William Yu contributed to this article
With the start of the Malden Youth Spring Season, the team’s goal is to successfully top their division bracket and make it to the Commissioners Cup. Once they make the playoffs, they will compete against the four top teams in their bracket, where only one team makes it through to play in the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC) against all the winners from each region in the state.
Once the MTOC is in place, all games will be regional and will be played in Lancaster. These games are twice as competitive as normal league games since teams have to play in a group of four having the top two teams in each group advance to the knockout games, eventually having a chance to play in the finals and win. As for Malden Under-Nineteen’s first team, after getting grouped in the MTOC last year, they came in as heavy competitors, with a diverse lineup of Malden’s best evaluated players.
With promising hard practices before the start of their first league game against Somerville, Head Coach Bryan Vanderhoof made it clear that his group of boys has high hopes for the season, stating, “This is a good group, and the team has a lot of potential. It really is up to them if they want to succeed.” This was evident when Malden set the tone in their game against Somerville, securing a 3-2 win.
But around the end of the game, when a foul was drawn by Somerville, the teams started to get physical causing a big fight and ending the game early. This resulted in the majority of Malden and Somerville’s roster getting suspended for a few games.
This incident affected the team’s performance for the next few weeks of the season. The following week, Malden had to forfeit against Medford due to not having enough players, resulting in a 1-1 record after Week 2. Eventually, some suspensions got lifted for players who were not as involved in the incident, resulting in Malden having a roster of 11 and being able to play their third match against the Malden 2 team, but unfortunately, without substitutes.
Going into the match, the boys’ chances looked slim, but they did not quit. The match began with both sides going back and forth. Malden 1 was prioritizing the use of its wingers Edison Francois and Christian Methelus, with its main midfielder Ahmed Moukara getting the ball wide, and letting its wingers get to the goal, but the defenders for Malden 2 were vigilant, stopping most chances throughout the majority of the first half.
When Malden 1 was not on offense, they were holding their defense tight. Many threats came from Malden 2, but because of the back line’s communication, they managed to hold it down for the majority of the first half. However, the backline did not get a break as Malden 2’s striker Jamesly Saint Jean counterattacked with through balls by Yassir Halaissi in the midfield.
Chances eventually kept happening for Malden 2 throughout the first half until Jean received a pass from the middle, used the open space, drove to the goal, and hit a shot with his left just before the box, finishing right into the left corner of the goal post, resulting in a 1-0 score. Following the goal, Malden 1 took the ball from kick off and played with the remaining few minutes before halftime.
During a counterattack for Malden 1, left-winger Francois took it down his line, outran his full back, and placed it perfectly in the middle for #17 Brayden Vanderhoof to hit in the back of the net, marking the start of halftime.
Once the break ended, Malden 2’s lineup looked different, with many substitutions to keep the team fresh. Malden 1 had many opportunities, but they were no good after Malden 2’s goalkeeper Spencer Paul kept them in the game, and defenders like Yasser Fghani made last-ditch slide tackles to clear the ball. But Malden 1 kept going, keeping that grit they had from the start, and were committed to ending this game.
This was eventually shown when Malden 1 earned a corner, sending the ball into the air, causing Fghani to clash with Francois and fall to the ground. When one of the Malden 2 defenders went to clear the ball, the ball hit one of the players, setting Francois right up for a shot, placing it bottom left, making the score 2-1 in the game with 30 minutes left to play.
A couple of water breaks later, the teams were still clashing. One tried to tie the game, and the other wanted to maintain their lead, making the ball be in a different half every other second, but time was running out for Malden 2. This caused them to play a higher line than usual and focus on bagging a goal. Malden 1 eventually gave them the leverage and handed them the win.
Player Elyass Elbanni, who spent the game on the sideline unable to play, said, “I am confident that we are going to go far this season once we get our full roster back, and these types of problems are the many we can overcome.”
With Memorial Day around the corner, and a few league games left, the team is going into a crucial stage, where results matter, and there is no room for mistakes. They plan to continue to set the tone early on and work through any obstacle that comes their way, reflecting the spirit this team has to offer and its bright future.
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