The Westport boys soccer team beat South Shore Voc-Tech, 2-1, in a crossover tournament game on May 1, getting payback against the team that knocked them out of the south sectionals in the 2019 season.  

“Beating South Shore meant a lot to us as a team,” said Head Coach Chris Parker. “There was a little extra for this game. We got a little revenge.” 

“It was a good, good soccer game,” Coach Parker said. “We controlled the game for the most part and it was a nice way to end the season, especially for my seniors.”

The Wildcats went 5-0-1 in their final 6 games to finish the season with a 9-3-1 record good enough for third place in the MAC South Division. “It was a really good year despite being highly unusual with Covid protocols,” said Coach Parker.  

The Wildcats might have come in first place if not for two larger schools, Atlantis Charter and Diman, playing in the South Division due to a Covid realignment. The two teams came in first and second. 

One of the team’s goals was to get to 11 wins, but they were unable to do so as games were canceled due to Covid. 

Westport lost its first game to Bishop Connolly. “It dug us a hole right at the start of the season,” said Coach Parker. 

In the middle of the season, the team went through what Coach Parker called, “the gauntlet.” The Wildcats played a stretch of back to back games against  Atlantis Charter and Diman, “our most difficult stretch of the season,” Coach Parker said. The team went 1-2-1, during the span. The team beat Atlantis Charter, 2-1, at home on April 10. It was Atlantis Charter’s only loss of the season. The Wildcats lost the away game, 2-0. 

The Wildcats lost to Diman, 3-2, at Diman on April 17. “We lost that game in the 76th minute on a kick from their defender,” Coach Parker said. It was a blast from 45 yards out right into the left hand corner of the net. It that was an incredibly tough loss.” 

The Wildcats then tied Diman, 1-1, at home.  

“It is a big rivalry,” said Coach Parker. “It’s always a good tough match.”

Senior game

The Wildcats crushed Old Colony, 7-0, in their senior home game on April 29th.

“Our senior game is always special,” Coach Parker said. “It was very emotional for me with the seniors leaving. They were such a good group of guys. They will be sorely missed.” 

Coach Parker heralded his seniors as hard workers that always put the team first. 

“Every minute of every day our seniors led by example. They did an incredible job,” Coach Parker said. “It was a very tight knit group. They made sure that the players would honor and play by our principals.”

The team as good as it was, still had a problem finishing at times. 

“We generated a lot of shots per game. But we couldn’t finish,” Coach Parker said.

Not so against Old Colony, as the team beat the Cougars soundly, 7-0 in front of their home fans who joined in the senior celebration. Six different Wildcats contributed with a goal and/or an assist. Hunter Brodeur scored twice and Jon Letendre, Nick Dos Vais, Krish Kotadia, Coltrane McGonagle and Joe Turenne each scored for Westport. “It was really nice to see the scoring spread out and how unselfish the players were in terms of getting everyone involved,” said Coach Parker.

Balanced scoring

The team had balanced scoring, with eight players scoring at least one goal, the coach said. 

Sophomore striker Hunter Brodeur led the team with 8 goals and 2 assists. “Hunter is a dynamic athlete,” Coach Parker said. “He has a high holding number. He can hold up play until his teammates join the attack.” 

Luke Parker, Jonathan Letendre and Coltrane McGonagle all scored 5 goals each during the season. 

Turenne and McGonagle led the team in assists with 6 each. Parker had 4 and Letendre had 3. 

Senior midfielder/striker Krish Kotadia dealt with injuries all season, yet contributed in many ways, including helping out with senior leadership, said Coach Parker.

Possession to penetrate

Westport plays a possession to penetrate style of soccer under Coach Parker. “We want to hold on to the ball, control the ball and move north to the opponents goal and try to finish,” said Coach Parker. “We work on it all the time in practice. This was the best passing team that I’ve had in four years,” he said. The team had a 53 percent possession rate and connected on 1,440 successfully completed passes and scored 30 goals as a team according to the team’s stats. 

The style of play calls for strong midfielders and Westport had some of the best in the league.

“My three central midfielders are outstanding,” said Coach Parker. “Luke Parker, Joe Turenne and Nick Arruda.” 

Luke Parker, is a senior co-captain and the coach’s son. 

“I don’t know if I’ll coach a better all-around soccer player,” Coach Parker said of Luke. “He does all of the little things well and he was our glue guy. A guy that I didn’t want to take off of the field.” 

Turenne is also a senior captain. 

“I starting coaching Joe when he was 7. He’s an outstanding playmaker. He led the team in assists with 6.” 

Arruda is a junior and plays holding midfielder. 

Nick’s job is defense. Yet he contributed with 2 goals and 2 assists this season.”  

Junior Jon Letendre, was also part of that group. Letendre played forward and midfielder. He often was called upon to shadow the opposing team’s best player. “Jon would lock down the right side of the field,” Coach Parker said.

Strong defense

Last season, the Wildcats lost their starting center backs. In stepped senior captain, Max Powers. “I was worried about our defense this year, but it ended up being one of our strengths, said Coach Parker. “Max really stepped up this year.”

The Wildcats defense allowed just 13 goals this season. 

Powers was the team’s quarterback, its communicator on the field. 

“He won balls in the air,” Coach Parker said. “Despite not being able to use his head due to covid. He was also great at distribution.” 

Marcos Dutra Africano, a freshman started at center back with Powers. “Marcos is a really good, smart, tough on the ball defender. They were a godsend after losing my two senior center backs last year.”

Senior Donjae Raiche a left-footed left back, junior Jayden Zuber a right back and swing defender Dom Vitorino also all played well defensively. “They were a solid unit back there. Really, really good,” said Coach Parker.  

The Wildcat’s eighth grade goalkeeper, Noah Amaral made 25 saves. “Noah had four clean sheets (shutouts). He is going to be a beast.” 

“The sky is the limit for him. He could end up being one of the top goal Twelve underclassmen will be coming back for the fall season, plus sophomore midfielder Antonio Dutra Africano, who was out this season with an injury. 

The team will likely be back playing behind the old high school next season. Though the town is building new fields along with the new school, the fields won’t be ready for the fall.