play with your head, win with your heart
On Sunday evening, under the lights in Worcester, the Mustangs won a decisive victory over the number 2 seed – Pingree. Bouda opened the scoring in the 5th minute and netted the eventual game winner five minutes later. Pingree proved to be a worthy opponent and, for long stretches of the game, gave the Mustangs almost all they could handle. While the Highlanders creating numerous chances of their own, they were unable to do better than one goal, on a restart just before halftime. Our signatures all season long - a stingy defense, hard work in the midfield and a potent offense - proved to be the difference. Tensions ran high in the later stages and the referee was forced to issue a flurry of yellow cards to both sides in the waning minutes. Despite this unpleasantness, the whistle blew and Millbrook was the champion!
The Mustangs experienced both the joy of victory and the satisfaction which comes from achieving a common goal. This team has managed to find itself in the championship game for the second year in a row. They are a better, more balanced team this year and have weathered a host of challenging situations. As all champions must, the boys have picked themselves up and moved forward in spite of these setbacks. They played yesterday without the services of Day and Mohammed, injured in the final week of the season. Cott, Frankenbach, Jones, Schwartz and Stark came off the bench in critical moments to help keep us on track. The back four – Darmon, Colman, Conte and Simons – played magnificent team defense in the face of relentless pressure from skilled opponents. Domber, Roberts and Tardio were rock steady in the midfield, channeling the opposition away from our net while launching our counters into their zone. Sosnow and Grossman were tireless in their pursuit of the ball. Each drove repeatedly into the Pingree zone to launch dangerous crosses into the box. And, Bouda was Bouda. He scored all five of our goals, bringing his total to 10 goals in the final two games. His skill, speed and determination were insurmountable.
Our thanks to all of you who have supported us this fall and who attended the game yesterday. It has been a superb season to be a Mustang.
