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Gloucester and Rockport boys soccer both hosting tournament games

Thursday, November, 01 By Rich Slate
Staff writer

Through skill and some fortunate luck, both the Gloucester boys and Rockport boys soccer teams will be hosting MIAA State Tournament games this weekend.

Rockport is the No. 17 seed in Division 3 North and will play No. 16 Maimonides (a K-12 Jewish school from Brookline) in the preliminary round. Maimonides' home field didn't meet MIAA specifications so the Vikings will get an unexpected home game today (1:30 p.m.).

"It's a good draw, we didn't get another Cape Ann League school," said Rockport head coach Dave Curley. "With school spirit in mind, the principal (Dr. Charles Symonds) at Rockport is letting classes out early at 2:10 p.m. so we're looking forward to playing in front of a large home crowd." Maimonides competes in the Catholic Suburban League but it plays an independent schedule (think Notre Dame football). They're only 5-5-0 on the season. When he first saw the draw, Curley couldn't help but recall the magical 2001 postseason, which ironically was the last time Rockport made it.

"It looks like 2001, we caught a break then too as Lowell Catholic was seeded just ahead of us and the same thing happened with their field not being playable," Curley noted. "It was a great atmosphere at home that helped carry us to a win. Then we went to North Cambridge Catholic (the No. 1 seed) and we were able to get them at their place." The winner of this game will travel to No. 1 seed Shawsheen on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match.

The Gloucester Fishermen, the NEC South champions (for the second year in a row) were rewarded with a bye and a home game. Gloucester (12-3-2) is the No. 6 seed in Division 1 North. They'll meet the winner of No. 11 Madison Park (11-5-1) and No. 22 Malden (7-6-6) on Sunday night (6 p.m.) at Newell Stadium in Gloucester.

Madison Park is a Boston City League team while Malden competes in the Greater Boston League.

"So much depends on league strength," said Gloucester coach James Cook. "I know Madison Park has done a little bit more to play outside Boston City schools. They should have finished higher than us but they had an ineligible player so they had to forfeit some games.

"We had some success two years ago against Madison Park in the first round (a 3-0 win). They have some skill on the ball. They tend to put numbers around the ball and try to get two-on-ones. If it's Madison Park, we'll try to have numbers behind the ball and counter-attack."

Gloucester knocked off Peabody, 3-1, earlier this season. It turned out to be the Tanners only loss in their inaugural NEC campaign as they went 17-1-0 to earn the No. 1 seed in Division 1 North. Peabody used to be in the GBL, so Cook believes he knows what to expect from Malden.

"It's similar to the NEC, they pretty much play our style," Cook said. "We scrimmaged Cambridge in the preseason and were very evenly matched. My boys are pretty adaptable. I have a number of players, who play different styles. We'll prepare for whomever we draw."