Sports

'Unselfish' WHS Boys Soccer Team Ready For Season

The Rangers' season opener is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Grafton.

The Westborough High School varsity boys soccer team has 15 seniors, and "they're one of the most unselfish groups I've ever been around," head coach John Hillier says.

At the same time, the Rangers will have a new keeper and a new head coach, both up from the 2012 freshman team.

"For this group of kids, as with any group, it's the first time that they're playing together," Hillier said. 

"I think they have high expectations, but we'll see how they play."

The Rangers' season opener is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Grafton.

"Grafton always has a good squad. They're always well coached," Hillier said.

Westborough's home opener is at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12 against Shrewsbury.

Senior captains Carter Reynolds, Brendan Goodliffe and Steven Frame will lead the Rangers, who finished 2012 at 8-7-2, and then, in the 2012 Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Soccer Central Division 1 tournament, defeated South in a first-round game, 2-0, and then lost to Algonquin in the quarterfinals, 3-0.

Reynolds, a center back and a midfielder, is "a player that I think speaks his mind. He wants to make sure that all of his teammates are on the same page that he's on," Hillier said.

"I hear him on the bench. He's not afraid to say, 'Coach, I don't know if this is going to work' or he'll say, 'Coach, that worked really well.' He's almost like another coach on the field, which is awesome."

Goodliffe, an offensive midfielder, "brings a lot of motivation, a lot of energy to our team. He has a lot of size and strength and speed. Anytime you look at Brendan, he's always got a big smile on his face. He doesn't ever seem like he's under pressure," Hillier said.

"And then we have Steven, who's very quiet, but you don't want to forget about Steven, because the next thing you know, he's got the ball in the back of the net. Steven's very fast, very quick. He's a  very smart player, very unselfish." striker

The Rangers' keeper will be sophomore Griffin Barry, whom Hillier coached as a freshman last season.

"Griffin has all the tools to be a great keeper. And I think for Griffin, he's just got to get comfortable with the rest of his teammates, because most of his teammates are seniors," Hillier said.

The roster is:

  • Seniors: striker Mads Fallentin, fullback Daniel Feigelman, striker Steven Frame, midfielder Pramod Ganjikunta, midfielder Brendan Goodliffe, midfielder Jeffrey Hannan, striker Alex Hoban, midfielder Carlos Macario, midfielder Cian Merritt, striker Ethan Peterson, striker Jamie Plowman, fullback Carter Reynolds, striker Tyler Slicklen, fullback Sean VanDoren and midfielder Carlos Vivar.
  • Juniors: midfielder Jameson Bradley, fullback Charlie Buress, keeper Taylor Chase and fullback Jake Pirdy.
  • Sophomores: keeper Griffin Barry and midfielder Lucas Pessoa.


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