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Inter CT 11v11 Team of the Season Announced

By Inter CT FC, 12/27/21, 5:00PM EST

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Read the 'Fall Review' & See Who Made Team of the Season

Players and parents,

Please enjoy the third installment of our "End of Season "Review for our pre-high school teams. This section is for players that play the 11v11. 

See the 7v7 section here

See the 9v9 section here

The purpose of these reviews is to give a quick insight into 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. There are new players and coaches to adapt to, new field sizes, and for some, the prospect of Regional soccer for the first time. 

Special mention to our 2008 Boys NAC team competing in the National League North Atlantic Coast Division. 

This team currently sits in second place going into the spring season. If they can maintain the level of play that they showed in the fall, we could see these guys heading to regionals.

Here is a rundown on each team and the 11 v 11 Team of the Season.

Click here to see web based page showing the full review of all teams.

2009 Boys NAC

The 2009 NEC team had a good season overall and showed big improvements in their performances and results in comparison to last season. It seemed the addition of a few new faces, a change of coach and step up to 11v11 soccer helped reinvigorate a team that had lost every game the season prior. 

“When I took over this team, I knew they had struggled last year. My first aim was to make them a little harder to beat, cut out as many errors at the back, and get them attacking with more pace, penetration, and directness,” said new Head Coach, Anthony Quinn. “I know playing out from the back is the in thing right now but when your team really struggles to do it you concede so many goals, you starve your attacking players of the ball and its hard to raise confidence levels as the team see’s themselves conceding goal after goal and losing every game. I wanted the boys to try and play the game in the opponents half. Get the ball forward a bit quicker and try to keep the opponents on the back foot.”

This change to a slightly more direct counter attacking approach seemed to work early on as the boys scored 15 goals in their first four games. Winning two and tying one in the process. 

“As the boys confidence developed I tried to introduce more possession based principles as the season went on. I slowly wanted them to start controlling the game with possession as well as fast attacks. This is harder to do as it requires better understanding of positioning, more patience, a higher technical level for the defenders and more of a calmness in possession. We struggled at times but I want to expose the players to different ways of playing the game to make sure they have a rounded skill set and fuller soccer education.” 

It will be interesting to see how this teams develops as we move into Winter training and then into the Spring. The attitude and willingness to put in the work has improved continuously throughout the season and we hope this continues going forward.

2009 Boys NEC

The 2009 NEC team had a good season overall, and showed big improvements in their performances and results in comparison to last season. It seemed the addition of a few new faces, a change of coach and step up to 11v11 soccer helped reinvigorate a team that had lost every game the season prior. 

“When I took over this team, I knew they had struggled last year. My first aim was to make them a little harder to beat, cut out as many errors at the back, and get them attacking with more pace, penetration, and directness” said new Head Coach Anthony Quinn. “I know playing out from the back is the in thing right now but when your team really struggles to do it you concede so many goals, you starve your attacking players of the ball and its hard to raise confidence levels as the team see’s themselves conceding goal after goal and losing every game. I wanted the boys to try and play the game in the opponents half. Get the ball forward a bit quicker and try to keep the opponents on the back foot.” This change to a slightly more direct counter attacking approach seemed to work early on as the boys scored 15 goals in their first four games. Winning two and tying one in the process. 

“As the boys confidence developed I tried to introduce more possession based principles as the season went on. I slowly wanted them to start controlling the game with possession as well as fast attacks. This is harder to do as it requires better understanding of positioning, more patience, a higher technical level for the defenders and more of a calmness in possession. We struggled at times but I want to expose the players to different ways of playing the game to make sure they have a rounded skill set and fuller soccer education.” 

It will be interesting to see how this teams develops as we move into winter training and then into the Spring. The attitude and willingness to put in the work has improved continuously throughout the season and we hope this continues going forward.

2008 Boys NAC

The 2008 NAC team had a fantastic Fall season. They currently sit second in the North Atlantic Conference with 7 wins from 9 games. They boast a very healthy return of 29 goals and found their form with a 6 game winning streak through the middle of the season. 

“We found a style of play that worked for us, particularly at home. We were able to score 19 goals & conceded only 2 in our 5 home games and won all 5. We focused on being defensively solid, not taking unnecessary risks in our own defensive 3rd, playing forward quickly into our attacking players and pressing with intensity in forward areas. The idea was to constantly keep the opponent under pressure and play with energy that they would struggle to match. We knew that if we limited our own mistakes and kept asking the opposition questions, our attacking talent would win us games.” 

Coach Anthony believes a big part of the success of the team this year came from their attitude and application in practice. “I’m in my third year coaching this team and I’ve noticed a big change in how they handle themselves in practice this season. The intensity in training has gone up another level. The boys really push each other to get the best out of themselves. There is a very healthy competitive edge every time we train. The players want to do their best and always want to win, even in training games.” This competitive edge and desire to never give up helped the team come from behind and win on three separate occasions this year. It’s the character and personality they have shown throughout the season, as well as their soccer ability that has helped push them along. 

Special mention to Emmett Zahler and Tommy DiCorpo who captained the side this season. Both players really stepped up this Fall and really took to the roles of being leaders on and off the field.

2008 Boys NEC 

The 2008 NEC team had a good season in terms of overall performances and started to look like a team that had more of an identity as the season went on. Despite a mix bag in regards to results Coach Anthony feels like this team is on the right track and expects a better performance in the league next season. 

“It was kind of a strange season in terms of results. We ended up drawing 4 out of 8 games and we really should have won them ones. We just struggled to finish off chances and would get caught against the run of play a lot.” 

The 2008 NEC team finished fourth but against the teams above them they lost 3-2 to Ajax, who won the league, despite leading comfortably 2-0 at half-time. They tied 0-0 with Shelton who finished second, despite having almost all the ball, territory and chances in the game. They also beat Vale 4-3 who finished 3rd, in a game that wasn’t as close as the scoreline suggested. 

“We began to get a little more structure as the season went on and we were able to stop counter attacks better. A little bit more work on creating better opportunities and finishing chances and I think the boys will be competing for the league next season. That should be their aim anyway. Of course it’s not just about winning at this age and I give that message to the players all the time. However, when you know you think you’re better than the teams you play, you should still go out with the attitude and desire to compete and win games. As competitors and sportsmen the will and desire to win is in all of us. It’s what drives us a lot of the time.” 

A special mention to Caden Crossen and Gabriel Duque who performed so well with the NEC team that they stepped up and played with the NAC team as well this season. Both performed very well and will get further chances to play with the NAC team next season. 

2007 Boys Fall Team

The 2007 Fall team came together late on in the Summer to provide our 8th-grade 2007 players an opportunity to play competitive soccer whilst the rest of their 2007 teammates started their High School careers. The nature of the team meant that the group lacked some balance positionally — we had 8 central midfielders, but there weren’t any goalkeepers or center backs! With midfielders playing across the defense and with goalkeepers borrowed from the 2008s (plus one game with a right back in goal), the boys bought into the spirit of the season and came together to form a tight group before splitting up again to join their regular teams for the winter and spring.

The 2007 Fall team ended the season with a 3-4-1 record, and scored 28 goals whilst giving up 31.

We wish all the players the best of luck as they rejoin their teammates for the remainder of the year.

2009 Girls NEC

The girls ended the season with a 4-1-3 record, taking third place in the conference. This was the first time the girls had played together as a team and on an 11v11 field. There was a big focus on developing tactical skills such as building out of the back, opening up on attack and playing through midfield. They’re accomplishments were immense and they’re commitment level was of the upmost important to each and every player! This was reflected in their winning record, having the highest amount of wins in the girls program.

2008 Girls NEC

The 2008 NEC girls team started off the season really strong, winning their first two games to CFC teams. However, as the season went on, we became complacent with those wins. We would work hard in practice against each other but when it came to competing in league games against opposition we weren’t working as hard as we should. After the losses to Ginga and CFC Arsenal Sky, it became apparent that something needed to change. As a group we agreed our practices needed to be more intense. The focus needed to be on urgency with and without pressure. I believe this a really good team, when they want to try and work hard. We can pass, receive, shoot and make movements of the ball. My goal during the last few weeks of the season was to instill that drive, confidence, fire in the belly feeling that I know they all have.  . The focus was on holding ourselves and our teammates accountable. The motto for the reason of the season was when we stepped onto the pitch, it’s focus and go time. We also started to do a little breathing exercise before the last few games which seemed to also calm our thoughts and relax us more.

During the course of the winter season we will continue to focus on the small parts of our game- passing, receiving, shooting, patterns off the ball but also start to really focus in on our body positioning when we receive a ball or go into a tackle making sure we come out with the ball.

2008 Girls EDP

The girls showed perseverance throughout the season. The teams record doesn’t reflect how much work this group of girls put into developing their technical abilities. They each improved greatly and it showed in their last few games of the season. There are high expectations for this group to grow and get to the next level of their ability.