Shrewsbury – The Shrewsbury Boys U12 Division 1 Soccer team capped off their regular season by defeating Uxbridge 5-1 in the Midland Area Youth Soccer (MAYS) championship game June 18.
The U12 team consists of boys in 5th and 6th grade, ages 11 to 12, and is led by head coach Ray Orciuch with assistants Mike Filiere and John Curtis. After a fall season record of 5-2, the U12 team stayed together and competed in various winter indoor seasons and continued to improve. Led by a stifling defense that allowed a state best 2 goals against (6 consecutive shutouts) the team compiled a spring record of 7-0-1. The team's only tie was against Uxbridge during the regular season.
With the win, the team advanced to the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC) at the Citizen Bank Fields (Progin Park) in Lancaster. The MTOC brings together the 10 Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association leagues to crown an overall state champion. The Shrewsbury boys won their group in round-robin play and advanced to the final four “knockout round.” They won a semi-final game, against a good team from Wellesley, with penalty kicks after playing to a regulation and double-overtime tie.
In the State Final game the team lost, 2-1, for the first time in the season, to Dartmouth despite constant pressure on the Dartmouth goal in the final 30 minutes. The team finished its successful season with a record of 10-1-2, ranked second in the state.
