January 1, 2004


Almaden Comets capture division title

In their second year of play, the U11 boys’ Almaden Comets Class 3 soccer squad finished the regular season on top of their division. The Comets went undefeated during the regular season, posting a record of 6-0-4. Although the team was tied in points for first place, they got the benefit of a tiebreaker for having the greatest differential of goals-for verses goals-against. Proving that it is goals that win games against their division with its solid defense only giving up 9 goals in the season.

The Comets had a number of objectives to start the season, including winning at least two games, having fun, learning to play better soccer as a team, and learning to become better people. That all had to be achieved under a team philosophy of equal playing time for all players. According to coach Brad Bosomworth, the Comets succeeded on all fronts.

The team’s dynamic defense was backed by primary goal tender Sam Talbert, who had a pension for dynamic diving saves, and by backup goalie Austin MacPhee. The anchors of the Comets’ back line were Andrew Todd at left defender, Jordan Pine at Sweeper, and mighty Joe Baxter at right defender. This “triple threat” gave the opposition fits. Rounding out the team’s powerful defense line was stopper Eddie Cho, and one of the team’s most dedicated players, Ben Babaei, who knocked down more than his share of opposition attacks.

The Comets’ strategy of moving the ball down field on the outside made the team’s wingers key players. Malhar Oza, Tony Montini and Brett Kennedy rose to the tasks quite well, while the two center midfielders—Justin Berding and Andrew Bosomworth— displayed stellar ball handling and distribution. Adding those up front finishing touches were Haico Kaashoek, Evan Quint and Austin MacPhee. And were would the team have been without the fleet feet of speedy Neil Purohit who put in time running all of the forward positions and never ran out of steam.