BHCC soccer team wins first state title

Serghino René

The Bunker Hill Community College Bulldogs made history on Oct. 29, winning the 2005 Massachusetts Community College Athletic Conference Championship title 2-1 for the first time in the school’s 31-year history.

“This is one of the happiest moments in my life,” said Elmar Santos of East Boston.

“We worked so hard,” said Curt Holmes of Auburn. “We played hard throughout the whole game because in our minds we wanted to win.”

This year’s championship was unforeseeable. Last season, the team went a disappointing 1-12.

Head coach Scott Benjamin has been with the team for the last three years. He knew that significant changes had to be made in order to turn the team around. That meant improving recruiting tactics and making player cuts.

“Last year, the guys were not playing well and it was a struggle to have some of them make most of the games,” said Scott. “This year, all I wanted was wins.”

Many of those changes needed to start with the players. Team members took it upon themselves to train during the off season. Not only did the team have a several returning players, but they also acquired members that had high school experience and were more serious about the game.

As a result, there were more guys at practice and the team was able to reach a new level of success.

Elmar Santos, who is a freshman at BHCC, moved to the United States from Guatemala to live with his siblings because he didn’t want to be a farmer back home. He was one of the players that took the game very seriously.

“We had the skills,” he said, “but we just had to work with what we had to win. I tried as hard as I could to put everything I had on the field”

By all accounts, the team was just that — a team, with no one really standing out. But when asked specifically to name a player that made a difference, all fingers pointed to East Boston’s Alejandro Jaramillo. He scored 11 goals and had three assists during the course of the season.

What is also unique about the team is that all of the players are from Boston neighborhoods: Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston and South Boston. Even the suburban kids come from places like Chelsea, Malden or Medford. More interesting is that the players emigrated from places such as Kazakhstan, Ghana, Bosnia, Algeria, Bulgaria and Haiti.

“Playing with a diverse group of guys forces us to thinking differently and communicate effectively with each other,” Holmes said.

Coach Benjamin was also proud of how well the players got along with each other — and performed in the classroom.

“When I played in college,” Benjamin said. “I didn’t have to work that much. These players are students first, maintaining their academics, making a solid commitment to soccer, and most of them are working part-time too. I think that is impressive.”

On Saturday, Nov. 5, the Bulldogs competed in the Regional Championship against Manchester Community College. Unfortunately, the team lost to the Holyoke Community College Cougars 3-0. That loss didn’t bring the team down.

“We went through the season game by game and were motivated by the championship,” Santos said. “We knew they were good players, but we played our game with heart.”

All it took was a little faith, hard work, and commitment for some of these players. In the eyes of the community, they are a “Cinderella” team that deserves recognition for their outstanding achievement.

“I hope our success will continue to feed on itself,” Benjamin said.