Local players lift NU's soccer team
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Algonquin Regional High grad Matthew Laning of Southborough and Needham High alumni Nick Leuders and Jeremy Klein have contributed to the success of Northeastern University men's soccer team this fall.
The Huskies, 7-4-7 in the regular season, were lined up to play the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association championship tournament on Friday, after advancing past Old Dominion with a shootout win Tuesday.
Laning, a junior forward, scored the game-tying goal against George Mason in the 82d minute on Oct. 18, and has five goals and four assists in his NU career. Leuders, a sophomore midfielder, had the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Boston University on Sept. 23, and assisted Mike Kennedy on the game-winning goal in a 1-0 decision over Delaware on Oct. 29. Klein, a sophomore defender, has been playing a reserve role.
"Nick was injured for a couple weeks in the middle of the season and is now just getting back healthy. He has come a long way," head coach Brian Ainscough said of Leuders. "Matthew came into the season with a stress fracture in his back and it took him a while to get his fitness back. Lately he has done a terrific job for us. And Jeremy has made great strides."
Ainscough's assistants include Framingham native James Greenslit, a former Wheaton College All-American and Rivers School star, and Newton North High All-American Adam Pfeifer, who was also a standout at Boston College.
"Stephanie has exceptional game sense and stick skills, which has made her a big factor in our success," said first-year coach Jessica King, a Newton resident who previously coached at Lasell College. Sideris has appeared in 18 games, six as a starter, and had two goals and three assists for the Falcons (17-5).
The team won the conference tournament title and advanced to this weekend's NCAA Division 2 Final Four in Bloomsburg, Pa., riding a 16-game unbeaten streak.
It is the first time Holy Cross has held such a ceremony honoring former student-athletes. The honorees are the only four basketball players in school history to twice earn first team All-America honors.
In addition, each of them had played on a Holy Cross national championship team. Kaftan and Cousy were part of the 1947 NCAA champs, while Palazzi and Heinsohn were members of the 1954 NIT champions.
All four share another distinction: they went on to play for the NBA's Boston Celtics.
Ritter scored one goal and assisted twice in a 3-0 victory over Pittsburgh that gave the Friars the No. 4 seed and home field for the tournament's first round, a 2-1 victory over Villanova in which Ritter scored again. He also had a game-winning goal earlier this fall against Bryant.
Providence's tournament, and 9-7-3 season, ended last weekend with an overtime loss, 1-0, to No. 1 seed St. John's, the third-ranked team in the nation.
"Tim's athleticism and toughness was a threat to opposing defenses," said PC head coach Chaka Daley.
Ritter, a former New England Prep All-Star and team MVP at Bridgton Academy, was second in team scoring as a freshman at Providence with five goals and a team-high six assists.
"Morais starts at two-guard or small forward, Cruzado is an excellent perimeter shooter with three-point range, and Vega is being switched to the backup point guard position," said head coach Bill Raynor. "We feel our combination of returning and new players could put us in a position to equal or better last season's record."
Marvin Pave can be reached at 508-820-4223 or marvin.pave@rcn.com. 
