Needham Express - U-16 BAYS 2000 Photo Gallery

Some of the Players
Pictures © Ilene Hoffman May - June, 2000. Please email to request reuse. (Scroll down).

Navigation Note: You can click on any picture and then follow the forward and back arrows to move from picture to picture or use the up arrow to come back to this page (the index). The links back to the soccer table of contents is on the top of the index page.

Needham Express - Youth Soccer's Finest - June 2000
article by Rich McLaughry
(edited by Ilene Hoffman)



Coached by Tom Day and Rich McLaughry, the Needham Express U-16 soccer team played a killer season in the Bays U16 League last spring. Needham Express finished with 11 wins and a tie. On June 15th they fought hard to win 3-1 against the Brookline Wizards. By no means bigger than their foes, they showed exemplary ball-handling skills and sportsmanship, while Brookline bullied their way through the game. June 16th they play against Wayland to qualify for the BAYS Section championship and a place in the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC). Some of the pictures below are from the MTOC, in which our team played admirably, but did not place.

Season Highlights:
"On Sunday, May 14th the Needham Express U-16 soccer team downed Bedford 3-2 for the second time this year. After spotting Bedford an early 2-0 lead, the team settled down and controlled play for the remainder of the game with a crisp short passing game. Colin banged in the first goal during a scramble in front of the net. Late in the first half, Alix Soles split the defense and laid a neat pass to Dave, who touched home the score. Early in the second half, Pablo scored the game winner on a quick turnaround shot. The Express has 5 wins and a tie so far this season." The Boston Area Youth Soccer (BAYS) is the youth soccer league for towns in the greater Boston area.