Lincoln Sudbury High School - Dyad Yearbook (Sudbury, MA)

Page 17 text:

ae te LA A im, oe ae 7 $ fz Se Fie gs a POPS CE

Page 16 text:

As we reflect on the 1978 soccer season, we are met with the continued frustration of our last tournament game. However, in terms of our team play, the loss was actually a climax. Struggling to find the best system to fit our team, we experienced an up-and-down season. The hot summer double-sessions went as well as one could expect and the season itself started with a big win over Wayland. It was the first time we had beaten Wayland in our first meeting with them in three years. We continued to roll along until we traveled to Acton to play on their plush turf. Abruptly, Acton-Boxborough knocked us out of the undefeated ranks. The score is too embarassing to repeat as they scored more goals than our entire total allowed last year. At that point, we were hanging on to first place by half a game with a 4-1 record. Despite our obvious disappointment, we looked forward to our next meeting with Wayland, knowing that it would most likely decide the Dual County League title. The big game at Wayland was played on a Sunday because of the previous day’s weather. The game was a gem, but Wayland prevailed by a 2-1 margin. The renowned rivalry between the schools and the increased popularity of soccer brought 600 to the sidelines. With this game to their advantage, Wayland eventually slipped into first place. Going into the final day of the season, everyone thought that the DCL crown would go to a team other than our beloved Warriors for the fist time in the league’s ten-year history. We played our last game with the usual will to win, but the realization came that we might be the team to end the Lincoln-Sudbury Soccer Dynasty of Champi- ons. When we received the news in the locker room that our friends in Weston had dismantled Wayland 4-1, we were shocked. It didn’t dawn on us that we were champions until that evening when we hosted Weston at a party to show our gratitude for their unbelievable accomplishment of toppling Wayland. After sneaking by Brookline in the first round of the Eastern Massachusetts Tournament, we found ourselves faced with the fourth seeded team — Wakefield. Twice in the last three years, we met this same team in the second round of the tournament. Twice we lost to them as their rather massive ranks ran through our little team from the small towns of Lincoln and Sudbury. There is no high school football team in Wakefield, so all the big boys play soccer. Dreaming of stampeding elephants, we had trouble building spirit and confidence as a team, but deep within, we were ready when the big day came. It was overcast and cold when we made the long journey to Wakefield. Arriving early, we shivered in the tense moments preceding the battle. No one was there. The ropes guarding the field against anticipated crowds stood idle. It was silent. | By game time, the area around the field was packed. The starting whistle snapped some of our paralyzing tension, but we had trouble shaking all of it from highly tensed muscles. Nevertheless, we were incredibly pleased to have given a traditionally big Wakefield team an even game in the first quarter. This inspired us to pick up our game. In the next three quarters, we played the best soccer as a team than ever before. Constant pressure on the Wakefield goal built pride, confidence and a will to win as the game wore on. However, at the end of regulation time, we were tied, but we had not scored. Confidence and pride became doubt, and the will to win became a worry about never scoring. We panicked as a team during the overtime periods. We had a slight edge in the first two, but the third was even, in a way. With goalies disallowed the use of their hands, it was a completely different game. The field became a pinball machine as the ball roamed carelessly off tired players. Suddenly, it found its way to the foot of a big center forward at midfield. We watched helplessly as he ran over us like Wakefield players of the past. The result was also like the past. It was the third time we had to give our tournament dreams to Wakefield in the second round. However, it was the best game of our career as a team, and that’s what counts. Wakefield went on to take second in the state tournament, but we’re better. christopher lockery and stephen kutenplon

Page 18 text:

eereer epee © q Hie lane