Titans coming together on the pitch

The Nashua High School North boys soccer team talks a lot about chemistry, and not the kind some of the Titans might be studying in the classroom.

Going into the season, first-year head coach Rick Carvalho was concerned not so much about the talent he might be inheriting at North, but what kind of character the team would have. He knew the Titans had got off to a hot start in 2009, only to fade down the stretch thanks to some off the field issues.

But so far this year, things have been going well.

“I think for the most part, it’s been really good,” Carvalho said. “We’re having a lot of fun. We’ve been able to pick a time and place where we’re going to have fun and pick a time and place where we’re going to work hard. For the most part, these guys recognize those times, and because of that, we’re getting the most out of our practices every day.”

North (2-4) had a tough start to the season, with three of their first six games against Londonderry (5-0), Concord (5-0-1) and Pinkerton (5-1), all teams that are in the top five of Division I. But road wins last week against Spaulding and Dover have helped to remind the Titans of what they’re capable of accomplishing this season.

“I feel like we’re more serious this year,” Jhonatta Ferreira said. “Definitely more serious about the game and that makes us do better. Going against a good team, we’ll feel confident and do better. Last year, we’re like ‘oh, that’s a good team,’ we know we’re going to do bad and we end up doing bad. We’ve just been getting our confidence up from good help from the coach. We’ve all been trying to do our best and get some wins.”

Ferreira has helped do his part, including the win over Dover, in which he scored both goals in a 2-1 overtime victory. The game-winner was a career first for Ferreira and one he described with a big smile on his face.

“I’ve had goals before, but not the winning goal, right there on the spot,” he said. “It felt real good.”

And it made the bus ride back from Dover a lot more enjoyable.

“We had an hour-and-a-half ride home,” said Chris Vincent, who also played well in both North wins. “It was a lot better than being quiet and being pissed off. Of course, everyone on the team is getting along well and everything is going really well.”

It’s helped the Titans to have a coach like Carvalho, who is only a few years removed from helping the Hollis/Brookline High School boys win a Class I title his senior year.

“Coach is close to our age, and I think that’s good,” said Tim Closson, a freshman who started both North wins in goal. “I think that brings us closer together.”

But it’s not just Carvalho’s age, according to Ferreira.

“He just knows the game,” Ferreira said. “He helps us find our right position. He tells us what we’re doing wrong and it helps.”

For a team that knows the game of soccer, it’s important to have a coach who knows it, too.

“These guys are all soccer guys, so they all understand the game,” Carvalho said. “They can tell when their coach knows or doesn’t know the game. As I’m running drills and speaking to them, they can tell I’ve played before.

“The fact that anything they’ve done on the field, I’ve done it. Anything that they’re trying to accomplish on the field, a lot of those things I’ve done. I think it helps them relate to me a little better and just make it easier.”

One thing that has plagued the Titans already this season is injuries. Closson has been forced into the starting position because of an injury to keeper Kevin McAleese. North also saw Simon Ciza suffer a broken wrist in the first game of the season and Alejandro Soto recently went down with a knee injury.

Closson even fell victim to an injury of his own in his first action of the season, at the end of a 5-0 loss to Concord. As he jumped to get a loose ball in the box, Closson was run into by a Concord player and knocked down, just a few minutes after entering the game.

“Welcome to varsity,” he said. “I knew it was rough. It’s all juniors and seniors, so I expected something like that to happen, just not so early in my first game.”

Vincent and Carvalho agreed that Closson has done a great job filling in at keeper.

“From the first day of tryouts, he’s shown a lot of leadership capabilities,” Carvalho said. “I’m hoping his work ethic stays where it is now. It’s very easy to say ‘I’m a starter and I’m a freshman, this is mine for the next four years.’ He knows it won’t be.”

If the Titans’ chemistry stays as strong as its been, the other players won’t let that happen.

“They’re just treating us like one of the other players,” Closson said of himself and the other freshman on the team, Cameron Motivala. “We’re freshmen, but since we made varsity, I think they respect us. There’s a good sense of camaraderie between us all.”