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The Walnut Creek U12 boys’ Menace team won its spring league championship using a combination of players from last year’s Menace team and a sizable group of new players who recently joined the squad. New Menace coach, Nick Howliston, was obviously pleased. “It’s good to see such a new team come together and experience success. For not having played together before, the boys did well and demonstrated consistent improvement. Though we’ve got a lot of work to do, it was a nice start and gives us some momentum.”
Finishing the season undefeated, the Menace narrowly outpointed Castro Valley to win the title. The team had a balanced performance, combining a stingy defense with a strong and sometimes explosive attack.
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Giving up only six goals throughout the season, the defense was lead by the goalkeeping tandem of newcomer Ronnie Hernandez and returning Menace keeper Connor McGlynn. The back line was anchored by Michael Hathaway, Francis Semilla, Matthew Lencioni, Remy Rossi, Philip Stahl and Max Muskat.
The middle of the field was handled by the team’s experienced core of Eric Dahlen, Greg Harris and Brooks Williams, all returning from last year’s squad, while the outside of the field saw returner Ross McDonald and newcomer Connor Lencioni do much of the work. Up front, the Menace were led by a host of newcomers, including Ryan Hathaway, Dominic Tovani, Aria Korehi and Clayton Fritschi, with assistance from Kyle Halbrecht.
The outcome of the season wasn’t settled until the final game of the spring schedule when the Menace played its second game against Lamorinda, a team it had barely beaten 2-1 earlier in the season. Needing a win and enough goals to achieve a superior goal differential compared to Castro Valley, the team responded with a 9-1 victory, anchored by Fritschi and Korehi, each of whom had a hat trick in the game.
“We moved players around a lot this spring to fill the gaps when our kids were off playing baseball, lacrosse and water polo, and we discovered some talent we had at unexpected positions,” explained coach Howliston. “This summer we’ll keep working to solidify those positions and improve ourselves tactically so that we’ll be ready for the fall league.”
