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Gloucester
Head Coach: Drew Dominick (13th season)
Last Year's Record: 8-9 (lost to Sanwich 8-6 in Division 2 East Prelims)
Captains: Andrew Lufkin, Sr.; Matt Taormina, Sr., Sean Kennedy, Sr.
Key Returning Players: Coltyn Rivas, Sr., Vinny Sparani, Sr., Jesse Benjamin, Sr., Jason Lattof, Soph.; Chris Dumont, Soph.
Key Newcomers: Mike Falzarano, Soph., Ian Kennedy, Soph., Jake Taormina, Fresh., Winslow Lewis, Fresh.
Strengths: The Fishermen defense is experienced and talented as is goalie Sean Kennedy, who is entering his second year as the team's starter.
Concerns: Scoring, Gloucester graduated a lot of goals from last year's team, most notably Geoff Kennedy, who led the team in scoring each of the last three seasons. The Fishermen are young and inexperienced on the offensive end.
Coach's Outlook: "We have a tough schedule this year so it's going to be interesting. Our goal is to get back to the tournament and win a tournament game this year. Those are lofty goals but I think this team has the talent to do it."
Season Opener: Monday vs. Beverly
Manchester Essex
Head Coach: Nate Levie (fourth season)
Last Year's record: 6-10
Captains: Austin Lyne, Sr.; Nick Douglass, Sr.; Andrew Randall, Sr.
Key Returning Players: Connor Bergmann, Sr.; Miles Wood, Soph.; John Beardsley, Jr.
Key Newcomers: Doug Rodier, Fresh.; Alex Taliaferro, Soph.
Strengths: The Hornets may be young but they have athletes all over the field.
Concerns: The Hornets have already been hit hard by injuries, particularly on defense where they will have to rely on inexperienced underclassmen.
Coach's Outlook: "We have a lot of underclassmen on the team but we want to get back to the state tournament after missing out last year. We are going to rely on a lot of younger kids but we have had success doing that in the past."
Season Opener: Today at Medford
