Courtesy: Arlington Advocate


Under-10 boys are state champs

Thu Feb 05, 2009

On Saturday, January 17, the Under-10 boys of Athletic Club (AC) Arlington went undefeated in five matches at the 2009 Massachusetts Futsal State Cup in Mansfield to become the U10 state champions.

They will now carry their title to the regional futsal championships in New York City on Feb. 14 and 15 with the chance to earn a place in the national championship being held in July in Baltimore, Maryland.

Futsal, a contraction of the Spanish words for soccer (futbol) and room (sala), is the way 12 million athletes around the world play indoor soccer. Games take place on a basketball-size court without the sideboards or walls used in other indoor versions of the game. Without the walls to contain the ball, futsal develops strong soccer skills, demanding deft dribbling and pin-point passing.

After winning three competitive matches at the Mansfield Sportsplex in round-robin play against Revere FC, Abbey Villa of Hopkinton, and the multi-town Devastating Ball Control (DBC) team, AC-Arlington defeated Everett, 6-2, in the semifinals. They then faced DBC for a second time in the finals, emerging with a 6-4 victory.

Arlington residents Shaya Hedayatian and Arian Pilja propelled the offense, each scoring a late goal in the finals to secure the win, while fellow Arlingtonians Tomasso Vallagussa and Phineas Santello anchored the defense. Felipe Cypriano of Malden was the formidable goalie. Significant contributions came from Alex Sena-Leo of Northborough and Alex Arnold and Oisin Trianor of Belmont.

New U-10 head coach Fedja Pilja and assistant coach Mark Santello were very pleased with the outcome of their first tournament with the team.

The AC-Arlington Club was the most successful club at the state-wide event with its U11, U12, and U13 teams all advancing to the regional championships.

The U11 and U12 teams were the state runners-up in their respective divisions, each suffering a defeat in the finals, but advancing as both first and second place teams to go to the regional tournament. After a seeding error resulted in the U13 team not being placed in the appropriate advancement bracket, it also qualified to join fellow AC’ers in the Big Apple.








Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com