After press time: North Reading defeats Newburyport 6-1 (Sept. 4)
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
NORTH READING — Last season was an outstanding one for the North Reading High boys’ soccer team as their lone defeat came in the MIAA Division 3 state quarterfinals as they lost, 2-1, at Medfield.
Overall, the Hornets finished 18-1-2. In the Cape Ann League, North Reading finished at 14-0-2 as they captured the CAL Kinney Division title.
This was only the second team in school history to go undefeated in the regular season.
Twelve seniors from that team graduated including five CAL All-Stars as three made the first-team while two more made the second team.
When fall camp opened on Aug. 18, head coach Mark Bisognano welcomed back nine veterans. Three of them were starters while the other six were reserves.
The three senior captains this year are Gavin Wesley (midfielder), Davi Leao (striker) and Seth Evans (midfielder-forward).
Leao, a CAL Second-Team All-Star last year, scored 18 goals.
Massimo Renieri (defenseman), Joe Foidelli (defenseman) and Peter Plavins (defenseman) are the other seniors back.
The juniors returning are Asher Schulz (midfielder), Brendan Trentsch (midfielder) and Nolan Pierce (defense- midfielder).
The team will also have a new goalkeeper as sophomore Dylan O’Driscoll will replace the graduated Cam Parrott.
O’Driscoll was on the Hornets junior varsity team last year.
“This preseason was a lot different from last year,” admitted Bisognano, who is entering his 24th-year at the helm. “We have a lot more questions than we did last year when we had all of those kids back.”
North Reading was very busy during the preseason as they played four scrimmages against Bedford, Wakefield, Wilmington and Reading.
The Hornets will play an 18-game regular-season schedule as they will play the CAL Kinney Division teams twice and the CAL Baker schools once. They will also play two non-league games against a pair of Merrimack Valley Conference opponents as they will take on Chelmsford and Andover.
“We have a solid starting 11 but we have to be able to develop depth as the season goes along,” said Bisognano. “I think that it is reasonable enough not only to qualify for the states again but also challenge for the league title.”
Bisognano feels that Newburyport and Lynnfield will be the top contenders for the Kinney title this fall.
North Reading will open the season on Thursday as they host Newburyport at 4:45 p.m. On Sept. 9th, the Hornets go to Byfield to take on Triton at 4:30 p.m. for their first road game of the year.