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Methuen Boys Soccer Preview

2006 record: 10-10-1, lost in Division 1 North preliminaries

Returning starters (6): Jarrod Burke, Sr., defense; Jimmy Cote, Sr., midfield; Alex Kingsley, Sr., midfield; Bill Gagne, Jr., midfield; John Mosley, Jr., defense; Jonathan Borden, Jr., midfield

Returning lettermen: same as above

Newcomers: Keith Doucot, Sr., midfield; Paul Doucot, Sr., midfield; Andrew DeCola, Sr., defense; Gregory Hunter, Sr., goalie; Eric Bajor, Jr., defense; Kevin Dorgan, Jr., defense; Nick Molinari, Jr., midfield; Jeremy Fieldhouse, Jr., midfield; Ermil Mua, Jr., defense; Jonathan Nufio, Jr., forward; Gus Lopes, Soph., midfield/forward; Curtis Pereira, Soph., forward

Candidates in all grades: 50

Captains: Alex Kingsley, Jim Cote, Jarrod Burke

Returning leaders: None

Returning honorees: Jarrod Burke MVC All-Star

Assistants: Glen Gaccione, varsity asst.; John Shimer, JV; David LaCroix, JV

Opener: Thursday, Sept. 6 at Billerica, 3:30 p.m. Odds and ends: The Rangers are undergoing a major rebuilding process as the six returning starters are the team's only returning lettermen. ... Gus Lopes is a sophomore transfer from Brazil. His older brother Renot once scored 20 goals for the Rangers. ... Senior newcomers Keith and Paul Doucot are twins. Both will play midfield. ... Jimmy Cote and Jarrod Burke are second-year captains. Cote is an Eagle-Tribune All-Star in baseball. ... Last year was the Rangers' first tourney berth since 2002.

Coach Claude Beaudet (11th year, 60-97-36): "I think we're going to be pretty competitive. Most of the newcomers are actually juniors and they'll be filling some big holes. I'm pretty confident that they can be good. Our go-to guys will be Alex Kingsley and Jimmy Cote in the middle. My whole midfield is back, but the forwards are new. We have some kids that are more than capable though. We had a great end of last season (won 5 of 6 down the stretch to make the tournament. I think we can be competing for one of the top two spots in the MVC Small."