By Tim Peterson, Sports Correspondent

November 21, 2013

Worcester, MA --- Since becoming men's soccer coach at Worcester State four years ago, former Ludlow High soccer standout Jason Willis has always had several former Lions players on his team.

"I've always had four or five Ludlow players on the team since I've been coaching here," Willis said. "I've coached most of them when they were younger and its great having them on my team again. I really enjoy working with them and I enjoy seeing them do well in school."

The four former Lions soccer players listed on the Lancers men's soccer roster this year are Derek Alves, Derek Kareta, Alex Goncalves and Nick Zucco.

"Coach Willis is doing a great job at Worcester State," said Ludlow boys varsity coach Greg Kolodziey. "He's been able to recruit some Ludlow guys over the last few seasons to help his team. It's also nice to see our players move on to a higher level of education and still play soccer.

The Lancers completed their 2013 season last weekend with a 12-5-4 overall record and a 6-0-1 MASCAC record. They were upset 1-0 by Bridgewater State in the conference championship game on their home field on November 10.

Had the Lancers won that match they would have automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament. Instead, they were invited to play in the ECAC Division III New England Tournament.

"It was upsetting losing in the conference finals," Zucco said. "But I'm happy that we still had the opportunity to play a few more games this year. We're hoping to make the NCAA Tournament next year."

Third-seeded Worcester State defeated sixth-seeded Mount Ida, 2-1, in the quarterfinal home match last Wednesday night. (WSU's) season came to an end following a 3-2 loss against second seeded Lasell in a semifinal match, which was held at Springfield College last Saturday afternoon.

"We played much better this year than we did last year," said Zucco. "We only graduated two seniors from last year's squad. I also enjoyed playing with the other three guys from Ludlow. We're all like one big family here and I really like having coach Willis as a coach again.

"He's transformed our team this year."

Zucco, who's a sophomore was the Lancer starting goalkeeper this fall. He was recently selected to the All-MASCAC First-team.

"It feels very good to be selected to the All-MASCAC First-team," said Zucco. "I've worked very hard and it was one of my goals before the start of the season. I couldn't have done it with out the help of my defense."

Zucco, who helped the Lions win back-to-back Division I state titles as a senior and junior, made a total of 99 saves and posted seven shutouts this season.

"Zucco has always been an extremely talented goalie," said Willis. "He was the (Division I) Player of the Year and won a couple of state titles in high school. He's a focused player and he's one of our team leaders. I'm very happy that he'll be playing here the next two years."

Zucco talked about the differences between being a goalie in high school and in college.

"It wasn't very easy being a goalie in high school, but compared to playing the position at this level, it was easy," he said. "Playing college soccer is definitely a step up, even at the Division III level."

Alves, who's a defender, transferred from AIC before the start of the season. He was another member of the All-MASCAC First-team.

"It has been awesome to play soccer with a couple of my high school teammates again and I'm so glad that I was selected to the All-MASCAC team," Alves said. "Coach Willis is trying to build the same soccer tradition that Ludlow has at Worcester State.

"Hopefully, he can get a few more Ludlow players to come here in the future."

Zucco and Alves are roommates at Worcester State.

"Zucco and I are always together," said Alves, who scored five goals this season. "It's also nice playing defense in front of him. I wouldn't want anyone else back there."

Alves was a member of a state title team at Ludlow High when he was a junior.

Kareta, who was a junior midfielder this season, also transferred from Springfield Technical Community College prior to the start of the season.

I've been playing soccer with the Ludlow guys for years and it was fun playing with them again this year," Kareta said. "I'm looking forward to playing on the team again next year."

Kareta was credited with the assist on the tying goal against Mount Ida, which was scored by senior Brendan Whitson. He finished the season with two goals and three assists.

"Derek was one of my favorite players when I coached him seven years ago in Ludlow," said Willis. "He always comes to play and he's a great soccer player."

Goncalves, who's a sophomore forward, scored a couple of goals this season, but he missed a lot of games with injuries. He didn't score any goals against Mount Ida, in the ECAC Quarterfinal victory, but he just missed on two scoring chances (late in the game).

"Alex has been injured the last couple of years, but he scored a couple of big goals for us this year," Willis said.