Kennedy elevates his game

Mike Kennedy

It was kind of like an X-man walking into Professor X's mansion for the first time.

Mike Kennedy always seemed superhuman. Too fast for any back line in the Cape Ann League. Too strong for any defender who tried to bully him.

But in the past two weeks, he's been practicing twice a day for Northeastern University, where he's just another ultra-fast, super-strong, uber-talented Division 1 soccer player.

It didn't make him feel mortal. It made him feel like he was in good company.

"I've never played with players who are at this caliber of play before," Kennedy said. "I think that's actually helped me step my game up as well. It makes people play better when they're around better players."

Kennedy was Lynnfield High's walking record book last year, breaking the single-season scoring record that belonged to his brother, Rob, and setting the school's all-time mark while guiding the Pioneers to the Division 3 North final.

Right now, though, he's just another one of the Huskies' 13 recruits trying to wiggle his way into a significant role on a team that went 8-10-1 and 6-4-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association last season.

"These are clearly the best I've ever played with," said Kennedy, who is counting the Lynnfield squads and the Juventas USA U18 club team. "My club team, a lot of those kids went on to college but they're all the same age. These kids are such great players I think it's actually helping me."

What helps most, he said, is that his reputation from high school didn't make him a target on his new team. Rather than write him off as a score-first, think-later hotshot, veterans on the team such as junior midfielder Alex Volk, all-conference defender Lars Oakland, and team captain Jonathan Battista all embraced Kennedy and the rest of his class.

"The older guys on the team are absolutely awesome," he said. "You couldn't ask for better older guys, and I was a little worried about that - how the kids were going to be - but all the older guys are awesome. They really just want you to work as hard as you can."

In two scrimmages, Kennedy has gotten more work than he expected.

With junior forward Matt Laning battling back troubles, Kennedy's been the one to step in, running the field for most of the New Hampshire scrimmage and all of the Boston College game.

There's a chance that time will extend into the regular season.

"It's up to coach [Brian Ainscough] about how much playing time I get," he said. "But I'm just working as hard as I can and things go from there."

The Huskies open up Saturday at Louisville, and Kennedy's been waiting to play this game ever since he committed to Northeastern.

"I'm so excited I can't wait," he said. "I've been waiting for that for a long time."

Here and there

Her 50-point season was the fifth best in school history, and anything close to that output this year would easily put Melida Alvarez in Wheaton College's top 10 all-time soccer scorers. She's already 10th in school history with 23 goals from her freshman season (the fourth highest total in school history). Though the marks are off in the distance for a sophomore, Alvarez will be sure to hear the name Tracy Prihoda more than a few times - Prihoda holds the school records for goals and points in a single season (38 and 87 in 2001) and all-time (102, 256). The Lyons open up tomorrow at Roger Williams in Rhode Island. . . . After turning a 1-5 start into a 9-8 regular-season mark, then reaching the MASCAC finals, the Salem State women are looking to build on the last season. Three key returnees will be former Danvers High standout Nicole Theberge and Salem alum Keira Lyons, both senior captains and defenders, and Katy Verrette, the sophomore Saugus native and Bishop Fenwick grad, also on the back line. The Vikings open the soccer season at the O'Keefe Center against Endicott College Sept. 4.