Best of the best for RUSC soccer
Every year for the past three, Rockland United Soccer Club has given special recognition to the two most outstanding youth teams of the season.
This year the U15 Girls Tier One squad, under the coaching of Gregg Harmison, achieved the RUSC Team of the Year trophy for the second year in a row.
“Last year they handily topped the U14GT2 division,” stated Duane Rudeen, RUSC president, “and were subsequently promoted to Tier 1 this year. And this season they were in a fight for first place in the Tier 1 (league) right down to the last game of the season, finishing up with second overall. They were also finalists in the Eastern Regional Soccer League U15 Girls Shield competition. That is a season-long singleknockout tournament, with the final game scheduled for Sept. 12 in Perth.”
Rockland’s U15 girls slammed Cumberland United 2-0 in the Shield final in Perth, becoming the third team in the RUSC’s history to bring the ERSL Shield home to Rockland.
Holding the line this season on the RUSC U15 girls are Marika Brunet, Danika Drouin, Danie Pitre, Alyssa Louisseize, Caitlin Harmison, Casey Daigneault Granger, Cassidy Laflèche, Angélique Cleroux, Vanessa Campeau, Noemie Labre, Mia Vachon, Camryn Lavictoire, Valérie Lorrain, Caitlin Laplante, Shayla Girouard, Olivia Groulx, Elizabeth Campeau, Julia Bolduc, Alexia Desforges, and Keira Yuill, under the direction of Coach Gregg Harmison, Assistant Coach Donna Campeau, and Technical Director Don Bouchard.
This year’s Most Improved Team RUSC award went to the U12 Tier 2 team. Under the guidance of Coach Ivo Versolato, the U12 squad continued on from their achievements of the previous season, with some player turnover this year which, Rudeen noted, “required some extra work to regain the team chemistry.”
RUSC Technical Director Don Bouchard also observed that the U12 boys showed “marked improvement” through their practice sessions during the season, to become “a force to be reckoned with on the pitch” by season end.
This year’s U12 team, under the leadership of Coach Versolato and Assistant Coach Dan Wolfe, included Vincent Bastien, Tristan Bolduc, Toby Faucher, Maxime Franche, Brandon Gariepy, Camilla Gauthier, Samuel Lepage, Hugo Marcil, Kayla Melanson, Matthew Monroe, Loic Prud’homme, Reuben Schroeder, Jonathan St-Jean, Dante Versolato, Nathan Vigne, and Jacob Wolfe. 2The U12 team had to cope with the loss of some players from last year, but the squad rallied and finished the season in the top rank of their division, earning themselves the RUSC Most Improved award.