Somerville Youth Soccer’s spring season came to a close this past weekend with the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC) in Lancaster. Despite the challenges posed by the extremely wet weather this spring, it was another successful campaign for Somerville’s largest youth sports league.

In addition to the developmental and recreational work that was accomplished in 2018/19, there were five Somerville teams that advanced to the postseason. The Boys Grade 3/4 White and Boys Grade 3/4 Green teams both participated in the Middlesex Youth Soccer League (MYSL) Commissioner’s Cup. Meanwhile, the Boys Grade 5/6 Red, Girls Grade 5/6 Blue, and Boys Grade 7/8 Blue teams all made the MTOC Division 2 playoffs in their respective age groups.

Both the Commissioner’s Cup band the MTOC playoffs took place the weekend of June 22 & 23 in Lancaster, at the Mass Youth Soccer campus.

B34 White (6-2-1 regular season) dropped their first match of the competition on Saturday morning, but won their second match to set up a decisive final day. Unfortunately, they fell to eventual champions Stoneham 3-0 and finished third in their Division 3 Commissioner’s Cup group.

B34 Green (6-2-1 regular season) opened their postseason in impressive fashion with a 5-1 drubbing of Melrose before dropping their final two games en route to a third-place finish in the Division 5 Commissioner’s Cup.

Following an eye-popping perfect regular season that saw them win all nine games with a +33 goal difference to earn the top seed in the B56 Division 2 MTOC playoffs, the B56 Red team continued that success in the postseason. Up 2-0 in the second half of their postseason opener, they endured a dramatic late fightback from their semifinal opponents from Wilmington, but triumphed over that adversity to win 3-2 in extra time. In the final, they made the most of their opportunities against an impressive young Waltham side to punch their ticket to MTOC with a 3-1 victory.

The G56 Blue team went 6-2-1 during the regular season to qualify for the MTOC playoffs, and they faced a tough Malden side in the semifinals. Somerville battled through extra time before eventually succumbing to the eventual champions 2-1.

B78 Blue complied a 7-1-1 mark in the regular season to grab the top seed in the Division 2 MTOC playoffs, where they faced a Tewksbury team that had beaten them early in the spring and then fought back for a draw earlier that month. But the third time proved to be the charm for Somerville, who exploded for four second-half goals to advance to the final with a 4-0 victory. In the final, they took down Lowell 4-1 to win their division and earn a trip to MTOC.

At MTOC this past weekend, both Somerville teams advanced from their groups to make the semifinals.

B56 Red fell in their semi against Dover-Sherborn, while B78 Blue got all the way to final before running out of gas and losing 2-0 to Acton-Boxborough to finish runners up.

“We are extremely proud of all our In-Town and Travel teams for the commitment they demonstrated and the work they put in this season to improve as players and as young people,” said SYSL president Jake Wilson. “And we thank our many volunteers who made this all possible. It’s also great to see our competitive teams playing in the postseason — and doing so well in Lancaster! We’re excited to do it all over again starting with the fall season.”