Mass Young Gunners - Generals vs. NEFC West


Young Gunners 2012 - Generals


Mass Young Gunners - Generals vs. NEFC West

Thomas Prince School - Princeton, Ma

Sunday, September 19, 2021


Where’s the Field

The Gunners first home game was switched to the Thomas Prince Field and after looking

around the school for 15 minutes we were finally able to locate it through a hidden path! The

boys were excited to see each other again with lots of conversations, jokes and running around.

After the slow start in week one, coach asked for a bit more focus and intensity from the boys

during the warm-up since slow starts were historically an issue with our Lady Gunners.

They went from 5,000 jokes to 4,992 which is progress!


First Half

The Gunners came out knowing they had to play strong right from the beginning, going into

challenges aggressively and with intensity! NEFC used their speed to attack often, but the

Gunners stepped up often by winning physical battles. We were able to show off some of

our 1v1 skills, but often lost possession entering the opponent’s half. The lack of passing training

as a team to maintain possession and moving into open space was noticeable with the opponent

easily winning the ball back. Much of the half continued that way, with the Gunners fighting

hard to win possession and their opponents using minimum energy to regain possession.

The half ended with a score of 5-0.


Half-Time Adjustments

The talk at half was about winning every possession and having our midfielders track back on

defense to help protect the keeper and support the defenders. We won over 50 tough, physical

challenges, but lost 10 which led to the five goals and another five shots. The boys

communicated that when they lost the battle, the other team had a great opportunity on our

keeper. The Gunners continued to fight hard and managed to score a goal after Alvyn Trotta

dribbled past a few defenders and placed a great shot low and to the corner.

The final score was 9-1, but more importantly, we identified the need to focus on passing and

possession during training.



Players of the Match

The rotation at left and right back from Markens Benoit, Mason Mandracchia, and Tyler Rice

throughout the game showed the toughness and physicality we plan to bring each game. They

each won many important battles and used control to dribble out of danger or pass out wide to

our midfielders. 

(Need to be tougher against these two!)


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