Massachusetts Adult Soccer

Southie FC, founded in 2012, made their US Open Cup debut this year. In the first round they upset PDL's Seacoast United Phantoms 2-0 and were rewarded with a second round match, midweek, in Rochester, NY against pro side, Rochester Rhinos. They were one of only seven USASA amateur teams nationwide to advance past the first round, something founders Sean Bakhtiari and Roy Sandeman are very proud of.

The "Boys in Neon" eventually fell 7-0 to the defending National USL Champions but despite the scoreline, Southie came home with their heads held high. TheCup.us wrote, "Southie FC started the match purposefully, moving the ball around the field with crisp short passes, but the Rhinos quickly made the breakthrough. In the sixth minute second-year forward Christian Volesky dispatched a penalty past Southie goalkeeper Colin O’Donnell. Left-winger Marcos Ugarte, who grew up near south Boston, went down in the box after contact from behind while running onto a pass from Sofiane Tergou... Despite going down two goals in the opening ten minutes, Southie FC players were resilient. The visitors did not resort to direct “route one” play and instead continued to play their deliberative passing style... Southie, who brought only two substitutes with them, showed tremendous fitness to harass and harry the Rhinos until the final whistle. Even though the scoreline seemed insurmountable, the amateur team from Boston continued to play positive soccer and attack their hosts." (thecup.us)

Rochester head coach Bob Lilley added, "They were missing a couple of guys. Today could have been close. They had some pieces that were more than capable of hurting us today but once you put a team in the hole, it’s hard for them. They’re not training as regularly, the energy it takes to pull those goals back is pretty difficult." Lilley had praise for the fighting spirit of his team’s amateur opponent. “I thought they deserved credit. In the second half – the game was 5-0 – but they played more in our half. They wanted to score. They were pretty committed to scoring.”

Congratulations to Southie FC on a great 2016 US Open Cup run!