Players and fans braved the rain on Saturday to witness Boston International take home the MIAA boys soccer Division 5 state championship with a 2-0 victory over Hopedale. This makes the school the first Boston City League team to win a boys soccer title. “Means a lot,” said Boston International head coach Edmar Varela. “I don’t think any other team earned it more than we did.” Boston International pushed Hopedale all game, staying in control and keeping its opponents on their toes. Despite working hard to keep the Lions at bay, Hopedale couldn’t seem to match up offensively. Both teams started strong in the first half. While Boston International moved the ball several yards at a time, Hopedale responded with a strong defense that kept the Lions at bay for the majority of the first half. However, the Lions delivered just before the end of the first half, with Syberto Brevil scoring the game’s first goal with an assist from Xavier Arriola. “(Xavier) is a team player. His vision is second to none,” said Varela. “These guys, you can never be surprised at what they do. We have a group of athletes . and Syberto’s one of them. He has an incredible shot.” The defensive battle continued through the first 33 minutes of the second half, but Boston International’s Henrich Saint delivered a key insurance goal to double the lead with just about seven minutes remaining. As Hopedale raced against the clock to recover, time just wasn’t on its side. BINCA held onto their 2-0 lead and carried it to victory. Coach Varela is proud of his team’s growth and teamwork this season, something that’s led them to this win. “It’s amazing to see the progress,” he said. “Individually, they’ve always been very solid but playing as a team is the hardest thing. I’ve been doing a lot of preaching about that, and we’ve been doing it all season long.” When asked about his proudest moment this season, Coach Varela didn’t hesitate. “Proudest moment has to be today,” he said. “Winning state champs, this is history. This is for [the players], this is for their families, their school, communities. This is for Boston.”.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/22/boston-international-shuts-out-hopedale-to-win-div-5-title-make-history/
Tag Archives: individually
Nets look to clean up sloppy defense for home opener against Cavaliers
The Nets will be big underdogs to the Cavaliers in Friday’s home opener. They’ll be hard-pressed to play worse than in Wednesday’s season opener.
“We definitely need to have a sense of urgency and figure out our identity. So we’ve got to figure that out as a team,” Michael Porter Jr. said. “It’s the first game, can’t overreact, but at the same time, we saw some glaring problems individually and collectively. So we’ve got to figure out how to get better, watch the film and be better Friday, for sure.”
Being better than they were in the opener is a low bar. The Nets didn’t defend. They didn’t stick together. They didn’t get back in transition. And they didn’t get production from Porter and Cam Thomas, who combined for 27 points on 7-of-24 shooting and a minus-38 rating.
That was in a 136-117 humbling in Charlotte at the hands of a Hornets team that went 19-63 last season.
Next up, the Nets are facing a Cavaliers squad that had the East’s best record last season and has every reason to be motivated—between an opening loss to the Knicks and coach Kenny Atkinson having been unceremoniously fired by the Nets five years ago.
“Watch the film, learn from it,” said Nic Claxton. “Obviously, it wasn’t a good performance, but it’s no need to panic.”
There’s no need to panic because tanking is the plan. Building bad habits isn’t.
The Nets’ defense was in abysmal disarray. They didn’t defend at the point of attack or in transition and were outscored 23-5 on the fast break, including an 18-0 deficit in the first half.
“We’ve just got to execute better from top to bottom, all five guys on the court, the bench, our energy,” Claxton added. “We just all have to be better, for real. It starts on the defensive end. Our energy just has to be better. And when we face adversity, we all have to be better—everybody.”
Frankly, nobody should be surprised at the opening loss. With five rookies, including three teenage point guards, the Nets are bound to struggle.
But while the score wasn’t shocking, the ease with which they let go of the rope was.
When adversity hit, the Nets abandoned the game plan on both ends of the court.
“We had a game plan where we had to do things in a certain way. [We were outscored] in fast-break points, we didn’t defend the rim, we couldn’t defend the 3-point line,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “So all those things that go with KYP.”
In NBA parlance, that’s “know your personnel,” the basis of any game plan. And it’s something at which the Nets failed miserably.
“We were just doing things with no purpose, just running around, running around. And you run around hard, but you’ve gotta know exactly what the call is, what your positioning is,” Fernández said. “So it’s exciting because, definitely, we can be better. And that’s the goal: show up the next day and next game and be better.”
The Nets had better be better Friday because the opposing personnel will be. Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley are a step up in competition and present a stiff test.
Even the Nets’ rookies know they must do a better job at KYP.
“There was a lot of stuff that we’ve been talking through… that we thought were the problems, and this is something we can fix, such as being louder, talking to each other, helping each other whether it’s offense or defense or the bench bringing positive energy,” said Egor Dëmin, the Nets’ lottery pick in the 2025 draft.
“We need to get better at knowing personnel and knowing who you’re closing out, rather than the way you’re closing the guys out, things like this. And get back, just protect the rim and protect the 3s, trying to force them to take shots we want them to take.”
https://nypost.com/2025/10/23/sports/nets-look-to-clean-up-sloppy-defense-for-home-opener-against-cavaliers/