By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Even though it was a tough season last year, there’s reason for optimism with the Northern Burlington High boys soccer team.
”We graduated a couple kids, but the bulk of the kids are back,” said NB head coach Tim Tedesco as he heads into his 11th year. “They all got valuable experience last year so I’m hoping it helps.”
Tedesco has all but one scorer back from the Greyhounds, who won three games last year, but were in many of the games in a stacked Liberty Division. He saw signs of improvement through the preseason.
”It went really well,” Tedesco said. “The kids worked extremely hard. That paid off. In the scrimmages, we put some things together. We went 3-0 with some good teams. Hopefully that’s a good start.”
Returning for the Greyhounds are: senior forward Nico Belardo, senior defender Reece Cooke, senior defender Harvey Singh, senior midfielder Ryan Walsh, senior defender Evan Million, senior goalie Jordan Herrell, junior defender Max Digiatomasso, junior defender Ian Traver, junior forward Malik Watson, junior midfielder Lorenzo Laurenti, sophomore Dave Cohen and sophomore midfielder Nick Hammell.
Newcomers are: senior midfielder Bobby Hagan, junior midfielder Mike Kendall, junior goalie Kevin Hart, sophomore defender Karl Butler, sophomore midfielder Joe Labrum and freshman midfielder Andrew Mowery. Captains are Cooke, Walsh and Laurenti.
”I feel like they’ve done a good job,” Tedesco said. “They set an example in practice. They’re generally the three hardest working kids in practice, which is why they were picked (to be captain). I think they’re doing a really nice job.”
The Greyhounds are hoping that the positives that they took from last season can be built upon this year. They have to come into the season with a positive outlook.
”We were competitive in a bunch of the games,” Tedesco said. “We lost a bunch of 1-0 game. So they know they can play with them. It’s a matter of having the confidence we can win them. Last year, they gained confidence that they can play with them. Now, they’re a little older and more confident and now they know they can win them instead of just hoping they can be competitive.”
To make it a big 2010 season and put last year’s struggles behind it, Northern Burlington understands exactly what must change on the field as well.
”We just have to play under some control,” Tedesco said. “We play in a ridiculously hard division. If we don’t play controlled soccer and just let it fly, we can’t compete. If everyone maximizes their ability, we have a shot to be successful.”

