, but were forced to shoot wide or saved by excellent coverage from keeper Dave.

We began the second half hungry for more, not fully satisfied with the 1-0 lead and feeling that we should have firmer control over this game. Early on into the second half, newcomer Drew doubled our lead to 2-0. However, mere moments later off the restart, we conceded a penalty to bring the margin back down to 2-1. We didn't let that setback shake our determination, and midway through the second half, Drew found the net again, regaining our 3-1 margin. Alliance didn't let that dampen their spirits and only pressed harder attempting to improve their result in this crucial game. We were able to capitalize on this to create one more goal, with a lofted through ball sending Stu free down the center to slot past the goalie, setting the final result at 4-1. Alliance created a few more solid chances, turning our defense to find opportunities to shoot on goal, but great saves and coverage from Dave kept it from being a closer game.

Well done, XI! Excellent work in executing the game plan, and fighting with persistence for the full 90 minutes. These 3 points go far in our bid for promotion. One more win or tie in the remaining four games sends us to Division 3.

BCS XI: 2 The Druids: 1 [Oct 2, 2010]

2010-10-02T21:23:00.004-04:00

Big match day, as teams are beginning to count points coming into the season’s home stretch. Weather forecasts during the week had called for inches of rain, and the low-lying grass pitch at Conway Park would quickly become unplayable if the storm delivered as expected. But the sky was clear on Saturday morning, and we assembled our battered and bruised squad for a shot at the division-leading Druids.

Our opponents were slow to arrive at the pitch, while our side was able to get a decent warmup in. We started the match with a three-man advantage, and had few if any moral qualms about pushing the attack. After all, a berth in Division 3 is on the line.

We quickly settled into a perimeter-oriented attack, pushing the ball through markers Tim and Hoot to wingers Logan and Armand. Several early chances materialized this way, with the lads getting to the endline and serving across the box. Around the tenth minute, Armand fed Hoot on an overlapping run down the right flank, and Hoot’s long service snuck through the beleaguered Druid back line to find Adam Palencia free on the back post. Adam calmly deposited it in the back of the onion bag for an early 1-0 lead. [Edit: Adam later revealed that the ball had actually crossed the line before he was able to reach it, thus making it an own goal credited against a Druid defender who mis-cleared the ball]

Only a few minutes later, Joe gained control at the top of the box and struck with a wicked right foot from fifteen yards, beating the Druid keeper on his far post. Two goals up on the league leaders with only about 20 minutes gone – we’ll take it, even if the tallies came with a man (or three) advantage.

Druid reinforcements were arriving, and the flow of the match quickly balanced out. Our defense was turned once or twice, but solid hustle from Tim, Ye and James and good range from Dave Doucette kept any real threats from materializing. Palencia was dropped in the box (sans penalty call) and reopened some old stitches on his head, resulting in a stealth run to the local hospital. We absorbed a bit of pressure to finish the half, but brought our 2-nil lead into the locker room.

We got some reinforcement of our own in the form of Stu, who teamed with Joe up top to terrorize the Druid back line. The two strikers were able to carve through the defense nearly at will, but we weren’t able to convert. Around the sixty-fifth minute, a long clearance snuck through our defense and turned us. In the resulting confusion, our opponents got away with a rather sloppy inside-outside combination and slipped past us for a goal.

The goal served to refocus us, and the BCS boys began winning 50-50 challenges all over the park. Steve Irwin, Steve Houdlette and Andrew Macurdy re-established our rhythm through the midfield, resulting in some creative play. Both sides generated a couple more chances, but nothing of major substance. When the referee blew the final whistle, we had knocked off the number one side in Division 4, a team that had torched us earlier in the campaign. Well done XI!

Chimpo Dragons: 0 BCS XI: 0 [Sept 25, 2010]

2010-09-25T23:23:00.008-04:00

We started out the match with a bit of a disadvantage—12 men on a hot and very humid day, and after Darren's hamstring injury, we were down to no subs for the last 75 minutes or so. We were missing 5 center midfielders or center backs, so a lot of people stepped into new positions. Even so, we moved the ball well and played with a lot of confidence, probably more confidence than our oppenents. Chimpo Dragons had a lot of speed and size, but they rarely challenged 1 on 1, so our defense was able to contain them, with a lot of key help from midfielders checking back. Talk between the back line and the midfielders was key in plugging holes and limiting the Dragons' chances to hard shots from outside the penalty area and one touch shots from long balls. Even so, they took some good shots, and we could easily have been playing down a goal or two without some spectacular saves by Dave.

On offense we played some good through balls and had some breakaways, but alas, their keeper was solid. He had some good saves, and did not make any mistakes that we could capitalize on, and the score was still 0-0 at the final whistle. Jan played in a new position and with a back injury, but you wouldn't have known it from the intensity he brought as a striker. Of course, we hoped to start our fall half better than 1-0-3 (W-L-T), but we played hard and kept going despite fatigue. Congratulations to Dave for a superb shutout, and kudos to the rest of the team as well for a great effort.

BCS XI: 5 Top Star Tickets: 1 [Sept 18, 2010]

2010-09-18T21:52:00.007-04:00

BCS XI arrived to the inaugural match at the new Home field for the Fall surprised to see the infield diamonds of dirt in 2 corners of the field. Though, reservations were assuaged once the game began and the baseball dirt had little affect on the run of play. The game began fairly even, though once XI settled in the pressure was really on the visitors. TST began to give up more space and midway through the first half Stu found himself in on goal from a slick through ball from Jan and put the home side up 1-0. No more than 10 minutes later it was deja vu from Stu on the through ball slotted past the keeper for his brace and it's 2-0 with the home side cruising.

The second half started much like the previous half finished with BCS applying pressure on the visitors. Though TST managed to pick things up and start pushing back for their best spell of attack. There was a solid 10 minutes of BCS on the back foot though Top Star was unable to convert any of their chances despite testing Dave in goal a few times. The next goal game from new boy Chika showing a bit of individual skill takes on a defender 1v1 then with composure calmly places the ball under the keeper for his 2nd goal in 3 games and putting XI up 3-0. Speaking of individual skill the next goal was an audacious finish from Jan as he squarely connects with the ball to send it in the back of the net from his brilliant bicycle kick! Who would have thought you'd see such a goal in division 4 of the Bay State Soccer League?

Not to be outdone Stu, looking for his hat-trick, makes his next attempt on goal a bicycle of his own, though doesn't get enough on it to score like Jan did. The visitors were looking tired and downtrodden at this point and were giving up fouls from late, clumsy challenges. Joe finally made up for missing a goal mouth sitter by beating the keeper on the far post for his 9th of the season in all competitions. and putting the home side up 5-0. Despite the score line the visitors didn't give up and were rewarded with a soft goal from a ball that floated in after Dave parried away the initial shot back to the TST striker, who managed to loft one into the 6 yard box that ended up in the side netting.

In the end BCS XI would have been happier to keep the clean sheet, though the 5 goals make that an easier pill to swallow; especially since it could have easily been a few more. As the last of the players left the pitch, a raven alighted on the field from the trees above. The bird from the BCS XI crest could be taken as a good omen for the rest of the season, especially on home grass at Conway Park.

BCS XI: 1 D.C. Alliance: 1 [Sept 14, 2010]

2010-09-14T21:47:00.006-04:00

Great effort, good performance, tough result.

BCS XI went down early to a soft goal coming from a cross that virtually nobody got to until the DCA player bungled it in high in the air off his thigh. Joe snatched an equalizer off a rare header. This was not our best game, and the 6 words above pretty much sum it up.

Commoners: 1 BCS XI: 1 [Sept 11, 2010]

2010-09-11T20:31:00.003-04:00

BCS XI returned to action for the second half of the 2010 season with an away game to the Commoners. BCS hoped to solidify its hold on the second promotion position, while Commoners had their eye on leap-frogging D.C. Alliance into fourth place. BCS also welcomed three trialists to the game - Alex, Andy, and Chika - hopeful of making the fall roster. As the game kicked off, the teams couldn't have asked for better conditions, with the weather and the turf both excellent.

Implementing a new 4-2-3-1 formation, BCS started strong, combining well all over the field to maintain possession and press forward. Some good work down the left side resulted in a free kick, with Darren playing it to the far post and Chika finishing confidently, a great contribution in his first game. After the goal, BCS continued to press, with the attack looking sharp and the defense, anchored by Steve and Nathan, holding strong when needed. The continued pressure seemed to pay off again when BCS again had the ball in the back of the net, only for the goal to be called off by the linesman. Steve had lofted in a free kick, which Andrew laid back for Darren to volley home from 8 yards out. The linesman, however, rather mysteriously awarded Commoners a goal kick.

The linesman was again the focus of discussion after Joe made a great run to earn a one-on-one with the keeper, but the flag went up - the linesman had apparently not seen the right-sided defender, who kept Joe onside by a clear five yards. So, despite several corners and shots from distance, BCS had to be content with a 1-0 lead at halftime.

In the second half, BCS seemed to lose their organizational focus, with the central midfield struggling to maintain defensive shape, and the team lacking the composure on the ball that was pervasive in the first half. Commoners, on the other hand, came out with a renewed sense of purpose and belief. They substituted frequently, utilizing 20 players to maintain fresh legs as BCS tired. The home side had numerous half-chances, which finally paid off with an equalizer.

After the equalizer, BCS regained a bit of their first-half focus and energy. The game opened up during the last 15 minutes, with both sides pressing for a winner. BCS had the better opportunities, with several corners, scrambles in the box, and shots from range. In the end, however, it wasn't enough, with both sides settling for a hard-fought, well-spirited draw.

BCS returns to the pitch at Dilboy Stadium at 8PM on September 14th, while Commoners next face the table-topping Druids on September 18th.

Fall Season Preview

2010-09-09T22:56:00.000-04:00

The Summer has been unusually quiet, however we did have a friendly and have been contacted by some prospective players that we're taking a look at.

The schedule took forever to come out, and right when it did our first opponents asked to reschedule because they wouldn't have anyone around for the game. Annoyed, we agreed and and will now be playing that game at Dilboy Stadium at 8pm on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

We were looking forward to the next game on Sep. 11, but 3 days prior to the game we were informed that instead of the 9am kickoff we'd been planning on we are now expected to play at 5pm.

The time change has affected a few of our guys and so we'll be missing some that were planning on playing that morning. Hopefully things go well, and BCS XI comes out on top.

Upcoming Mid Season Friendly

2010-08-07T22:32:00.003-04:00

In 1 week, on the 14th, we will be facing off against some Div 2 competition to get ourselves back to match fitness. We met the guys from Groton House FC at the annual league meeting this past Winter. They were nice guys and we enjoyed cracking some jokes with them when the meeting really started to get stale.

This will certainly be a fun game against a solid squad. Hopefully we'll have enough guys to play!

Be sure to check the calendar for more upcoming events.

Revamped Crest for 2010

2010-07-27T14:32:00.001-04:00

Check at the above crest and see if you can spot the updates.

Top Star Tickets: 0 BCS XI: 7

2010-07-11T23:07:00.011-04:00

This game was originally scheduled for June 12 at the same time as the US-England World Cup match and both teams were happy to not play that day so we could watch, however TST struggled a bit more with our rescheduled game.

The game kicked off about 10-15 minutes after 10AM, because our opponents were lacking numbers - only about 6 of them were present at 10. Despite the sweltering heat, we proceeded with kickoff and BCS XI got off to a flying start. We didn't have any subs, but we did not really suffer the effects of that as we were playing against 9 men. We had a couple of open chances early on with Joe Adu beating the offside trap but was unable to round the keeper on both occasions. He'll probably chalk those up to a little rustiness and the heat. Soon after, Darren got hold of the ball right around midfield and unleashed a low shot from about 25 yards out to the bottom-left corner of the goal. That one caught everyone by surprise, but shortly afterwards, Darren did it again. He intercepted a ball and lined up another well-driven shot to the very same location, beating the keeper on his weak side once again!

XI really dominated possession against our 9-man opponents and managed to create a few more chances that were missed. One came from some nice passing between Darren, Tim, Matt, and Ian, but Ian mis-timed his shot and the chance went dead. Another chance came from Nathan's well-taken corner that found Joe, but his rare header went well over the bar. Joe redeemed himself by running on to a bouncing ball on the break-away and lifting it beyond the onrushing keeper for his first of the game. Shortly after, center defender, Steve Houdlette ran onto a square pass and beat the keeper with a well-driven low shot to the right. The first half ended prematurely for Joe and Matt who suffered from light-headedness and a tweaked hamstring, respectively. The last 15 minutes of the half was played with 9 men on each side, but we still very much controlled the flow of the game with Darren coming close to a hat-trick when his seemingly goal-bound shot hit the post.

Given the heatwave and lack of a full squad for our opponents, we agreed with to shorten the second half to 35 minutes. The ref rightly showed Joe a yellow card upon returning onto the field for the second half, because Joe failed to inform any of the officials before going off the field to take shelter in the shade of the locker room. Unfortunately, Matt's hamstring injury prevented him from resuming his stellar performance in the game. Joe grabbed a quick goal to get things going in the second half after dispossessing the other team on the top-left corner of the box and curled a shot to the right corner of the goal. A few minutes later, the tireless Ian weaved his way through a few defenders and drove a shot to the left side of the goal. It was just reward for all his hard work. Another hardworking player who got a well-deserved goal in the game was our speedy winger, Andy Vesper, who scored with a long range shot to the right side of the goal. We had some more chances in the second half, with another well-taken corner from Nathan finding Joe's head, but the goal was ruled out, because Joe pushed his marker as he met the ball in the box. Another couple of chances saw Ian on the break-away, but was ruled offside.

Sam, who played his very last game in the BCS XI shirt, paired the very versatile Nathan in center mid during the second half and the two kept things very tidy in the middle. Darren swapped spots with Sam and kept goal, ensuring that we ended the game with a clean sheet, giving Sam a proper send-off. We used the last 15 minutes or so of the game to focus on our possession game with less emphasis on getting more goals. Our opponents outwardly expressed appreciation of this act of sportsmanship.

Special thanks to Joe for the match report. Well done Eleven.

Commoners: 0 BCS XI: 1

2010-06-05T23:52:00.000-04:00

Some match comments from players:

That was undoubtedly the most comprehensively gutsy display I've been a part of in a very long time for any team I've played on. I wasn't fully fit, we played a man down for a quarter of the game, we played at least 3 or 4 people out of their regular positions, AND we were without our starting keeper!

Obviously the odds were against us, but huddled together as a team, strategized, put aside our individual adversities, and played to win.

Under adversity, it's one thing to have a contingency plan, but effectively implementing that plan is an entirely different beast! It was our collective attitude that got us the win today. We were digging in for each other in a way that I hadn't seen before today, and when one person ran out of gas, another person hustled over to give a hand. Even under a five-minute spell of corner after corner when we were pinned in our own box, everyone was back defending and dividing the work - no one went to sleep today, despite being out of gas!

Towards the end of the game when things weren't going our way and I was starting to lose my head, I had multiple people call me out and get me to focus - thank you for the support!

It was only a 1-0 win, but a well-earned win against a strong team that worked us hard when they noticed our obvious challenges in numbers.

Great game to everyone today!

-Joe.

Watching it from the goal was quite impressive. Tons of ball movement and great passes under pressure. Great game overall.

-Sam

D.C. Alliance: 2 BCS XI: 1

2010-05-22T23:46:00.000-04:00

Last week’s loss was bad, this week’s… it’s hardly bearable. Losing two in a row is rough, losing at home is bad, and losing to a team that we’ve already beaten, that we know we should beat… surely we can find some positives here, right?

Things started off badly when we weren’t sure if we’d even have 11 guys to start the match. Joe left right before kickoff to pick up Owusu, who decided last minute that he would, in fact, play. Ben also showed up, after running an overnight race and helped fill in for guys when they needed a breather, we really appreciate his commitment and effort despite having such tired legs.

The whistle blew and we were on the back foot. They created a few chances and really pressed us for the first 5 minutes or so. We finally woke up and got our heads into the game and started to knock the ball around a bit and put it into their half. After a good spell Darren latched onto a ball just outside the 18 and put it in the back of the net, notching his first goal from the run of play for this season.

There were a couple of close chances from set plays before the end of the half where Logan couldn’t quite get enough on the header to put in on frame, though Darren’s delivery was inch perfect. Darren was involved again when he had a nearly identical header miss from Nathan’s corner kick.

The match was fraught with persistent fouling and one of the DCA guys finally got a red card. Taking us to the half up 1-0 and with a man advantage.

Apparently it isn’t really a man advantage since just like last game we struggled against 10 men. DCA got an equalizer then about 5 minutes from time Owusu brought down their winger in the box for a clear penalty. They’d been battling all game and before the penalty contact their man had been hacking at his ankles [enough to force him out for the rest of the game]. The penalty was well taken and they celebrated being up 2-1 with such little time to go. It proved to be too much and we walked away with our head’s in our hands.

Darren left for the airport at halftime and was dismayed to hear the final result, though I guess the positives to take away might be that this might have been the most dangerous we’ve looked from set plays all season...

BCS XI: 1 The Druids: 3

2010-05-15T23:44:00.000-04:00

Last week, despite the 3-1 score line we felt positive about our effort and hoped to duplicate that intensity and quality in this game; what we viewed as the biggest game of the season so far. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

We began the match well and it was pretty even; both teams going back and forth. Though in the latter part of the 1st half we made some mistakes and let in a goal. There was a fair amount of physical play going on and the referee was doing a good job of keeping things in check. After the goal things got a bit more chippy and the ref wisely stepped in and gave a deserved red card for violent conduct after one of the Druids tried to head butt Adam. This sent us into half time with a man advantage.

Because of some field reservation confusion we switched fields at the half, which only added to the confusion of a somewhat bizarre game. The second half became a bit more open in some ways and both teams were able to keep possession for a stretch. With a man down they played more compact and essentially had all 10 behind the ball in their own half. We finally managed to break them down and got Joe behind them from a through-ball.

The equalizer made it seem like things might be truly shifting in our favor and we carried the momentum to where Andy Vesper got taken down inside the box after cruising down the right flank to collect a long pass. The writing was on the wall, and we didn’t get the call [Andy later mentioned that the Ref claimed to play advantage… I’m pretty sure a penalty kick would have been a better advantage!!!]

A few minutes after our goal they managed a quick counter attack down the left side and got something from nothing, putting us back down 2-1. Our frustration compounded about 8 minutes from full time when we failed to make a tackle or get a foot on the ball amid a cluster of confusion and an off target shot deflected off of one of our own past Dave, who couldn’t have done anything to stop it.

Our first real loss of the season, and it was a bitter pill to swallow. They were the better team on the day, and despite the man advantage [who knows, maybe because of it] couldn’t ever get our act fully together and play like we know we can, even like we did the week before. Matters got worse with a number of injuries, including Joe straining his hip flexor during another through-pass breakaway, which put him out for the rest of the Spring.

Next week we’ll be back at home where we like to play, and will hopefully be able to turn things around.

New Signings for 2010

2010-05-12T20:30:00.018-04:00

It's a long time coming, but we should finally mention a bit more about our newest signings. They've clearly been contributing since half of our 8 goals have been scored by new guys.

Owusu Agyeman doubles our Ghanaian contingency and offers some real creativity for our attack. We picked this guy up over at MIT where he studies Mechanical Engineering. He's nearly impossible to knock off the ball and his perfectly weighted through passes have already set up a number of chances.

Next up would be our big man at the back, Dave Doucette is our newest netminder. This accomplished goalkeeper comes to us from years of playing indoor after being a keeper for UMass Amherst. Our defense has been pretty solid, however Dave has made some spectacular saves and makes us very glad we've got him on our team.

Darren finally convinced his overly busy friend to join us for this season. Andrew Macurdy occasionally takes breaks from the Harvard Law Review to play in our games. This tall center mid helps hold up the ball and distribute pinpoint passes with his great vision. We wish him well with his internship and can't wait to have him back for the Fall.

The next group of guys all found us by way of our website [I guess it's good for something.]

The first time Adam Palencia played with us was in a preseason friendly; he claimed to be rusty and out of shape but we could see there was real quality there. A great strike partner up top with Joe, Adam has also been doing a formidable job as an attacking center mid. He has created a significant number of chances and is a real threat inside the box.

Ian Pasek started coming to practices and showing us why we want him on the team. He's a strong defender and a competent striker. One of his greatest assets is his engine, the guy hustles around all over the place; it's great to have these kinds of guys on the team.

Our final offseason pickup, Andy Vesper, noticed our team after spending some time as a referee for BSSL; he decided he didn't want to waste his youth running just on the sideline. So, after one preseason game we knew he'd be a strong contributor, and already with a goal and MOTM award it's clear that we were right.

BCS XI: 1 Carico FC: 3

2010-05-08T20:04:00.001-04:00

We were very excited to finally take part in the McKenzie Cup, named for Ucal McKenzie, and get to play against his former team and latest cup winners, Carico FC. From all accounts they are one of the best teams in the Bay State Soccer League and most people probably expected us to get crushed. We feel that the game was even closer than the scoreline suggests. They were the better team, no doubt, but we did not roll over; we stood up and competed.

It was a gray, rainy day and the start was delayed a few minutes because of a lightning strike 30 minutes prior, which gave the head ref and the slowly arriving Carico time to assemble. We started the game with defensive tactics in mind and it paid off. We were organized, composed and doing a great job communicating with one another on the field. We know doubt surprised everyone, perhaps even ourselves when on a counter attack, Owusu slotted a through pass to Joe who got past their defense and delivered a low strike to the far post past the keeper. 1-0 to the underdogs!

It felt great to get a goal, and especially to score first. We deserved it as we had been playing well and moving the ball around. We continued with this kind of play through most of the half. Every one of our boys on the field was playing smart, intense soccer. Through some great defensive play including some nice saves by our keeper Dave we managed to hold them off for most of the half, though they definitely had some chances coming from good crosses and close headers. We felt a bit unlucky when Carico lined up a free kick about 20-25 yards out on the left side and sort of bungled the ball across the line after a good delivery.

After they equalized we had another great chance from our own free kick given about 10 yards inside their half, which Darren took quickly. We caught them off guard and Joe once again was through their defense and sent a similar shot toward goal, but didn't manage to get quite the same power on it and the keeper made the save. It was a close one that we all thought was going in, but we settled to go into the break level at 1-1.

We started the second half much like we'd done in the first, but after about 10 minutes we fell into a lull. We just seemed to lack the intensity that had been there before and it was during this time that Carico took the lead for the first time in the match. A low shot from distance was tough for Dave to keep a hold of, especially when their player came crashing in and practically kicked it out of his hands and into the goal. We were shocked by what had happened and that the ref had done nothing about it. Though, we really should not have been shocked by the ref's decision [or non-call] since he'd missed calls for much of the game going both ways. There were definitely a few bizarre situations with the referees during the game, but that's how it seems to be for BSSL, at least in Div4.

Now, loaded with confidence Carico began their best spell of the game where the difference in class really looked the most evident. They moved around with 1 touch passes creating and pressing forward. Despite this, and our continued stretch of poor form they never really managed to get behind our defense and it was another hard, low shot from distance that took a tough skip and snuck past our diving keeper.

Their 3rd goal seemed to snap us out of our malaise and after nearly going up 2-1 but now finding ourselves down 3-1 we really wanted to get something back. For the final 15-20 minutes we pressed hard kept them on their half of the field for a good portion of the time, though we couldn't manage to get another one in.

So, it ended 3-1, but it was a close game and a hard fought match. We feel good about the way we competed and are especially happy that through the whole game our defense didn't really break down. If we continue to play like this in our league matches we'll have no trouble getting promoted.

First ever McKenzie Cup match!

2010-05-03T14:22:00.001-04:00

We made it into the cup as the first place Division 4 team, which unluckily put us up against last year's winner and Div1 power house Carico FC.

Stay tuned for the result and match report.

Chimpo Dragons FC: 0 BCS XI: 2

2010-05-01T19:37:00.000-04:00

We went into this game remembering various match ups with CDFC last year and were expecting a battle, and that's exactly what we got, especially due to a referee who would not get control of the game. We also knew the game would be a test for us since we were missing a few players from the starting XI. Our newest center mid was worrying about his finals, and both our boys from Ghana were out for various reasons, along with both of our remaining Brits and Ye Wang.[international conspiracy?].

Despite all of these players missing we felt good about how things would go, though we started to worry a bit when our captain realized he left his ID at home and had to rush off to Back Bay so he could legally play. We made some adjustments and pressed forward.

Brad stepped up beautifully in the defensive center mid spot and really helped distribute the ball. He worked well with Adam in the center who also covered a lot of ground. We started off looking quite good and knocked the ball about and were playing some pretty fluid football. The wingers had been making some great runs forward and getting balls deep in the opposition half from our center mids and back line. Andy Vesper in particular made some great runs and crosses into the box. His fine play was rewarded when he moved into the attacking center mid position, while Adam took a rest to lick his wounds, and Brad sent the ball out wide to Tim who cut it back into the 18 and our Man Of The Match Andy Vesper got hold of it and ripped a shot into the goal.

From then on the game was a lot of back and forth with Chimpo trying to get back into it but never making it through our strong defense, and us continuing to push forward. They hardly created any chances and had few shots, compared to a lot of attacking pressure from our XI looking to get another.

The second goal came in the 2nd half, after Ian was brought down in the box during a corner kick. Darren, who had since arrived with his ID, stepped up to the spot to redeem himself from the horrendous miss in the 2nd minute of the season. He knew what we were all thinking, and he showed why he's got the armband and blasted it straight past the keeper.

The game ended with a fair amount of chippiness on both sides, from reckless tackles to foul-mouthed complaints; the latter of which actually saw one of their players sent off with a red card for dissent. It was a strong battle, but not as nervy as was expected and it turned out to be a bit more comfortable a victory than we would have guessed. Well done Eleven!

BCS XI: 1 Top Star Tickets: 1

2010-04-24T23:35:00.008-04:00

At least it's an away point and we're still unbeaten. This was a draw that feels more like a loss.

It was a beautiful sunny day down in Quincy and though it didn't look so bad at first the pitch caused us problems for most of the game. The grass and dandelions were long enough to conceal just how bumpy the ground was, so it wasn't as bad as Danehy, but it was still a bit hectic with the ball taking strange bounces. The other issue was the size; it looked more appropriate for under-12 teams because it was so short. It was maybe 3/4 of the length of our home ground at Dilboy.

The length of the pitch meant that our midfield was forced to play compact and with neither of our center mids used to playing that position we started the game off quite messy and disorganized. After 20 minutes or so we finally started to pull things together and began to play more like the XI we know.

There was a lot of back and forth in the game, not a lot of clean passing [due to the pitch] and so it was tight and began to get pretty nervy; though not many real chances were created by either side. We went into the half glad that we hadn't conceded, but disappointed that we hadn't put one in.

We came out feeling better and it showed. We dominated the play resulting with a much deserved goal coming from our Ghanaian connection. Owusu made one of his driving runs and sent Joe a slotted pass who got there before the keeper and took a tough shot; the keeper got something on it, but Owusu had continued his run and was there to knock in the rebound.

There was a still a bit of back and forth in the second half though much more of the time was spent in the opposition half with a few more shots and some good runs.

The match ended in a bit of controversy as we might have expected based on the terrible performance of our center ref all game. In the 89th minute he awarded TST penalty kick. The foul took place about the 87th minute and he took plenty of time not being clear on the call, then consulting with the other team to finally come to his decision. At first it seemed he made the call in our favor, then he seemed to be setting up an indirect kick on the 6-yard, and I couldn't understand what call he'd made. Then he finally goes to the spot. Unreal! Even more insane is that in the 2nd minute of the game their defender made a clear handball inside the box and the ref made the call, but said it was just outside. I can understand a ref not wanting to make such a big decision that early in the game, but to then turn around and do it at the end... simply unbelievable; especially since ours was a an absolutely clear call inside the box, whereas this one obviously wasn't. If it's a penalty blow the whistle and point to the spot, end of story.

The referee had been making ridiculous calls all game. Their defender heads the ball out of bounds inside our box, but then goes down. So, either it's a goal kick or a penalty... nope, corner kick. Huh? Owusu gets taken down inside their penalty area, but maybe the defender got the ball. Penatly, or clean challenge... nope, drop ball. Wha? It was like this all game. We were getting hammered on and off the ball. Most of the calls and non-calls did not go our way, but there were also ones for the other team as well. Just poor officiating. All the more reason to work hard for promotion boys! Good hard work by Steve Houdlette and Brad Rawson who both did well to make sure we didn't concede goals from open play.

It was a tough match, but a point is a point and it's better than a loss. We'll take that as we head back to Dilboy next week for a battle with Chimpo as we attempt to slay the Dragons.

Commoners: 0 BCS XI: 3

2010-04-17T16:51:00.005-04:00

Home opener sees a win!

We set out to make Dilboy a fortress and today we were successful. Congrats to Andrew, Joe and Brad on the goals. Check back soon for the full match report.

Check out the Photos page for a more great shots of the game taken by our own winger Ben Forrest. Thanks Ben.

BCS XI: 2 D.C. Alliance: 1

2010-04-10T21:24:00.008-04:00

The season opener and our first win!

It was a beautiful day, despite the wind. The pitch was in great condition following a rainy Friday that softened things up a bit. We began the match with a strong lineup including a few of our new signings. [Check back to the site for more info on them later.] We began in our traditional 4-4-2 and put early pressure on our young opponents. Two of our new guys started up top and it was Adam getting in behind the defense earning a penalty in the 2nd minute when the keeper shoved him in the back as they both tried to get the ball. Wearing the captain's armband Darren stepped up to the spot and ends up with his head in his hands as his shot is cleared away after having hit the crossbar.

Not to worry, we continued to press the opposition and after some back and forth Ian, in for Owusu, lofted a ball in from the right wing outside the 18-yard box and with the wind floated over the keeper and into the goal. 1-nil. A great way to mark his debut for the team. The goal could not have happened without more brilliant play by Adam up at the top working like a madmen to get the ball and make things happen.

At the half we knew that the wind would now be in their favor but couldn't do much about it and after 15 minutes or so let them get level 1-1. Much like our goal it was a high ball, Dave thought he'd be able to make a simple catch, but it hung in the air and he ended up having to swat at it and it came across the face of the goal and dropped right by one of their strikers. Unfortunately he wasn't marked tightly enough and managed to stab the ball into the net.

During the first half we made a switch in formations and overloaded the midfield, which really helped dictate the run of play. We were playing fluid in the back and sending balls through the middle of the field where Darren and Andrew really controlled things. Despite his broken hand Joe insisted to play, so we gave him some minutes. We wanted to see how things looked with him up top with Adam and Owusu playing out wide on the left wing which he likes as much as playing striker. With all this creativity up top we really started to stretch the defense and saw Joe make some great runs in behind them. Owusu sent a ball into the box from the left flank and Joe latched on and blasted a half-volley into the back of the net to put us back on top 2-1!

We finished out the game with an number of decent chances, including a quick shot from Ye that almost snuck in but was cleared off the line by a defender on the post. We had a lot of similar close chances but unfortunately didn't manage to get a lot of them on target. We sent too many balls over the bar or wide of the post, but at least we were creating chances, which is a big positive, especially for the first game of the season and especially away from home. Everybody played hard and contributed a lot to the game. Though, man of the match goes to Adam Palencia for outstanding play in his debut game. He battled hard all day winning a lot of good balls, creating space and making good runs.

Friendly vs Boston Futebol Clube

2010-04-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

Things were a bit hectic with the rescheduling for rain delays and moving to a Wednesday night, then traffic was bad, some guys who said they were coming didn't show etc. But the weather was nice, our opposition was pleasant and we got to play some soccer, what could be better?

Winning. Winning would have been better, but we had a lot of people playing together for the first time and a lot of people in strange positions. We played well enough and we accomplished a couple of our main goals which were to get more touches on the ball, especially playing in a full 11, but also to see some of our prospective players take the field and see how they fit in.

Because of our needs we are still evaluating a few guys to make sure that we are strengthening the areas that need strength and not just adding decent players in overloaded positions. We want to make sure that we have a strong 11 on the field, and strong subs to come in and contribute.

It was a fun night, and we thank Boston FC of NELASA one more time for taking care of the field and helping organize the event, they were gentlemen and it was good to play them; and hopefully we'll get to do it again some time.

We now have a better idea of some things we'll need to do this Saturday for our Season Opener against DC Alliance at 1pm in Dorchester at Pope John Paul Park. Come join us for the action!

News!

2010-04-07T12:48:00.003-04:00

After that friendly with TDFC we had a scrimmage on Saturday with our buddies, Independiente FC. We wish them luck with their crack at Division 3 after winning our division last year. They're good guys and they deserve it.

However, we did not deserve some of the bad luck from that game. Darren turned his ankle, Joe fractured his wrist in 2 spots and Gove had sprained his knee the previous week in the other game. Injury woes are already setting in, but we're doing our best to make do.

We've begun signing new players for the 2010 season and have a fair number of prospective players who will be showing their stuff tonight in Dorchester. We'll be at Ceylon Park at 8pm taking on Boston Futebol Clube.

There will probably be some tough decisions made tonight and tomorrow about asking guys to join, and having to disappoint others by not extending such an offer.

Keep an eye on the site for updates about the new signings and the roster for the season including positions and all that fun stuff.

Friendly vs Tommy Doyle's FC

2010-03-27T22:51:00.001-04:00

It was a chilly but nice sunny day. We made it out to the field in Waltham and had a decent sized group. It was good to be back together.

We had some prospective players join us to see how they fit into the squad. It's always good to have interest in the club. We definitely looked a bit rusty. Everybody's touch was a bit heavy and passes got away from us more often than we like, but as the game continued we improved.

We fell behind from a couple of good shots after defensive lapses, but we played around with our formation and definitely improved in the second half and Joe evened things back up with a couple of goals, though ultimately the game ended 3-2 for TDFC we feel good about the day and some things that we learned.

Hopefully many of the guys from Saturday will be able to make it out for our inter-league friendly on Thursday with Boston FC.

Pre-Season Friendlies

2010-03-26T01:05:00.002-04:00

We've got a friendly scheduled on Saturday against one of the new teams in Div4 of BSSL, Tommy Doyle's FC. They seem like decent fellows and it will be a lot of fun to get the full side out on the pitch in Waltham.

Then Tuesday the 30th we'll have some inter-league friendly action, facing off against Boston F.C. of NELASA. We're particularly excited about this one since the league based out of Brockton, MA fields some of the strongest teams in the state including 2 time Open Cup challengers Emigrantes Das Ilhas.

We've been in touch with a few other teams about playing one more on April 3rd, so we'll see what happens. Check back for match results on the pre-season action.

Yearly League Meeting and Team News

2010-02-27T23:06:00.005-05:00

As you can tell from the table posted below there will be a few new teams in Division 4. As of the BSSL league meeting on Feb. 16 it was unclear exactly how many new teams there would be and what that means for the season schedule, of which we are still waiting.

The meeting started out fairly well, but after the 1st hour things really began to get bogged down and all the managers were looking to get out of the Wellesley Community Center basement. However, overall it was an informative meeting, especially for us as a new club. Entering our second year in the league there is still a lot for us to learn and it's good to be there with the league administrators and other managers. Who knows, maybe people from our team will be getting involved at the league level in the future.

We did have some positives come out of the meeting including getting to know some other team managers a little better and look forward to playing with Gunners and also the decent guys we sat next to from Groton House.

Joe and Mike and I left the meeting feeling really excited for the upcoming season and barely able to believe that the first kick is so close.

We lost a few players during the off season for various reasons including guys moving out of the country or needing to focus more on PhD's or family etc. We'll miss the guys who aren't coming back and hope we can fill the empty spots with not only good players but really stand up guys like we've always had. BCS XI has always been a group of fun and nice guys and that is something we plan on continuing.

Looking Forward to the 2010 Season

2010-02-21T18:01:00.006-05:00

We will have a few changes this year, from the roster to new fields and hopefully even a sponsor or two. As you can see there are a number of new teams we'll be facing in the league too. But, for now we're top of the table! Let's keep it that way.

DIVISION 4										Red Cards
		P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	PT	LG-CP	-PT
1	BCS XI	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
2	Chimpo Dragons FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
3	Commoners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
4	Dorchester Alliance U.N.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
5	Los Bostonians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
6	New Team 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
7	New Team 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
8	New Team 3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
9	Tommy Doyles FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0
10	Top Star Tickets.com	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T13:10:00.005-05:00

From all of us at Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Eleven.

From BCS XI

And a Happy New Year!

End of Season, BSSL Awards Ceremony

2009-11-21T14:52:00.002-05:00

Well, the season is over and the dust has settled and we ended up in the 5th spot, mid-table. It's not quite the result we wanted, but we can't feel too badly about how we've done after our first year in the league. The team came together as a bunch of strangers with pockets of friends and colleagues here and there, and ended the season a much more cohesive unit. It's been a lot of fun playing together, and next year will be even better.

A few of the XI headed to the Landsdowne Pub in Boston for the awards ceremony that coincided with the Manchester United v Everton game. It ended up being a fairly entertaining match, and we enjoyed some free food.

We got to see in person the silverware that we'll be aiming for next season which is helpful motivation and one of the best parts of the ceremony had to do with the newly named McKenzie cup. Some folks talked about Ucal McKenzie and his influence on the game here in Eastern Mass and it was great to see his wife and family there supporting his old team Carico FC and being part of the presentation for the league cup. Ucal was a player in the league who also coached local youth teams and high school, along with being a high school counselor. He seemed to be an outstanding individual and he tragically died during a league game this past year.

The league partnered with folks including Ucal's family to get a foundation started to promote the things that Ucal believed in. You can find out more at the Ucal McKenzie Breakaway Foundation site. It was touching to see his former team go up to recieve the league cup that they had earned in the final and pull his wife on stage to recieve it. It seemed to right that his team should win the cup that was recently named after him.

The awards seemed a little rushed, and hopefully they'll be a little better and more of a party next year, but I'm sure it will feel that way to us, since we plan on hoisting the Division 4 trophy!

BKFC: 0 BCS XI: 3

2009-11-07T19:06:00.001-05:00

This make up game against BKFC had all the drama you could ask for in a derby match. These East Cambridge clubs know each other well, and gave us quite the spectacle with more than a few talking points. Penalty kicks, red cards, this game had it all.

Neither side seemed to be playing particularly at their best and both squandered opportunities, though BCS XI definitely let some easy ones slip away. We did finally manage to sneak the ball in through the keepers hands on a low driven free kick from just outside the 18 yard box. Jan lined up in the wall and helped open up space for Darren to send the ball through the mess of bodies and across the line for his first goal of the season.

Our next goal came from Mark putting one in from the penalty spot. BKFC made some poor challenges inside the box, and this particular one left us with an opportunity to double our lead.

The third goal came in similar fashion as Joe was taken down hard when he looked certain to score. It's amazing this didn't produce the first red card of the match, and the player got off easy with a yellow. Once again Mark steps to the spot for his second penalty kick of the match, would he go the same direction, would it matter? With ice in his veins he tucks away the final goal of the match. He looked to grab another 1 or 2 during the run of play, but once again Danehy Field 3 does him no favors and he has to settle for a couple of "gimmes" on this day.

After a spell or two of pressure from the Korean side things really started to heat up. A player had been hassling Ye all game long and this finally came to a head when multiple BKFC players surrounded Ye and were yelling and shoving when some of the XI stepped in to break things up. The ceter ref sure should have stopped things sooner, but despite the BCS captain trying to get the ref to do something it took the linesman waving his flag to finally get the referee beginning to sort things out. Unfortunately the linesman also thought he saw Rich punch one of the Koreans in the back, which honest, gentelmen Richard William Naylor PhD would never do. So, the referee flashes red to Rich and one of theirs and the full time whistle blows just minutes later.

We left the match with a bad taste in our mouths, and the decision to book Rich really did a number on us for the match to come. Derby day in Cambridge saw a lot of tempers and a handful of goals, it was an exciting match, though probably not the prettiest.

BCS XI: 2 Chimpo Dragons: 2

2009-10-31T23:47:00.000-04:00

We knew coming into this game is was going to be a battle. Last time we met, Chimpo was top of the league and we were up 2-0 at the half, then ended up conceding late goals to lose the game. We did not want that to happen again.

Much like most of our games we conceded a sloppy early goal that just made us all mad. Darren was away for this game, and not having that strong presence as our holding center mid really affects the way we play. To top things off Mark was having quite the off day and managed to miss a few sitters; something about this "field" just gets under his skin.

After a lot of back and forth and some very physical play we managed to have a quick one two down the right side after a thrown in that saw Joe send in a beautiful cross to an on-running Jan who sent a flying header across goal, past the keeper and into the back of the net!

More physical play continued, including some nasty, intentional stuff on the side of the opponents. They also didn't stop mouthing off and it finally cost them when one of their whiners got booked for decent after a particularly nasty, studs up challenge took Logan's ankle out.

No matter, we had them on the counter attack, Will sent a beautiful ball over to Mark who looked poised to break his curse on this pitch, but wisely laid it off back to Will who had a simple finish for his first goal of the season. XI up 2-1 with only a few minutes to go, and this one looked to be finished.

However, they managed to push a little more and got a man down the right flank sending in a cross. Tom stayed on his line in goal, but Logan got in front of the man and had an unlucky mis-kick which made the ball land practically on the foot of the attacker who had no trouble putting it in the net to equalize. Shortly after that the final whistle blew and despite coming from behind we felt hard done by not picking up all 3 points. Though, as we all know a draw is better than a loss, so we had to take what we were given.

Game vs Ballers FC CANCELED! - Rescheduled for Nov. 14

2009-10-24T11:33:00.003-04:00

Another 8am game rained out by the ridiculous weather. We managed to play a 45 minute half against Ballers which saw us concede our usual early goal then equalize just before the half with all the momentum going our way.

The youth girls teams that were supposed to be playing on the turf field showed up and kicked us off at 9am which meant Ballers did just that and cried about having to drive to Cambridge without knowing this might happen, despite me explaining everything quite clearly to their captains. After some fierce words exchanged we parted ways planning to play again soon, and we even offered to drive out to their neck of the woods if they found a better field than the one we planned on for Nov. 14, Danehy 3, which nobody wanted to play on.

OHP Gunners: 1 BCS XI: 0

2009-10-17T21:26:00.000-04:00

The forecast once again showed rain, but we lucked out and managed to have clear skies for our game at Danehy Park. This 8am game was supposed to be played on the dirt patch known as field 1, but luckily nobody showed up to claim field 2 which is significantly greener, though a little smaller.

We knew this game was going to be tough. Our cross town rivals had also picked up some decent players over the summer [and it was a transfer window battle for our newest Brits on the squad.] We've played the Gunners in a number of friendlies and know where the danger is on the team. Brad Rawson decided he was fit enough to play but after only 30 minutes one of our strongest defenders hobbled off the pitch for the rest of the season.

Despite the setback we battled hard. It was a close match with a lot of back and forth. Neither side saw very many chances on goal, and it seemed we were in for a nil-nil draw. However, Gunners managed to get a lucky ball into the net. They put pressure on us and Sam, playing keeper, came out and cleared the ball as best he could; but only managed to get it as far as a group of players on both sides. It looked like the ball came off of the knee of someone on the Gunners team and flew into the air towards the goal; Sam was heading back to the goal mouth and despite jumping couldn't get a strong enough hand on it to clear it away.

We pushed back and put a lot of pressure on their goal right after they went up 1-0, but despite playing the final 10 minutes on their side of the pitch we couldn't get the equalizer in there. We didn't play great, but didn't play too poorly either. It was a fairly even game, and probably should have ended scoreless.

BCS XI: 2 Commoners: 1

2009-10-10T20:06:00.004-04:00

An early game out in Marlboro. Unfortunately a few members of the team decided drinking too much too late at night was more important than a game against the worst team in the league that just happened to beat us last time out; a game that I wanted to not just win but destroy the opposition.

A rainy night gave way to somewhat clear but soggy morning, luckily the pitch was artificial. It was also a short one and we play better with more space. The game started and we looked terrible, like we'd never played together before. Even with Commoners scoring first it took us a while to wake up and get going.

There was some yelling and frustration during the first half but it was the half time talk that was really severe. We were all honest and knew we were playing extremely poorly. We discussed what we needed to do and in the second half we actually did it. We came out playing more together and more as a team.

About 10-20 minutes into the half we got a couple of goals in quick succession. Mark finally put away one of his many chances, and he also set up the second by taking a quick corner catching everyone on the field off guard except for Joe who managed to blast a shot across goal, past the keeper and in the top corner.

The rest of the game we looked the more likely to score again, though they still had some chances as well. It was definitely a hard fought game, and Mike Gove picked up an injury from rough collision right in front of goal in some strong defending, though this left him out for the rest of the season. It wasn't pretty but it was a win. It felt good to come back from a goal down and grind out the result. [though I would have felt better scoring double digits and not conceding any as I was really hoping!]

FC Cobra: 1 BCS XI: 2

2009-10-03T17:19:00.001-04:00

The weather forecast did not look good for our match against FC Cobra, but we were optimistic. With our normal pitch (dirt field 1) submerged in a few inches of water, we tried our luck on the artificial turf field at Danehy. We were skeptical that even our refs would show, and it proved to be insightful as only the head referee made an appearance.

We got underway with some strong possession and great control of the game, moving the ball nicely through the middle of the field. Our dominance subsided in the latter part of the first half, with our communication and passing breaking down. Despite our weakened play, Rich made a masterful run up the right side and fired the ball toward the goal which deflected to the feet of Armand who deftly managed to put one in the back of the net before half.

The second half showed a more balanced Cobra, as our attacking instincts subsided. Even with our defensive mindset, we managed to control the majority of the half, and padded our lead with a second goal. Mark managed to hit the post in the first half with what looked to be a perfect shot, and had a number of chances, but this time he got it in from a beautiful pass from Joe. The final seconds saw Cobra's improved attack result in a defensive error, bringing it to a 2-1 goal from the left side, but proved to be too little, too late. A great win to keep our unbeaten run in the second half of the season.

Bye Week: Essex County FC dropped out of the league

2009-09-26T17:16:00.002-04:00

We were informed near the beginning of the season that Essex County had dropped out of the league and that each team would have a bye week. We'll see what this does to the standings, especially with the news that FC International has also dropped out. It's too bad, we beat both these teams in the Spring, and even managed to get a pretty good goal differential from the FC International game.

FC International dropped out of the league

2009-09-19T17:10:00.001-04:00

We received a call late Friday night before our game with FC International. They told us that some of their players had family members die over in Africa, and they just found out and would be comforting the families all night. Our thoughts and prayers went out to them.

After not having played any games this Fall the team folded and has dropped out for at least the remainder of this season.

We hope the families are doing well.

Unfortunately we won't be playing a make-up game, but maybe we can use the field time for a friendly at the end of the season.

BCS XI: 2 Independiente FC: 2

2009-09-12T23:08:00.002-04:00

Once again BCS XI opens our string of games against Independiente. With the BKFC game rescheduled for Nov. XI looked to start the season strong, and managed to do so with a hard fought draw away from home.

Despite the strong finish the game got off to a very rocky start just seconds into the match. The ball was kicked off and after a couple of passes we gave the ball away, it popped out to their diminutive striker who speedily flew down the wing before cutting inside past our defense and blasted an incredible strike across goal into the top corner.

Needless to say we were dazed, annoyed and hungry to get one back. We still couldn't get our heads in the game enough to stop another goal about 12 minutes later. The ball came down the wing again, but this time they managed to get the cross off straight to the head of an enormous striker who redirected the ball to the far post and past our keeper. It was well executed and if Nathan could only have grown another 6 inches he might have gotten the header before their giant of a player.

Finally we got organized and began to control the game for stretches, they were good with possession but we managed to make some good runs and have some decent link up play which lead to a goal before half time. After multiple shots Mark finally slipped one past their keeper, though not unchallenged. Every single shot we had on frame the spectacular keeper got something on it, but this time the shot was too much and getting a hand to it still wasn't enough.

Joe had some shots from distance, Doosup had a brilliant header that should have gone into the top corner, but the keeper made a save of the season flying across and barely getting a single hand to knock the ball out for a corner. Our second goal finally came with some persistent effort and Mark netted a brace in his debut. We felt good about coming back from two-nil down, but were slightly disappointed to not have picked up all three points after a barrage of decent shots and the majority of the pressure on their goal. Though obviously they took their chances well, and Sam made a few good saves as did Richard off the line with his head.

Brad was unavailable for the game, but 2 of our 3 new players put forth a solid performance to help us start this half of the season unbeaten. Well done you XI, let's keep it up and get all 3 points from our next game to keep things going in a positive direction!

Summer Signings!

2009-09-05T21:12:00.004-04:00

This update comes a bit late, but it's important. BCS XI has brought on some new talent. The first signing was Brad Rawson a friend from school of a couple guys on the team, and also a coworker of another Brad joins us with experience at the University of Vermont winning games and awards as an integral leader on the team. Brad offers strength and communication to the back line that will improve our shape overall.

The next signing is a year long loan from the UK. Mark Nolan brings youth team experience with Premier League side Wigan Athletic. This striker has heart, pace and a poachers finish. He's brought a lot of intensity to the side and a quality that any team could use.

Our third signing comes right on the heels of our loan deal. Richard Naylor was looking to sign with Gunners but his fellow Brit joining up helped pave the way for this long time Wolves fan to bring height, stability and intelligence to our back line.

These 3 spectacular players have strengthened an already improving side. We know that they will help us to finish out our inaugural season with style and a positive edge.

Game vs BKFC CANCELED! - Rescheduled for Nov. 7

2009-09-03T01:10:00.003-04:00

Bogus! What is the deal with the weather when we try to play BKFC? Well, a hurricane came through and prevented us from playing, but we're trying to reschedule for November [or maybe a weeknight sooner], and we're trying to take advantage of the week off and get a friendly with the Gunners. We'll see what happens. Check back for more news, coming soon.

Support the old cup!

2009-09-02T01:14:00.005-04:00

The US Open Cup final 2009 with new MLS side facing off against MLS veterans and 5 time Open Cup champs looking to defend last year's trophy, DC United.

For those unfamiliar, the US Open Cup is like England's FA Cup and is the oldest and longest running sports tournament in the country. It doesn't get enough press, but is a really unique tournament in the US landscape and has a lot of potential for interesting plot lines for the media to cover.

Say what you want about the quality of soccer in US, but it's tournaments like this one that have the ability to peak the interest of a broader audience, if it would only be presented as such, and taken seriously by the MLS teams involved. It seems to be happening a little more now, clearly DC takes it more seriously than some, and they really wanted to repeat, but Seattle was really pushing for some hardware in their first MLS season.

This was a hard fought game and thoroughly entertaining. It was end to end with some decent football played and some intriguing controversy with DC keeper Wicks stomping on Montero right after scoring the opener. Nobody likes to see red cards in a match, especially a final, but this one was clear and deserved. The Seattle 2-1 win goes down as one of the best Open Cup finals in recent history.

History is one thing this cup has; and one of the best teams to win the trophy multiple times in the early years was the Fall River Marksmen. They were just down in Southern Mass and were a very successful club in the early 20th Century. The other thing that makes this tournament so interesting and especially for this club is that BCS XI is technically eligible to play in it. Let's be honest we're nowhere near that level now, but our league is affiliated with USASA and that's how the amateur teams get into qualifying. Let's support our team in Region 1 as things get going.

First game of the Fall Preview! At home vs BKFC

2009-08-23T22:31:00.008-04:00

So we have a new home field for the Fall, and we will really miss Dilboy, we'll be at Danehy Park on Field 1. This is the lower "field" which is more dirt than anything else. The other rough news is that all our home games will be at 8am. It's gonna be rough rolling out of bed in time to get in a good warm-up, but that's life, so let's deal, and try to use it to our advantage, especially against teams that have to travel a bit.

Since our first game this Saturday is against BKFC I thought I would post a few pictures from our last match up. Thanks to Erhan [and his girlfriend] for passing these along. See more in the Photos section.

New Signing! BCS XI Welcomes Doosup Lee

2009-07-30T23:51:00.002-04:00

This post comes extremely late but I wanted to recognize Doosup for his efforts. He found the team through this wonderful site after moving to Boston for work. He needed his football fix and sought us out and began coming to our training sessions. Doosup impressed us with bursts of speed and good solid runs with some powerful finishing in the final third. He expressed his desire to be a very committed player on the team and we felt the team would be stronger with him on it.

After a little bit of a shaky start in his first couple of games Doosup has settled in with the club and even netted his first goal in our first half domination of Chimpo Dragons!

We're glad to have Doosup as a strong member of our squad and hope that we'll be able to share success through the Fall.

Welcome to the XI!

BCS XI: 1 BKFC: 4

2009-07-11T22:03:00.002-04:00

We were excited heading into this match with our friends and rivals BKFC. Though we got the better of them during a pre-season friendly, they were definitely the better side when it counted.

XI looked tired and off our game most of the first half. We didn't play terribly, but just not very well. They punished us with their chances and went up 3-0 by half time. We failed to do what we had said we needed to do to beat them, close them down, pressure them and play tight 1v1. They used their speed, and some better spacing to get some crucial passes in past our defense.

We started the 2nd half with a fire in our boots and got a quick goal with some beautiful play from Joe and Armand, including Gottlieb's 2nd goal of the season, a gorgeous finish from Joe's cross.

Despite a lot of pressure we couldn't get another goal to continue our comeback [except for the one that was disallowed]. We even should have had a penalty kick, but somehow were given an indirect kick on the side of the 6-yard box when Sam was pulled down. This kick was taken very quickly but didn't manage to get in the back of the net. Other than these 2 very bizarre calls we had the best officiating of the entire season for this game, which was a welcomed change.

It was a frustrating game, and we felt we deserved more, but didn't play well enough to get more. The score line was a bit padded, but BKFC played well; hat's off to them. We'll do our best to return the favor in our next meeting on the 29th of August.

Chimpo Dragons FC: 4 BCS XI: 2

2009-06-27T16:35:00.002-04:00

The sun was out for the 3nd time in as many months and created a hot and muggy morning with the turf heating up. We started the game building off of our win last week and looked quite good. We pressured and worked hard. We were organized and communicated and it showed. We went up 2-nil in the first half with goals from Steve I. and Doosup. Both goals had great service coming in and were deserved goals for great play.

The last 5 minutes of the half we were tired and playing lazy. The 2nd half was more of this kind of play with moments of positive offense that would relieve the pressure that was constant on our side of the field. CD FC were awarded a PK about 15 minutes in when Tom went to punch a 50/50 ball and made contact with their forward's head as he came for it. After what seemed like forever the ref finally decided to make a decision [which seemed heavily influenced by the players] and the PK was given. Tom guess right and almost made the stop, but it went just a bit too low for him and was a well taken shot.

They had some late-comers that were not only fast, but had fresh legs too and the combination proved too much for our team, which clearly lacks fitness. We've relied too heavily on having a plethora of subs on the sideline. The 2nd half was not the worst we've played, but we put our heads down and stopped communicating, and the 1st place team managed to get level then pad the score line with a late header.

It was a valiant effort and we have a lot of positives to take from it, but it's always hard to swallow a loss after you've been up 2-0 at the half. We just need to be able to play our football and keep it together for a full 90 and we'll be a really strong side. Looking forward to our final game of the Spring against our Korean friends in a make up game from what should have been the first game of the season.

BCS XI: 2 Ballers FC: 1

2009-06-20T13:48:00.001-04:00

The rain subsided overnight and gave way to a beautiful morning. The air was a bit thick, but the field was in perfect condition [it's strange to enjoy playing on artificial turf so much]. The team arrived early and we were able to get a good warm-up and stretch done together, then proceeded to practice our touches with some keep-away and some shots on goal to help warm Sam up. This allowed us to get our head in the game early and start on a note of high intensity.

About a minute into the game the ball came out wide right, and with a little 1-2 passing from Logan and Erhan a cross was then sent in to the forwards crashing the box; Emre took the ball beautifully on his chest, controlled and curled a half volley right past the keeper and into the net! The Ballers were stunned and we couldn't have been more pleased. They still had some of their team trickling in and it was clear that we were much better prepared for the game, with our heads in it.

As the half wore on their quality became evident and we receeded into our old ways a bit. They created a few chances, including about 6 corner kicks right in a row, that we finally managed to sort out. Despite feeling a lot of pressure we managed to go into the half up 1-nil.

The 2nd half began with both teams playing hard, but about 5-10 minutes in there was a break down in communication and positioning from the right side to center and they managed to slice through on attack and pop one in over Sam. It was an unfortunate breakdown and a testament to their quality that they could capitalize so quickly on the error.

Luckily, less than a minute later Stephen H. brought the ball up through the center and veering a little wide right he managed to send in a beautiful ball that he claims was a cross, though we saw the twinkle in his eye, it caught the keeper in no man's land and unable to get a hand on the floating ball that dropped into the back of the net.

The goal completely deflated the Ballers team, and with the wind stolen from their sails they didn't have enough bite to get back on level terms. They did their best to try though, and we definitely played more of the 2nd half on our side of the field. Nevertheless, we managed to stay compact, organized and put pressure on the ball.

This was by no means the prettiest soccer we are capable of playing, but we fought hard and did play well. And most importantly did so as a team. We ran together and looked out for each other. We knew the game could turn at any moment and that fear kept up our intensity. We showed a lot of heart and it was a great team victory. The hour drive back to the city was much more bearable with grins on our faces from a confidence boosting victory over the 2nd best team.

Great job today BCS XI our hard work and dedication this past couple of weeks has paid off, let's keep it going.

BCS XI: 1 OHP Gunners: 2

2009-06-06T23:05:00.002-04:00

The match began with a touch of solemnity. At the request of the league we observed a minute of silence. According to the BSSL site: "It is with tremendous sadness that BSSL reports the untimely death of Ucal McKenzie, who suffered a heart attack during Carico FC's game on Saturday, May 30th." Ucal coached at Newton High and a local boys team Valeo. He seemed a good man and it's a shame he died so young.

After the minute of silence the game kicked off on what can only be described as a dirt patch. This "field" at Danehy Park is even worse than the others we've played on there and it's a wonder more people haven't injured themselves just based on the poor condition of the surface. It caused multiple people on both teams to miss the ball completely when trying to kick. It was surely not the cause but the field did not help with our timid play.

Like with all our games there were moments of brilliance, and others of shockingly poor quality. But, we do what we can and hope for the best. Gunners went up a goal from a free kick that was shot low on the ground just past the wall. Nathan swung his leg valiantly but to no avail; Tom too gave his best effort, but came up short and the ball went in. We were dismayed but felt we could get back into the game. Then with about 10 minutes left in the half Gunners managed a bit of a breakaway down the flank and sent a rocket shot to the far post across the face of goal and into the net. Our high light of the half was Joe taking a crack at goal from about 10 yards in from midfield and seeing the ball smash the crossbar and visibly shake it.

Despite things going the way they were we knew that the game wasn't totally beyond our reach. Early on in the second half we created more chances. A couple of shots went just wide, or didn't quite have enough pace, but finally Joe managed to shorten the gap to only 1 point sending the ball straight past the keeper with a very clean finish, after some decent build up play. We sent a few more balls over the top and allowed the forwards to run onto them and it looked like we might get on level terms, but in the end we couldn't claw our way back.

It would have been nice to have a more consistant referee. He seemed to let things slide, then call the nit-picky. It was particularly bad when he stopped the game to lecture a Gunner on his shinguards being too small.

We showed character, and markedly imporved in the second half. This game really seems to have galvanized the team and there has been a lot of good communication about ways to improve. This is a great team with a lot of heart. It's becoming more evident that we all care about how the team does and we're taking ownership of making that happen.

The next two games look to be challenging, but we're going with our heads held high.

Commoners: 2 BCS XI: 1

2009-05-30T04:15:00.001-04:00

It was a gorgeous day at Dilboy Stadium, but the home side could not repeat the magic from their previous game at home, and instead repeated the poor play from our last time out.

Hoping to get past our frustrating loss BCS XI came out strong, but were shocked to give up and early goal and the rest of the half was hard fought. The referee seemed to let a lot of things go though occasionally making a bizarre call on seemingly non-existent fouls.

There was some good link up play as XI sometimes found a rhythm though it never seemed to last. Though our spirits were lifted right at the end of the 1st half when Joe sent in a corner kick on the ground across the face of goal that somehow made it through the mob unscathed until meeting the boot of Armand who gracefully blasted the ball into the top, far-post corner. From such a tight angle there was no way the keeper could get to it, and we went into the break elated.

Our fortune was not to last. Once again we created a few chances, and let them have as many. Our midfield was stretched and the pressure on the back was mounting. We managed a handful of through balls and breakaways but most of the time, as with the whole game our first touches seemed to let us down.

The second half ended much like the first though with the visitors feeling joy as they steal away the full 3 points. In the final minute of the game a free kick was given just outside the corner of the 18. The Commoner stepped up and struck the ball beautifully and in much the same way sent the ball into the top, far-post corner, though from a much less impressive angle. The ball went in, our hearts dropped and the whistle blew.

It will definitely be nice to have Stephen back from India and Darren healed up to provide that much needed organization and stability in the center of the backfield. Maybe this is all that was lacking in our last two games, but we had enough players to cover that this should not be an excuse. We vow to play better, and look forward with a hopeful eye to this coming weekend where we meet our local rivals and friends OHP Gunners. Our last meeting, a pre-season friendly, saw us getting trounced6-1 [or worse] though something tells me we'll be a bit hungrier this go around.

Pick-Up Scrimmage vs TCSR Academy

2009-05-23T01:58:00.008-04:00

Memorial Day weekend, and not too many of us around. But a handful of the XI along with some friends from FC Independence [Div. 3] and the Gunners teams we played against a select youth academy that was gearing up for a tournament in France the following week.

Ramo, the founder of TCSR got in contact with Patrick, the president of the 3 Gunners teams and organized a scrimmage. We were shooting for a pick-up game the same time and place and had invited the Gunners to join us but Patrick informed me of the scenario, and it worked out that we all got to play, and on the nice field turf at MIT.

It was a beautiful day and a really fun game. The under 18's played extremely organized and had some wicked fast players. Despite many of us never having played together we shut them out during the first half and even managed to go up 1-0.

The second half saw the Academy team no longer playing only 2 touches and started taking more shots on goal from distance. Tom made some excellent saves to keep our lead until about 10 minutes left to go in the game a low ball came from outside the 18-yard box into a crowd, cutting down Tom's reaction time and making it too dificult for him to get low on the ball; and the game ended 1-1.

The boys were all good sports, played hard and well and we wish them luck overseas and with any future games.

You can see more pictures of the match here.

BCS XI: 0 FC Cobra: 3

2009-05-16T13:58:00.022-04:00

A disappointing result to end our winning ways. There were poor calls by the referee for both teams, and emotions running high with a frustrating home team FC Cobra. But all of that aside we played worse than FC Cobra. We made a few beautiful plays on the wings with some back and forth triangle passing, but barely managed to get a shot on goal the whole game. These few attacking highlights were overshadowed by a poor team performance from front to back.

We were already missing 5 guys, and Armand unfortunately pulled his groin very early on in the first half. Being short handed did not help matters, but we didn't play like we know we can and we were punished for it. Hopefully we learned some lessons and can improve in the next 2 weeks before our next league match up.

First Member of BCS XI Women's Youth Team

2009-05-11T23:21:00.003-04:00

Isabelle Ornstein decided to join the club this past Friday. Congratulations to Josh and Karen on a job well done acquiring this record signing for the team. Clearly, this is a great investment in the future success of the club.

Best wishes to the lovely, young lady and her parents. Good luck with all the training sessions in the future.

Needless to say, the proud father will be excused from his regular club duties until he is able to make a full return to action. Let's all show our support and give our best to Josh, Karen and Isabelle.

Essex County FC: 0 BCS XI: 2

2009-05-02T16:07:00.004-04:00

Forecasted rain gave way to a beautiful day and a great game. Due to Essex County's lack of alternate jerseys BCS was forced to play in the sky blue kit; which now sees two wins in a row.

After a shaky first 5 minutes or so BCS calmed down and began to play disciplined football through the remaining 85 minutes. With 2 of our strikers out of town, as well as a forward looking midfielder we knew our attack might suffer, and to be truthful we only had a handful of shots the whole game. Though EC FC did no better in terms of attempts on goal. Both goals came from wide play that created mayhem in the 6 yard box with Jan Falkowski running through the keeper to force the ball in on the first goal. The second goal saw Andy Allen finally getting enough of his body behind the ball to force it in after a couple of failed header attempts. Not the prettiest pair of goals, but great scrappy play that showed our determination, and unwillingness to give up.

Perhaps the real story of the game is how well the back line supported the team. They were calm and composed when under pressure and helped distribute the ball out to the attack. All 11 players on the pitch for BCS kept their shape well, and really communicated with each other to keep one another out of trouble. Tom made a few key saves, but for the most part didn't have too difficult a time keeping the clean sheet.

This was an excellent team victory. Two in a row now, well done and keep it up.

BCS XI: 7 FC International: 1

2009-04-25T15:55:00.000-04:00

We arrived at Barry Park in Lynn a little worried about the match even happening. There hardly seemed to be soccer lines anywhere in between the baseball diamonds; the goals were off the side near a fence and the home team was no where to be found.

A referee showed up and assured us it was the right place, and I called the other manager to confirm.

After warming up as a team we finally started the match about 17 minutes late. FC I only had 6-7 guys eligible to play, so another 5 or so sat on the sideline until 2 minutes before the half when someone showed up with their newer roster allowing them to field a full 11.

Despite being outnumbered by nearly double FC I held a strong defensive line and forced our frontline to be called offside again and again. We managed to break through and get 3 goals in the first half.

The second half began with FC I at full strength and BCS XI wanting to make sure we didn't get complacent with our lead, knowing they'd have fresh legs and a renewed will. They got 1 goal back and looked like their energy was picking up for another. But just then Joe netted his second of the game putting us up 4-1 and thoroughly deflated their attack. We had a couple more breakaway goals to really put the game truly out of reach.

Joe finished with a hattrick, Steve I. netted a brace, Erhan curled in an incredible free kick, and Sam got off the back line to slot a smooth one past the keeper.

Clearly the scoreline was padded by the opposition struggling to field the full 11. However, despite exhibiting some speed and clever ball handling, the result likely would have remained the same with both teams at full strength.

Great job BCS XI, it's nice to have our first win, and a decent goal differential too go with it.

Home Opener, Independiente: 2 BCS XI: 0

2009-04-18T18:42:00.002-04:00

After a hard fought battle and some poor luck, we lost our first game played 2-0 to Independiente FC. The pitch was rocky, hard and uneven, but as we got a little bit of rain it help soften things up a little.

There was a dodgy penalty in the first half resulting in a 1-0 advantage for the opposition after the PK. The goal came against the run of play, but we let them back into it a little. We picked our heads back up and really took it to them in the second half. We pressured them and played most of the half on their side of the field. A couple of defensive errors, from poor organization, positioning and communication allowed another goal against the run of play when neither of our 2 challenging defenders came up with the ball and it fell to the feet of the IFC striker who made a really good cross goal shot against Tom who couldn't do much in that 1v1 circumstance.

BCS played well, especially the 2nd half and I can't help thinking that if we wouldn't gotten to play last week [and perhaps gotten our previous result against BKFC] we might have come into this game with more confidence and more experience as a team; all of which could have meant a different result. But, it is what it is and we know we need to work on finishing our chances.

Hopefully things will go better this Saturday with our first away match up in Lynn against FC International who currently prop up the division table.

Season Opener, BCS XI v BKFC Postponed

2009-04-11T19:41:00.001-04:00

Our rematch with BKFC was rained out, and James is working on finding another time and place for us to play. Hopefully we'll have that info soon.

This week we have training on Wednesday instead of Tuesday so we can distribute uniforms that will be arriving tomorrow morning.

Which means we'll have real uniforms to wear for our first home game. We're still looking for a good sponsor that will help us afford to get the crest on the jersey along with their logo, and cover some of our other expenses. If you have contacts or ideas, let me know.

Latest News

2009-04-10T02:20:00.002-04:00

We suffered defeat to Gunners last weekend, and it was a disappointing game. We didn't play as well as we could nor should have and just got beat. But we learned, worked on some drills at our training session and hopefully our work will pay off as we look forward to our first league game this Saturday, 2pm against BKFC.

We'll be playing short with at least 5 guys unable to make it, including our starting keeper Tom. But Sam will be jumping in between the pipes for us, and I think that will work out well. He played quite well tonight subbing for Tom in an indoor game where we got drew 7-7, but should've won.

BKFC will be coming out strong after losing to us 2 weeks ago, so we'll really need to pressure them and have good crisp passing.

Other news, it looks like the sponsorship with Atwood's Tavern is not likely to happen because of some insurance issues. It's too bad, the place is really cool, and Patrick seems a genuinely decent fellow.

Don't forget to cast your eyes over to the right and cast your vote in the poll for our new web address. I will be purchasing a domain name, but want to give folks a choice on which of these 3 they think fits our organization the best.

We still have a couple more spots open on the team, so if you have are interested in joining or know someone who would email bcseleven@gmail.com and/or come to our training sessions Tuesday evenings 6:30pm at Donnelly Park in Cambridge.

Uniforms

2009-04-10T00:53:00.018-04:00

I recently placed and order with Eurosport at www.soccer.com for our uniforms. If everything goes according to plan we should have at least the Home Kit here for our first home game. We'll have to make do this week against BKFC with Tom's old jerseys, but with fortune on our side these will be delivered Friday the 17th. I think they've turned out rather nicely.

I opted to wait on the screen printing. They will have numbers on the back, but our crest is not yet featured. I'm still holding out a bit of hope that we'll be able to find a sponsor. My outlook now is to keep looking for a pub or someplace that wants to chip in for the advertising of their logo on our jersey. Then when we have our summer break in July and August we can get our logo put on along with the sponsor. Perhaps we'll even get the crest on regardless of whether we end up with a sponsor or not.

Another Friendly and Sponsor News

2009-04-03T23:12:00.002-04:00

After our successful exchange with BKFC we're looking to play well against another new Division 4 team Gunners. We'll be playing at 4pm on the turf field at Danehy Park in Cambridge, steps away from where our next 2 games will be played on grass field 3.

We're going to be missing some key players, especially on our defensive side, probably most notably our keeper Tom, who's a bit injured but will be seeing a Dr. on Monday in hopes that his hip problem will be sorted out before our season opener.

Also, we're in talks with Atwood's Tavern about a possible sponsorship to help out with some of our costs, and to have a great place to meet up and hang out. The best part is that one of the owners is considering playing with us, so hopefully we'll get him out to kick around as soon as he can.

Training Drills

2009-03-31T23:04:00.003-04:00

Tonight was a successful training session with Darren coaching us on defensive stance and positioning after warming up with some touch passes, chest traps and headers. It was good to get some of the rust off this simple and basic skills. It will be good to continue to do this type of skill set training at practice to help us be a polished squad.

The defensive work was helpful and should really get our back line working as a cohesive unit, and begin defending up top with the forwards so we put a lot of pressure on our opponents.

Thanks to all those who came out tonight, and hopefully we'll see a lot of you on Saturday at 4pm.

Pre-Season Friendly

2009-03-30T11:18:00.004-04:00

BCS XI played for the first time as a full squad 11v11 against our BSSL division 4 opponents BKFC. It was an early outing at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and kicking off a little closer to 8am. Instead of the traditional 45 min halves, we played 3 half hour periods allowing for more breaks for rest and to readjust our formation and tactics.

There were a lot of positives to come out of our first game. We played fairly well together for having never done that in all our positions, and only a few other practices. There were definitely some areas that need improvement [which we'll begin addressing at our training on Tuesday], but it was generally a good outing.

Probably the best part of the day was the scoreline, we won 4-2. I know Jan Falkowski scored our first after a lot of offensive pressure. Then I'm not sure if Joe Adu grabbed a full hattrick or the brace. He for sure scored 2, but if anyone can remember and wants to comment a correction, you can let me know who scored our 4th.

Well done you Eleven. Let's keep up the effort and work hard. We've got our first game of the season just 2 short weeks away on the 11th; a rematch with BKFC over at Danehy Park. Despite winning this first match up, I'm sure it will be a tough game, so we want to be really organized and prepared for them to step up the intensity.

Training Run

2009-03-25T23:03:00.007-04:00

There were only 3 of us that made it, but we had a decent run of about 4 and a quarter miles.

We started out at the Kendall T station and headed up Main then cut back over toward the MIT fields to see where we'll be playing our friendly on Saturday. We then headed back to Mass Ave. (mile marker 2) and over to Hampshire St to look for some fields with lights on them for future practice locations.

We went up to marker 3 then cut over to Donnelly field then headed back toward the T. All in all, a productive night.

You can check out the map here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2666783

Team Meeting

2009-03-13T23:52:00.004-04:00

As you can see on the calendar at the right side of the page, we have a mandatory team meeting on Wednesday the 18th at The Thirsty Scholar Pub in Inman Sq. We will discuss general team business.

Also, we have spoken with the superintendent of Dilboy Stadium and aside from our first home game we should have the rest of our Spring dates there. Next week we'll be getting a call from Cambridge parks and recs dept about holding our first game at Danehy park; so hopefully we'll have all of our Spring home field dates squared away by the end of the week.

We've been holding regular training practices at Russell Field in Cambridge near Alewife on Saturday mornings at 10am. If you're interested in trying out for the team come by for a training session.

League Application Accepted!

2009-02-22T23:06:00.003-05:00

I received an email from the league today stating that our check will be cashed in the morning, which means WE'RE IN! BSSL welcomes BCS XI to Division 4.

Now, we have a just a few more details to complete; not the least of which is getting together to start playing. We'll plan on playing Saturday morning until the season starts, and before too long we'll get together to train some day midweek.

Congrats team, thanks for all being a part of this and making Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Eleven a reality.

League Application Submitted!

2009-02-20T23:10:00.003-05:00

The league Pres. had a few questions for us, he's still a little concerned about our field situation, as am I. But that was the only question that's at all hampering our chances of getting one of the remaining spots. He should have the check tomorrow, and we'll see what he says to my response about the field; maybe he's got a suggestion for another one.

I spoke with a couple of distributors for uniforms and got some decent pricing. The rep over at Challenger Team Wear is sending over a couple of sample jerseys for me to take a look at. He's got some pretty great pricing, and he's local [down in RI] so I'm feeling good about that.

Hoping to make a little more headway on a sponsor for these jerseys since the Asgard backed out. We have a positive lead over at Razzy's on Somerville Ave. So, it'd be nice to get something to help cover costs.

All in all, things are looking good. Keep checking back for more updates.

A Few More Signings

2009-02-17T23:23:00.004-05:00

I received payment and signed player forms from 3 more guys today so that means we are currently a squad of 15 and have interest for the last few spots. I feel that this roster is large enough that I am going to try and submit our application for the league Wednesday 18 Feb. 2009.

I'm going to list Dilboy Stadium as our home field since I feel confident in what the superintendent has told me about our chances for Saturday mornings.

Hopefully this will secure our spot in the league; I know the Boston Korean Football Club has recently submitted their app and I know there are other leagues gunning for the other 2 spots, so I'm really hoping we'll get one.

I'll post more news as this develops.

BSSL annual league meeting

2009-02-02T22:10:00.003-05:00

Tonight Tom and I attended the BSSL meeting at The Green Briar. It was definitely time well spent. We learned a bit more about the league, got to meet Cesar the league President. We met a great guy, James Park who's looking to get his team into the league. Since we each only have about 10 guys committed we talked about combining our efforts. It looks like it could be a great collaboration for a team. James mentioned their work on securing a field, and we talked about some of our other organization, including exploring a sponsorship by The Asgard Pub in Central Sq. Speaking of which, Tom and I made a stop there on the way back from the meeting and will be submitting a proposal to them tomorrow.

I also got a price quote on uniforms today and we're looking into getting home and away kits for 20-25 guys. It's looking like it'll be around $1500-$2000 for that. If anyone has a hookup with uniform providers, let me know.

It really looks like things are coming together, and I'm pretty optimistic that we'll be able to get our info back to the league in 2 weeks at the absolute latest.

Maybe a chance...

2009-02-02T01:06:00.004-05:00

We're holding out hope that we can pull everything together for a run at the league. Tom and I are attending a mandatory meeting Monday the 2nd [Groundhog Day] to find out more and meet some league members, including the President.

We still need a field, so if you have leads, let me know.
Our roster needs to be filled to 18 and right now we're at 5 confirmed 7-8 likely and hoping to hear back from a dozen others asap. And there's the matter of the $1,000 non-refundable payment for various league fees all due by the mid-end of Feb.

-semi-team news, a few team members including me will be playing on a small indoor team starting on the 12th in Woburn under the moniker FC Alewife. I've posted a calendar of our matches and will maybe post results on here. I'll do something similar for the BSSL matches, so this is a decent practice run.

Baller FC: 5 BCS XI: 1

2009-01-15T14:31:00.003-05:00

This game was once again delayed because of the atrocious weather this Fall. When we couldn't play on Saturday the 14th we planned to play the next Saturday before the league awards ceremony. However, the league president informed us that we must play before Saturday because this game affected the teams at the top of the table and he needed time to order the proper trophies for the winners. So, we reluctantly agreed to play the next day, Sunday the 15th in Lancaster at 12pm. This came about after almost a full day of back and forth calling between us and them, and our own players to see if it would even be possible to field a team on such short notice. We decided to go for it.

We arrived knowing that we would have 9 players for the whole game. One of these players had barely kicked a ball for 3 months after being stuck in Turkey on military duty, and another had visa problems and was delayed coming back to the US from the UK and had arrived at 11pm the night before... tip top physical form after hopping the pond to play. We saw multiple players suffering from cramps even before the halftime whistle, and we knew with no subs and 2 men down battling one of the best teams in the league who had more than enough guys there, we would really have to work hard.

We did work hard. We went up 1-0 in the first 2 minutes of the game when Mark went screaming down the left flank, cut back inside and blasted one past the keeper at the far post. He gladly went sliding down the hill on his knees in his almost famous "Torres" slide.

We continued to fight for ever ball, and everyone on the team worked extra hard to keep us in it. After about 20 minutes we let in one goal, and quickly let in another. Both were a bit unlucky, and Sam nearly saved them. He played well in goal, and just couldn't manage to get the ball to stick to his hands as he fell on it.

This took some of the wind from our sails but we still felt like we weren't totally out of it. At the half we got as much rest as possible and had good positive conversation. We came out flying. The first 10 minutes we had them on the back foot and the ball practically didn't leave their half of the pitch. However, we just couldn't manage to get another one in the net, and our energy really started to wane as they overloaded one side of the attack or the other.

Our attackers tracked back and helped out and the backline made quite a few fearless tackles. In the end we just couldn't keep up with the 2 man advantage, especially with them bringing in fresh legs from substitutions and we began to ship goals until the scoreline was probably a bit flattering to them compared to how valiantly the 9 of us played.

The match couldn't end with out a few cards. We had a couple and they managed to get some, particularly their attackers, one of which continually complained about the off side calls, despite constantly being off side. Also, the biggest guy on the field clearly hacked and took down Erhan right after a kick off, and Houdlette in our own box earning him his second yellow, and his marching orders. He continued to mouth off to the ref and everyone on the field, including his whole team, as he had during the match.

We feel confident that things would have been dramatically different had we been able to play with our full squad, or even something more like it. However, we were a little let down by some of our own players, but even more so by the league who pressured us into this type of a rematch when we neither team was happy about the lack of time to set things up properly.

Latest News

2008-11-09T22:13:00.003-05:00

In the last post I mentioned Dilboy field in Somerville being a possible home field; unfortunately it looks like it's less available than we'd need. However, Tom found one in Medford worth looking in to, and I got an email response from the league commisioner with a field in the Watertown/Waltham area that's available for an 8am spot. It's a pretty cheap field, but we'd have to supply nets and line the field for each game...not that bad. I haven't seen it, but sounds like it might be a winner [since there are such few options].

We've had even more response from the craigslist ads and it's looking like we won't haven too much trouble coming up with a full squad before the Jan. 1 deadline.

One of the next priorities is figuring out the financial situation and seeing how much this is going to cost each of us, and how much we'll be able to get out of a sponsor or two. If any of you have affiliations with bars/pubs or anyone else that might sponsor a team let me know.

Things are coming together...

2008-10-30T01:53:00.006-04:00

Big thanks to Tom in helping get things moving. We may have secured a home field for the BSSL season, at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville. I'm going to make some calls to a couple of other places, and try to shore up a pitch asap.

Also, with the help of craigslist we have some interest in the club and we will hopefully be filling up a full squad before too long.
Tom is working on getting us some funding from a sponsor or two, and I've been looking around at screen printers for getting logos on jerseys once we settle on a kit supplier.
Hopefully I'll get things settled with the crest and it will get cleaned up and ready for good before too long.
Exciting stuff going on. Keep checking in for more news.

Boston Cambridge Somerville Eleven

2008-07-01T01:01:00.005-04:00

This is the future home of my football club. All footballers in the Boston, Cambridge, Somerville area interested in playing for a new club, let me know.

Past Golden Boot Winners

2008-03-22T23:52:00.010-04:00

2010
Joe Adu

Tally

1	Adu	12*
2	Chika	7
3	Johnson	6
4	Pasek	4
5	Leon	4
6	Vesper	3
7	Drew	2
8	Palencia	1
9	Owusu	1
10	Houdlette	1
11	Macurdy	1
12	Rawson	1
13	Falkowski	1
14	Schiller	1
15	Hoot	1

* 1 goal scored by Joe in a cup game

2009
Mark Nolan

Tally

1	Mark Nolan	7
2	Joe Adu	5
3	Armand Gottlieb	3
4	Steve Irwin	3
5	Jan Falkowski	2
6	Andy Allen	1
7	Darren Johnson	1
8	Doosup Lee	1
9	Emre Ozkumur	1
10	Erhan Ermis	1
11	Sam McKenney	1
12	Stephen Houdlette	1
13	Will Tulaba	1

Calendar

2008-03-22T23:27:00.004-04:00

Club History

2008-03-22T23:06:00.003-04:00

Boston Cambridge Somerville Eleven began in the mind of Logan Wangsgard, looking to play for a competitive club in the area but finding it tough to join mid-season decided to start a new club. After a lot of name ideas and crest designs the club began to take shape with a name that pulls together 3 of the great urban cities in the metro area.

Things really began to roll when Tom Allen moved to the area from Salt Lake City. Logan and Tom got to work improving the club details and getting things to be official. In early 2009 the club was admitted to the Bay State Soccer League and so the club began.

With a lot of work from Tom, Logan and Mike Gove BCS XI came together deciding on uniforms, new team members and our home field, Dilboy Stadium in Somerville.

Past Results

2008-03-22T22:50:00.025-04:00

Index
Spring 2010
Fall 2010
Spring 2009
Fall 2009

2010

Spring 2010
Fxt.	Home		Away		Notes
1	D.C. Alliance	1	2	BCS XI
2	BCS XI	3	0	Commoners
3	Top Star Tickets	1	1	BCS XI
4	BCS XI	2	0	Chimpo Dragons FC
cup	Carico FC	3	1	BCS XI	[First round of McKenzie Cup]
5	The Druids	3	1	BCS XI
6	BCS XI	1	2	D.C. Alliance
7	Commoners	0	1	BCS XI
8	BCS XI	7	0	Top Star Tickets	[played on Jul. 10]
9	Chimpo Dragons FC	0	1	BCS XI
10	BCS XI	1	4	The Druids
Fall 2010
11	BCS XI	1	1	D.C. Alliance	[played on Sep. 14]
12	Commoners	1	1	BCS XI
13	BCS XI	5	1	Top Star Tickets
14	Chimpo Dragons FC	0	0	BCS XI
15	BCS XI	2	1	The Druids
16	D.C. Alliance	1	4	BCS XI
17	BCS XI	3	0	Commoners
18	Top Star Tickets	0	5	BCS XI
19	BCS XI	3	2	Chimpo Dragons FC
20	The Druids	2	4	BCS XI	[played on Nov. 13]

2009

Spring 2009
Fxt.	Home		Away		Notes
1	BKFC	4	1	BCS XI	[played on Jul. 11]
2	BCS XI	0	2	Independiente FC
3	FC International	1	7	BCS XI
4	BCS XI	2	0	Essex County FC
5	FC Cobra	3	0	BCS XI
6	BCS XI	1	2	Commoners
7	OHP Gunners	2	1	BCS XI
8	Ballers FC	1	2	BCS XI
9	BCS XI	2	4	Chimpo Dragons FC
Fall 2009
10	BCS XI	3	0	BKFC	[played on Nov. 7]
11	Independiente FC	2	2	BCS XI
12	BYE	-	-	BYE	[FC International left the league]
13	BYE	-	-	BYE	[Essex County FC left the league]
14	BCS XI	2	1	FC Cobra
15	Commoners	1	2	BCS XI
16	BCS XI	0	1	OHP Gunners
17	BCS XI	1	5	Ballers FC	[played on Nov. 14]
18	BCS XI	2	2	Chimpo Dragons FC

BCS XI current results

Past Rosters

2008-03-22T19:38:00.059-04:00

2009
Joseph Adu
Erhan Ermis
Jan Falkowski
Timothy Fleck
Benjamin Forrest
Armand Gottlieb
Michael Gove
Stephen Houdlette
Steve Irwin
Darren Johnson
Nathan Lee
Samuel McKenney
Richard Naylor
Mark Nolan
Emre Ozkumur
Bradley Rawson
William Tulaba
Ye Wang
Logan Wangsgard

Photos

2008-03-22T15:31:00.016-04:00

Gunners - TCSR Academy Scrimmage
5.23.2009

About the Crest

2008-03-22T15:23:00.001-04:00

The crest for BCS XI reflects the club’s rich surroundings. The shield in the center contains elements from the city seals of Boston (bottom) Cambridge (left) and Somerville (right). At the center is an antique style soccer ball; a nod to the tradition of the game which unites the members who live in the different towns. Each side of the shield is supported by a raven, commonly regarded as the most intelligent of birds, and they are each standing upon a book which is a reference to the large number of colleges and universities in the area. The banner lists the city names of the team, and the team name is centered on the bottom of the crest. The “eleven” in BCS XI refers to the number of players on the pitch and is a reminder that each position is important. The team is stronger than the individual.

Past Tables

2008-03-22T09:45:00.029-04:00

2010

Division 4										Red Cards
		P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	PT	LG-CP	-PT
1	The Druids	20	17	3	0	83	18	+65	48	3-0	3
2	BCS XI	20	13	3	4	48	20	+28	43	0-0	0
3	D.C. Alliance	20	9	10	1	35	41	-6	21	3-0	7	*
4	Top Star Tickets.com	20	5	13	2	32	70	-38	17	1-0	0
5	Commoners	20	4	10	6	37	61	-24	16	1-0	2	*
6	Chimpo Dragons FC	20	3	12	5	29	54	-25	2	1-0	12	*

[* - denotes additional points deducted for rule violations]

2009

Division 4										Red Cards
		P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	PT	LG-CP	-PT
1	Independiente Futbol Club	16	11	1	4	55	15	+40	37	1-0	0
2	Ballers FC	16	11	3	2	52	23	+29	35	1-0	0
3	OHP Gunners	16	10	4	2	48	20	+28	32	0-0	0
4	Chimpo Dragons FC	16	7	7	2	37	37	0	23	0-0	0
5	BCS XI	16	6	8	2	28	31	-3	20	1-0	0
6	FC Cobra	16	7	8	1	28	36	-8	20	0-0	2	*
7	BKFC	16	6	9	1	29	43	-14	19	1-0	0
8	Essex County FC	9	4	5	0	15	26	-11	10	1-0	2	*
9	Commoners	16	2	12	2	16	53	-37	8	0-0	0
10	FC International	9	1	8	0	7	31	-24	-5	0-0	8	*

[* - denotes additional points deducted for rule violations]

Current table

Past Man of the Match Winners

2008-03-22T01:07:00.004-04:00

2010

2009

Week 3: Joe Adu
Week 4: Stephen Houdlette [entire back line]
Week 8: Sam McKenney [filling in as keeper]
Week 11: Mark Nolan
Week 14: Richard Naylor
Week 15: Jan Falkowski