By John Greco
The 2021 Lincoln Leopards. Back row, left to right: head coach Ginger Reiner, Bella Bono, Maya Lieblich, Mikayla Doo, Evie Packineau, Lucy Reiner, Anneka Doughty, and assistant coaches John Greco and Bryan Doo. Front row, left to right: Fiona Crosby, Violet Lucchese, Ellery Curtiss, Kate Greco, and Olivia Ancillo (click to see a larger version).
The Lincoln Leopards, Lincoln Youth Soccer’s sixth-grade girls’ team, won the Boston Area Youth Soccer (BAYS) Girls Grade 6 D3 2021 President’s Cup on June 19. They won four games against West Roxbury, Natick, Sudbury, and finally Milford-Hopedale to emerge as champions during the course of the four-week eastern Massachusetts competition.
The Leopards their journey with a first-round 4-0 win over West Roxbury’s Parkway United squad. Olivia Ancillo’s first-half brace gave the Leopards a halftime lead, and Maya Lieblich’s second-half goal iced the game for the Leopards. Kate Greco added the final tally with a chip shot over the Parkway goalie off of a long throw-in by Ellery Curtiss. Defenders Lucy Reiner, Mikayla Doo, and Anneka Doughty limited Parkway United’s chances throughout the match to help the Leopards advance.
The quarterfinal game was decided in a penalty shootout over the Natick Terriers as the Leopards came from behind to tie the game 1-1 in the 50th minute when Violet Lucchese emphatically slammed in a Greco cross. After a scoreless two periods of overtime, Lincoln clinched the game on shootout penalty kicks from Reiner and Ancillo, while keeper Evie Packineau stood tall in goal, stopping all five Natick tries.
The Leopards continued their run with a stirring 1-0 semifinal victory over the Sudbury Gunners as Greco took a pass from Ancillo to touch home a left-footed goal in the 47th minute. Short one player due to injury for much of the second half, the sturdy Leopard back line held on for the win as Curtiss contained the speedy and dangerous Sudbury wings and Doo cleared some challenging bouncing balls. Goalies Packineau and Lucchese combined for the shutout, together conceding only one goal through the entire tournament.
In the final game against Milford-Hopedale, the Leopards finished their championship season, again stunning a larger town with a 4-0 victory. Strong teamwork by the Leopards resulted in a 2-0 halftime lead as nifty passing sprung Ancillo, who opened the scoring 17 minutes into the game with a rocket off the far post. Two minutes later, Lieblich intercepted a Milford-Hopedale pass and sent it to Concord native Bella Bono, who buried the first of her two goals to give Lincoln a 2-0 advantage. Fiona Crosby finished a cross from Doo midway through the second half to stretch the Leopard lead to 3-0, and Bono added her second goal in the 58th minute to complete the scoring and crown the Leopards as Presidents’ Cup Grade Six Champions.
Click to see larger captioned versions of these photos by Leopard siblings Matthew Greco, Russell Reiner, and Kai Doo:
Lincoln Youth Soccer is open to boys and girls of any experience level in grades K-8 who live or attend school in Lincoln. Fall 2021 registration is open now and requested by July 7 at www.lincolnsoccer.com.
John Greco is the Lincoln Leopards’ assistant coach and the father of player Kate Greco.