DEA Bedford Over 30

The Bedford Pacers held their End of the Season Banquet at the Ritz Carlton recently, and part of the gala was the Season Awards. To Note: Offensive Player of the Year - Chris Laberge. Laberge moved out of the backfield for the first time in his career, and he made the most of it by becoming the Pacers' target man on the front line. Laberge led the team in scoring, and was the driving force behind the team's mid-season revival. Defensive Player of the Year - Dale Dubois. The Ageless Wonder continued his dominating play out of the defensive third. The man is a rock back there, and darn near impossible to get around. Goalie of the Year - Chris Florek. In a suprise vote, Florek took home the honors by playing in only one game, a 5-2 victory over playoff-bound Marblehead. When the Pacers' regular keeper missed the match at the last moment, Florek stepped into the cage and was all over the place at the sweeper-keeper position. The emotional victory was the Pacers' biggest of the season. Rookie of the Year - John Demeritt. JD, a longtime member of the DEA Summer franchise, JD broke into the OTHSL with a flourish. His energetic play out of the backfield created much needed support for the front line, and his speed and ability to track back made him a comfortable site on the back line. Goal of the Year - While there were many nifty ones, the fans couldn't come up with a consensus, clear-cut leader in this category. Or, due to the amount of alcohol consumed after the games...they just couldn't remember the specifics of them. Save of the Year - Regular keeper Chris Cloutier with a diving punch out to save a tie against North Andover with under a minute left in the match.

The Bedford Pacers finished the second leg of the season with a 2-0-3 record. This, coupled with their atrocious 1-4 start, gives them enough points to finish solidly in the middle of the pack. No reason to worry about being relegated...but certainly not a threat to move up to Division 1. They showed they have a fighting spirit with their play over the last 5 weeks. Matched with Westford to finish the season, they would battle to a 2-2 draw. Always a competitive match when the Pacers show with a full squad, each side held the lead at different times before the final whistle. Westford got on the board in the first 10 minutes off a clean breakaway. Bedford started horribly and Westford really took it to them. Not long after going down by a goal, Chris Laberge was unceremoniously chopped in the box and was awarded a PK. He did not dissapoint by slamming home a right-footer to level the match. Not long after, a scramble off a corner kick sent Pacer Keeper Chris Cloutier sprawling on his back. The ball rattled off the crossbar, off Pacer Defender Rich Powlowsky's head, off the crossbar again, cleared by Powlowsky again...and off the crossbar yet again before being cleared. That's two saves by Powlowsky...and two my the crossbar. Halftime would come with the match still level. The Pacers went ahead early in the second on a play started by a beautiful ball by Dale Dubois. After Chris Florek settled, he found Laberge inside the area. Laberge's neat dish slipped to Scott Sharby, who ripped home the go ahead goal, giving the Pacers a 2-1 lead. Not to be outdone, Westford came storming back and slammed another off the post...then knocked the rebound off the crossbar again. Soon after, another scramble resulted in two more clears off the line by Powlowsky. If you are keeping score at home, that's 5 saves by the woodwork and 4 by Powlowsky. Cloutier was seemlingly just sitting in his lawnchair taking in some sun. Westford finally brought the match to even-up with under 10 minutes left. Both teams had chances to go ahead in the waning moments, with Cloutier finally getting in the action by tipping away a curling drive that had side webbing written all over it. After a rather ugly start to the season, this turned out to be a good session overall. The Pacers learned how to play with the personnel presented. Look for a strong showing next Spring. Also, check back to see who won the Season Awards. Voting is due soon.

The Bedford Pacers and the North Andover Hotspurs battled to an exciting 3-3 draw this afternoon. The Hotspurs led three different times, but the suddenly resiliant Pacers batteled back each time to level. The game was considered a win for the Pacers, as North Andover trounced them 7-0 earlier in the year. North Andover lead 1-0 at the half, but Bedford was content to let North Andover hold the ball and possess, but clamped down inside the 18 in holding them to only 5 shots in the half. Early in the second half, Bedford received a gratuitous call inside the area. Chris Laberge slammed home the PK, and the fun was just getting started. With JD playing his best match of the year, defensively the Pacers were really playing well. As the match wore on, they possessed the ball more and created more and more opportunities. North Andover went ahead midway through the half by deposting home the go-ahead goal from an offsides position. A tough call for the fill-in ref to see...but this would just force Bedford to continue to battle back. After Chris Cloutier made a nice save on a low cross, the Pacers headed up the field. Chris Florek dropped a nifty ball into the right corner, where Laberge took an adventageous first touch and headed towards goal. He slipped a feed to John Guild, who laced a low screamer to bring this exciting match back to level. With under 15 minutes left, Bedford had turned the corner fitness-wise and looked to be the better team. The backfield of Dale, Paul, Rob Easton, JD and Rich Powlowsky stopped wave after wave. Midfielders Florek, Jon Cloutier, and the Brothers Guild created more and more opportunities for Laberge up front. Laberge, on a scary goal-scoring streak since being moved to forward, spearheaded nearly every opportunity inside the Hotspurs "18". Could Bedford finally climb into the lead? After a grossly exaggerated dive inside Bedford's box, the Hotspurs took the lead once again with their unjustly awarded PK. That made one for each squad. With the lead back in their hands, some Hotspurs turned to taunting Bedford. Never a recommended thing to do... Bedford would get the equalizer with 4 minutes left. After taking the ball to the corner in an attempt to run out the clock, the Hotspurs were forced into a turnover by JD's smart defending. Florek's ensuing corner kick bounced around the area before Laberge potted home his second of the day. Not content with a draw...Bedford looked to take the lead. Instead, the Hotspurs got one more opportunity with a restart 20 yards from goal. The shot was perfectly placed inside the short post, but Cloutier came up huge by just getting enough of it to keep it out. The Keystone Kops routine was somewhat comical, as the ball rattled around for a bit before finally being cleared. The game ended soon. A splendid match on All Hallow's Eve. Bedford, undefeated in their last four matches, looks to close out the season with a win next Sunday against Westford. The game is at Legacy Field at 9:00. A great effort by all!

The Bedford Pacers remained unbeaten in their last three matches by settling for a scoreless draw with Billerica. The Pacers pretty much dominated play, but couldn't break through with the go-ahead goal. Billerica started strong, and forced Pacer keeper Chris Cloutier to come up big with a diving save in the opening moments. After 15 minutes of disjointed play, Bedford began to exert more pressure in Billerica's zone. The combination of Deco and Chris Laberge, with Marco Koolman supporting from the midfield, sent wave after wave towards Billerica's goal with nothing to show for it. After Deco had a goal called back for a questionable handball, the halftime score remained notted at nil. The second half saw more of the same. Cloutier only had to make a few saves, which he did effortlessly, as the Pacer defense was solid all afternoon. The combination of JD, Dale, Paul Cote and Rob Easton formed a brick wall in front of the Pacers' net. Offensively, Jeff Bailey and Marco created more opportunities...but no goals. The chance of the game came when Bailey fround Marco at the far post. Marco slammed a full volley just inside the post about knee-high. Someway, somehow, Billerica's keeper smothered the shot and held the rebound. Just an outstanding save that ensured there would be no scoring today. Bedford is back in action against division leading North Andover next week for their last road game of the year. Solid effort today...the Pacers deserved a better result.

The Bedford Pacers "shutout" Ipswich on this chilly morning, 2-0. Bedford has one their second match in a row for the first time in almost a year. After a scoreless first half that was largely dominated by Bedford, they came storming out of the gates in the second half with opportunity after opportunity. After one of the few offensive forays by Ipswich was stone-walled by Rich Powlowsky, he found Scott Sharby open in the middle of the pitch. Sharby dropped a perfectly-weighted ball to the corner, where Jeff Guild ran onto it. Guild then lofted a pass to the far post, where Chris Laberge came steam-rolling down through the box. Larberge went high, over the keeper, and nodded one home to break the ice. With under 20 minutes left, controversy errupted when Ipswich finally broke through on their first shot of the day. The low screamer was watched by Pacer Keeper Chris Cloutier as it went whistling wide of the goal. After preparing for a goal-kick, Ipswich was sure they had leveled. After some cross-examining, and sufficient review of the evidence, Ipswich' sour-boy striker and the referee put Cloutier on the stand. He invoked his Fifth Amendment Rights as awarded to him under the United States of America and the Bill of Rights by nodded with an indescriminant shake of the head...and the goal was not counted. Ipswich created the mess the previous spring by allowing a similar situation when Bedford called Ipswich' integrity into question. Turn about is, indeed, fair play. But, I digress... Chris Florek would salt it away when he took a short touch from Johnnie Guild and drove a ball to the far post. In the mayhem of goalie, defenders, and offensive players in the scrum, the ball instead found webbing for the cushion. Cloutier was forced into one more save late to perserve his second career "shutout". Overall, a splendid effort turned in by the Pacers squad. Sharby and Stopperback Rob Easton played particulary well for the Pacers. Pacers looks to get even with Billerica next Sunday at Legacy.