Dear Parents & Players,

We continue to review each of our Pre-High School team's fall season and celebrate the players that have been awarded team of the season. Yesterday's post reviewed the 5v5 and 7v7 teams. [See the post here] 

The purpose of these reviews is to give a quick insight to each team for all to read, adding to the club-centric approach for player development. 

The fall usually presents some challenges as it is the start of the soccer year. New players and coaches have to be adapted to, new field sizes for many and for the older players the adaptation to Regional soccer.

From a club perspective, the addition of our 2011 boys and girls teams in Milford creates a bigger pool of players under the Inter CT banner and a greater talent pool as the USL Academy looks pull from our teams.

2011 Boys NAC 

This is the first year the boys step up from 7v7 to 9v9, which means more tactical elements to soccer need to be focused on to get good performances. Throughout the season, we worked a lot on playing out of defense, maintaining possession, and trying to play forward at the right points during games. The results from the season varied from game to game, with some great performances and some bad. The boys are a confidence-driven team. We saw instances of this at the Poughkeepsie tournament. Each game was better than the last, and in the final, we played some great soccer and had a comfortable win.

I'm looking forward to the winter to improve as a team and get us playing some confident soccer and believing we can win each game. 

2011 Boys NEC

The boys did a great job stepping up from 7v7 to 9v9 as a lot more focus is needed in training to understand the tactical differences from the 7v7 style. We played some excellent games throughout the season and put what we had been doing about playing out of defense into game day. One thing we lacked this season was an attacking threat. We were a very defensive-minded team which meant we didn't create enough chances during games. The Poughkeepsie tournament was great for the boys as I saw a more attacking soccer style in each game. This was down to the confidence the boys had, which showed each game.

I'm looking forward to the winter season to get the boys playing more confident, getting forward, and joining in attacks to be more of an attacking unit. 

2011 Boys MUSC (Milford)

A very positive season for another one of our new teams. Challenging this group with new tactical components was an exciting transition and they embraced that challenge very well. Consistency will be our point of focus going forward as this will ultimately enable us to progress to the next level. There were many games this season where we look like a team who had been playing together for year and were ruthless against our opponents such as the game against a strong Ginga team of which the performance was top level. Naturally making the transition to 9v9 we had a couple of games where we didn't quite find our Rythm and that's okay because we can learn from that going forward. We finished mid table in our EDP bracket and the highlight of the season was winning the Poughkeepsie tournament of which I am so proud of the team for. Great work boys!

2010 Boys NAC

I would say the 2010 NAC had a successful fall season overall. They started the season very well with a few convincing victories against Sporting CT and Ole. We learned a tough lesson in some games on how important it is to have good end product when you are on top in games. Our Poughkeepsie tournament was a success with the boys finishing in first place playing up a year. I enjoyed how well this team did on counter-attacks. There were multiple games this season that the boys defended well and looked to counterattack when we had the ball back. The best example of this was when we played FSA Elite (who are ranked #1 in the state) in a friendly game and went on to win it 2-1 because of the way the boys defended and took their chances when they came. 

Player of the Season - Sebby Carter who was our leading goal soccer for the season scoring a hat-trick on two occasions. With special mentions to Beckham Martino, Pat Flynn, Emiliano Higareda, and Henry Buczkiewicz

2010 Boys NEC

We had a little bit of an up and down season for the 2010 NEC team. When this team was focused and engaged we played some beautiful soccer and scored lots of goals. And example of this was when we played Chelsea Piers Shoreline home and away when we scored over six goals in both the games. In some of the games where we just couldn't get that first goal to get us going in the game, these games became a little bit harder and a few more mistakes started to creep in. From a style of play point of view, I felt the boys look to play out from the back, tried to connect through the third's, and even created goal scoring opportunities frequently. I am a big believer that goals change games and we just couldn't seem to get that important goal in some games.

Player of the Season - Nolan Ripp who was an ever present in the side at center-back and helped keep us in many games. With special mentions to Dutch Schlegelmilch, Evan Freeman, Kai Massicott, and Andrew Eckert

2010 Boys EDP

For our EDP team, it was a tale of two halves. The first half of the season was tough as we didn't play as a team and we tried to do a lot as individuals so we couldn't compete in all areas of the game. Once we got back from the Poughkeepsie tournament. It was like the boys were a totally different group, going on to be undefeated in our last four games with three wins and a tie. But more importantly to me during these four games, the boys didn't concede one single goal. With a little bit of belief and self-confidence in their ability, we went from a group of individuals to a team of brothers who were willing to fight and compete for each other. A good example of this is we played the same team the first game of the season and on the last game of the season. In the first game we lost 4-1, in the second game we tied 0-0 and arguably had a better chances to go on and win the game.

Player of the Season - Zach Drew - Since Zach's change of position to centerback we went on a four game streak where we didn't concede a goal. Zacks organization and passion to win the ball was definitely a key factor in the teams improvement. With special mentions to Bilal Diagne, Max Tangen, Reid Kahn, Ryan Hoeing, and Thomas Hendricks 

2011 / 2010 Girls 

This group of young ladies showed a lot of heart throughout this fall season. Players stepped up into leaders roles on and off the field. The girls learned to play different formations and were put in different positions in order to develop their understanding of the game as a whole. With a strong technically focused winter season, there is much excitement to see what the future holds for this group! 

2011 Girls MUSC (Milford)

Another one of our new teams, full of talent and energy. It was a tough start to life playing at this level for the first time as we made the transition from Town level soccer to Premier level soccer. Our first 3 league games were competitive but you could tell we were playing teams that had been playing at this level for a little longer. This is why I am so proud of this group as we hit the half way stage of the season after a very positive Poughkeepsie tournament and going on a run of league games where we only lost 1 game which was in a very competitive game against the team that won our league. Once this group found their rhythm we became a very tough team to beat as well as showing we can be very dangerous in attack with our speed, power and technical ability. We ended up finishing the season mid-table in our bracket which sets us up well for the spring season. This is team is going places and I cannot wait to see them continue to grow! Great work ladies!

2010 Girls NEC

The 2010 NAC Girls team finished the season third in their division with a record of 2 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. I think from beginning to end of the spring season we developed and got better as a team. One of the biggest issues throughout the course of the season has been being hesitant when going into tackles or 50/50 balls. The last weekend of games the girls really showed what they could do on the field. We tied OGRCC, who finished the season 1st in our bracket but you would have never known that because of our want to win. We played as a team. We worked hard. We wanted the game more than they did. It was so much fun to watch. In the winter we will continue to focus on individual skill sets such as confidence when we have the ball, not being afraid of pressure (not just kicking) as well as team skills, passing/movement off the ball.