Podcast: Previewing New England storylines to keep an eye on in 2025

Taft and Milton Academy played in the 2024 NEPSAC Class A championship game. (Photo by Emily Hull)

On the latest episode of New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast, hosts Matt Langone and Matt Doherty look ahead to what might be coming in 2025.

Langone and Doherty preview what 2025 might bring to the world of New England soccer, and explain storylines that they’re looking forward to covering and keeping an eye on this year. 

This comes after an action-packed 2024 that was capped off by the Vermont men’s soccer team winning its first-ever Division 1 national championship and the Amherst men’s soccer team capturing a Division 3 national title.

Here are some highlights from our discussion:

On the prospects of Vermont repeating in 2025:

Doherty: “I think the most fascinating thing is I feel like it’s sustainable. I think they’ve had the most wins in the country — tournament wins in the country — over the last three years. So, I think that’s something that’s not just a flash in the pan.”

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On FC Stars and South Shore Select forming a major rivalry in ECNL Girls:

Doherty: “I had a coach that I knew really well, and he’s involved in the club world and the girls club world, and he was talking to me about it. So, I’ve heard so much. It’s kind of like that anticipation thing, I’m excited to see it play out.”

On if the parity will continue in NEPSAC Boys Class A:

Langone: “There hasn’t been a repeat champ in quite some time. There’s been kind of a new team emerging (each year). We’ve seen teams have really great years. I mean, Taft was a runner-up in two of those years and then finally broke through and won the championship in 2024. (Taft) lost to Northfield Mount Hermon in 2021, and lost to Milton Academy in 2023. Milton Academy lost to Worcester Academy (in 2022). So, a lot of teams have been repeat finalists, making deep runs — we’ve seen that. But no one has been able to repeat as a champion. So, we’ll see if Taft can be that team to do it in 2025.”

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