By:  Alex Hoban

The Westborough boys’ varsity soccer team only lost a handful of starting seniors from last season with the rest of the team returning for their second consecutive year together on the team. And despite losing their coach from last year, this season could prove to be a very different and very talented team.  The team is full of kids who have been playing together since they were in the youth soccer program. This means they have chemistry and will work well together.

The Rangers are led by seniors Carter Reynolds, Steven Frame and Brenden Goodliffe. The team’s history of playing together paid off on their opening game under the lights at Grafton where they shut out the Indians with a score of 5-0. The goals were scored by senior Jaime Plowman (2 goals), Ethan Peterson (2 goals) and Carter Reynolds (1 goal). The team came out with an unexpected win as Grafton won more than 12 games last year; however, is suffering this season from losing a lot of seniors from their starting lineup.

The Rangers also won their following game away against Nashoba who proved to be a much more challenging opponent, but still weren’t enough to stop the Rangers as they managed to squeeze out another shutout with a score of 2-0. The goals went to Goodliffe and senior Tyler Slicklen.

As for the new coach whot has taken the reigns of the team for this year is John Hillier.  Coach Hillier a has coached Westborough soccer for over fifteen years, which means he has coached almost all of the current players on the team. Coach Hillier seeks to utilize every player for his specific skills and to make sure everyone gets the playing time that he deserves. His approach to coaching the team and methods on how to become a better one seem to be working out.

The Rangers have not let up a single goal and have also scored seven goals in their first two games..

The team’s next game is September 10, away at Leominster away.