During their illustrious and highly-productive time together, the members of the Londonderry United Soccer Club’s boys’ U-18 team accomplished a tremendous amount.
But coach Todd Ellis’ skilled booters reached the end of their lengthy road together in late June with a tough, 2-1 loss to the Roxbury, N.J. United Football Club in the championship match of the Highlands Cup Tournament in Long Valley, N.J.
The Londonderry guys faced off against that Roxbury contingent, the New Jersey Wildcats’ Fusion Team, and the Long Valley United Thunder in earlier rounds and tied two of those three matches before getting to the finals.
Londonderry United played to a 3-3 deadlock with Roxbury in the first of those contests, hammered the Wildcats’ Fusion bunch by a 5-0 tally in the second of the games, and played to a scoreless tie with the host Long Valley contingent in game number three.
Then came the rematch with Roxbury in which the local soccer stalwarts fell just two tallies short of a title.
“In six years, this team went 16-3-3 in the New Hampshire United States Youth Soccer Association state cup,” said Ellis. “They won the competition four times, were the first Londonderry United boys’ team to win the tournament, and finished as a semi-finalist and finalist the other two years. The crowning accomplishment was finishing third in the 2013 USYSA Region 1 Championships.”
The coach also derived considerable pride from the fact that his charges represented themselves, their community, and their club extremely well with their actions time and time again.
“Along with winning many tournaments, finishing first in Maple Divisions 2 and 3, they were also recognized for their sportsmanship both on the state and Region 1 levels,” said Ellis.
The United coach elected not to single out or name the players on his year’s U-18 contingent because, “There were player changes throughout the years.” But he did state, unequivocally, “We wish the best to all the boys as they move onto college, whether they compete at the next level or not.”
Caption: The members of the Londonderry United Soccer Club’s talented U-18 team came within a victory of another huge success at the Highlands Cup Tournament in New Jersey in late June. Courtesy photo