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Thank you Coach Barata and Coach Kurtz -
You brought us into camp as individuals,
...
you helped develop us, and we became a TEAM!
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Soccer Seniors Leave Behind a Strong Legacy -
By Patrick Maguire

 On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, seniors Colm Grant, Jacob Ring, Jared Bloom, Alex Spencer, Matt Howard, Sean Loughlin, MJ DeDonato, Kyle McGillvray, and Iggy Centrangolo will be playing in the last Oliver Ames soccer game of their high school careers.The competition - a group of alumni who they are poised to become next year.
The OA Alumni Soccer game is an event started by Head Coach John Barata last year as a networking opportunity for his players and a chance for alumni to share stories of when they played.
It will come two and a half weeks after the OA boys' soccer team lost 2-0 in the second round of the MIAA tournament to Weymouth.

For the seniors, it is one last chance to play on their own high school field. The 2010 seniors are a group Barata spoke fondly of. "I'll miss this group – we've been through a lot" said Barata, who started his tenure as OA head coach in 2009. "We lost a lot of games, we tied a lot of games, but we were in every single battle. It was a lot of character building for these boys. So, it's been fun."
The Tigers finished the season 5-8-6 and second in the Davenport Division of the Hockomock League. After upsetting Barnstable in the first round of the MIAA playoffs, they lost a tight game to No. 6 seeded Weymouth.
Barata said the team was built around the seniors - despite many of them only seeing the field in bench roles. "For a senior, trying to lead by example is the number one thing, but we only had three or four seniors that started on any given day," he said. "So, I give them a tremendous amount of credit for stepping up and training hard and really being there to push the team along even though they weren't on the field. I give a lot of them incredible praise."
The 2010 seniors leave behind a young team with many underclassmen ready to step up into leadership positions. Barata said next year's team will be led by players like David McKinnon, David Stapleton, Adam Karas, Connor McCormmick and Kyle Arruda - who all played significant roles as underclassmen.

Barata said with experience and skill the Tigers bring to the table next year will allow them to once again compete for a Davenport Championship. He said the concrete goal for next year is to once again play in the state tournament.
"We're young," he said. "I'm hoping next year our goal will be to get into the states again. If we can get into the states and make a run at the Hock, we'll be happy."
Barata said he is going to continue to build the program - of which he took the reigns last year - from the ground up. He said he wants to continue to compete but isn't going to set the bar too high. "We're going to try to compete with Canton in the Davenport and try to really improve our record here with the Hock," he said. "We want to compete improving. And, if we could compete for the 'Hock' title, we want to do that."
As for the OA seniors, Barata hopes this year's alumni game will be the first of many in-which the class of 2011 competes. "It's a lot of fun," said Barata. "I'm looking forward to it."


Come out and show support for your OA Tiger soccer teams.
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