Westwood 7th/8th Grade Girls’ Soccer Team Wins State Championship

Westwood Youth Soccer’s 7th and 8th grade girls’ team, Westwood Rovers, made Westwood history this spring by winning the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC). They are the first-ever soccer team from Westwood to win their age bracket at MTOC since the tournament began in 2007.

It is a season-ending tournament that brings together age/gender group champions from participating town-based travel leagues from across the state. “It was a strong motivation [for the Rovers], being the first Westwood team to win,” says Rovers’ Head Coach, Terry Connaughton.

The Rovers are now rising 8th and 9th graders. Connaughton reports that entering ninth graders from the team have been practicing with him twice a week to prepare for Westwood High School soccer try-outs.

When asked what he likes about coaching, he replied “It’s great when you get to know your children and their friends...and watch them all grow and improve in the sport.” Many of the seventeen girls on the Rovers played soccer together since Kindergarten. Their win is the finale of Connaughton’s sixteen years of coaching youth soccer.

To qualify for the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions, the Rovers finished on top of their section with an impressive 6-3-1 record during the Boston Area Youth Soccer(BAYS) 10 week spring season. The girls then defeated all opponents in the BAYS playoff rounds to advance to the statewide MTOC, where they prevailed over challengers from West Bridgewater, Marshfield, Pepperell, and Berkshire Hills. In the finals, they won 2-1 against Arlington, with the game going to penalty kicks,

Connaughton’s assistant coaches were Chris McCusker, Chris Hancock, and Derek DeStefano.