Everybody either wants to pitch or play shortstop, but an entire roster needs to be filled out and a set of roles must be assigned.
Whitcomb had plenty of players willing to score goals, but he had to stress the importance of defense. At the U.S. Youth Soccer Region 1 tournament this weekend, his team fulfilled his hopes.
Maine Coast United allowed only one goal in three games, and before the tournament, Whitcomb estimated his team gave up one goal in 17 games in front of goalkeeper Kyle DeVinney, with Ryan Rybka anchoring the defense.
The team won two games in the tournament and was denied a spot in the semifinals when it lost to New Jersey 1-0 on Sunday.
"It was people giving up a little of their own game to make the team better," Whitcomb said.
Whitcomb said his team built upon early-season competition and won a tournament in Connecticut over Memorial Day weekend.
"We had a lot of success at different tournaments and we started to believe that we could compete," Whitcomb said.
In Pool A, Maine Coast United defeated Beachside (Conn.) 3-0 and Syracuse Blitz (New York West) 5-0 and lost to the Pasco (N.J.) Stallions, 1-0. Pasco defeated FC Delco Roadkill of Pennsylvania 1-0 in the semifinals and will face Baltimore Casa Mia of Maryland for the U-14 title.
A new round of tryouts will come next year, which Whitcomb hopes will generate strong interest in his team.
"With success, hopefully people will want to be on the team," Whitcomb said. "This fuels that momentum."
SPECTATORS FROM the other fields turned towards field No. 5 at Bowdoin College to watch a shootout between Massachusetts and Maryland in a U-18 boys' semifinals, as Western United FC earned a 1-0 shootout win over the Baltimore Casa Mia Bays, considered the top U-18 boys' team in the tournament.
Western United FC will face Terryville Fire, the New York West representative, at 10:30 a.m. today at Bowdoin for the Region 1 championship.
A PAIR OF out-of-state players have been blogging about the tournament on usyouthsoccer.org.
Alex Beatty of FC Delco's U-14 boys' team and Daphne Corboz of New Jersey's Players Development Academy's U-14 girls' team have chronicled the days prior to the tournament and the progress of the tournament.
On his blog, Beatty pointed out that seven of FC Delco's eight teams advanced to the tournament semifinals, with a collective record of 21-1-2.
Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be contacted at 791-6415 or at:
rlenzi@pressherald.com
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