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Western Mass Pioneers’ season mercifully ends

Date: 7/16/2015

LUDLOW – The end of the 2015 PDL season couldn’t come fast enough for the Western Mass Pioneers.

On July 10, they were blown out at home 5-1 in front of a large crowd, and lost 5-0 today at division leading Seacoast Phantoms. These two losses ensured that the Pioneers would finish last in the division with a 1-11-2 record.

The Pioneers were only able to score nine goals all year and allowed a whopping 34.

“Obviously we are not happy about the season and I hope the players aren’t too,” first-year head coach Dennis Gomes. “Our organization is going to look at everything this off season to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”

This season saw the Pioneers finish with five points – the worst the franchise has ever performed. The current Pioneers team is young, but never really clicked on the field. Every game they seemed to be outclassed, outperformed, and outworked in every aspect.

“I’m sure we are going to see new faces and maybe see some 2014 players return,” commented general manager Greg Kolodziey. “We need players that want to be here, that want to wear the Pioneers shirt, and that will fight for 50/50 balls, hustle, and give their all. We are going to address these issues.”

Continue to visit www.wmpioneers.com and also follow the team’s new Facebook and Twitter pages to keep up to date on all the Pioneers news.

The Western Mass Pioneers were founded in 1997 and started playing in 1998. In 1999, the second year of the franchise, they won the USL D3 Pro League championship. In 2005 they reigned as the regular season champions, were USL Second Division finalists, and hosted the National Championship match. In 2010 they joined the PDL, to focus on developing future professional soccer players. The Western Mass Pioneers Soccer Club also operates numerous youth camps throughout western Massachusetts.

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Western Mass Pro Soccer forward Chris Roswess and defender Pat Boucher were among the 14 players named to the 2015 ASL All-Star team.

The ASL All-Star team honors the top two best American players for the season for each team playing in the league.

Chris Roswess was a big reason why Western Mass Pro made the finals. Roswess often used his speed to beat defenders, allowing him to score a team best nine goals, and was among the ASL high scorers. Roswess, from West Springfield, starred at UMass Amherst and also played for the Western Mass Pioneers.

Pat Boucher is a passionate defender who anchors the backline. A true ironman player, Boucher never came out of a game he played this season. Boucher began his career as a stellar player for the University of Hartford Hawks, and also played for the Western Mass Pioneers, CFC Azul (now CFC Connecticut), and the New England Revolution reserve team.

The Western Mass Pro Soccer team was honored at halftime during the Western Mass Pioneers’ game on July 10.