Everett boys soccer gets going with renewed enthusiasm under the direction of second-year coach Rodney Landaverde

After hosting two non-league games to start the season this week, Tide preps for the GBL home opener against Malden Tuesday night at the Stadium

By Joe McConnell

In Coach Rodney Landaverde’s first year as the Everett High School boys soccer coach, the varsity team enjoyed success right away with a 7-7-4 regular season record that propelled it to the Division 1 state tournament as the 42^nd seed, where they lost a preliminary round game to host Beverly, the 23^rd seed, in overtime, 2-1. There are 59 teams in Division 1.

The enthusiasm was definitely back on the Everett pitch, and is continuing into the start of this year, when Landaverde welcomed 110 players to the first day of practice on Aug. 18. But when it was all said and done, the second-year coach is keeping 75 in the program, 25 each on the varsity, JV and freshman rosters. On the big club alone, two freshmen, nine sophomores and eight juniors have made the final cut to go along with seven seniors.

“We have a good mix of younger and older players that had a lot of playing time last year,” said Landaverde. “They were able to make a smooth transition to compete on the varsity level, and I’m looking forward to seeing how our aggressive attacking style and depth (plays out) this year.” Landaverde, who likes the team chemistry, says they will continue to work on the defensive components of the game to become an even better overall team.

After four scrimmages to prep for what lies ahead, the Everett boys were scheduled to open up the regular season at home against non-league opponents Lowell (Sept. 3) after press deadline and then Marblehead later today (Sept. 5) at 7-Acres, starting at 4:30 p.m.

The Tide lost to Beverly in the team’s first scrimmage on Aug. 22, 3-0. “This was a great first challenge for us to compete against a team that is consistently a playoff contender,” said Landaverde. “But we then beat both Pioneer Charter, 7-1, and Northeast Vocational, 3-1. Both games followed another training session, and the placing of players in their desired positions.”

After those two wins, the locals headed to East Boston to face the Jets last Friday morning on Aug, 29. “It was another great challenge to play against a team that made the Division 4 Final Four in the state last year, only to lose to Cohasset, 2-1 in overtime. We ended up tying them, 1-1,” said Landaverde.

The Skippers went on to beat Lynnfield, 3-2 in last year’s state title tilt, and so the team’s performance during last week’s exhibition game gave Landaverde much optimism going into the start of the regular season this week.

“I’m looking forward to opening up against two quality non-league opponents,” said Landaverde prior to Wednesday’s matchup against Lowell. “I’m also looking forward to once again competing in the GBL, starting with Malden under the lights at Everett Memorial Stadium next Tuesday night (Sept. 9) at 7 p.m.”

Andres Ruiz is back as Landaverde’s assistant coach. There are also two new additions to his staff. Sollon Damsceno, a special education teacher at the Devens School and EHS Class of 2016 graduate, is in charge of the freshman team, while Gabriel Moya, a Boston Public Schools teacher and EHS Class of 2012 graduate, takes over the JV squad. “I’m very excited to have them on our staff,” said Landaverde. “They both bring exceptional leadership skills, and as EHS alumni, they understand the culture that I’m implementing here. They will certainly be role models for every player in the program.”

Landaverde is grateful that he was able to go through last year’s successes and learning experiences that should make life easier for him this season. “I feel like I was able to build great relationships with all of the players, staff and community as a whole, which will only continue to elevate the level of soccer in this city,” he added. “I truly appreciate that support from family, friends and alumni, not to mention the schools. We have had a golf tournament fundraiser, two alumni events and team dinners over the past year, which I can only see continuing to greater levels, because I want everyone to keep an eye on the growth of Everett soccer all the time.”