Reprinted from The Daily Transcript, August 16, 1995, Local Sports

When Westwood’s Lisa Radden first joined Charles River United soccer club four years ago, the team did not record a victory until its final game of the season, a brutal campaign that included the unkindest cut of all – a pair of losses to the club’s longtime nemesis, the Boston Bolts.

The roster lacked a core of talented players, strategy was lacking and the future was not at all optimistic – until coach Vekan Anserlian arrived on the scene.

In the past three years, Anserlian revamped the roster and implemented a new style of play that fueled CRU’s vault from the cellar of the Mass. Premier League in 1991 to the state championship this past summer.  “I’ve been with this team for four years and we’ve built it from nothing to this,” said Radden, who will captain the 1995 Westwood High School team this fall.  (Anserlian) basically got new players and has taught us a better game and the team‘s just gotten better.

Charles River, which also includes Needham’s Rachel Toomey, Elizabeth Driscoll and Kate Fleming on its roster, swept through a 7-0 regular season that included a 6-5 win over the Bolts in which CRU netted the clincher in the game’s final 30 seconds.

In the state tournament, held at Fort Devens in early June, Charles River dominated with five straight wins, including a 3-2 victory playing over the Bolts.

“Beating them was really an intense experience,” Radden said.  “I think I really stepped up my game, I wanted to win it really badly.  They had dominated us and to beat them twice felt good.”

Radden attributed the team’s improvement over the past three years to Anserlian’s playing strategy – a controlled game that emphasizes passing and patience and has resulted in higher goal tallies.

In July, CRU played in the Region 1 tournament in Niagara Falls, where the Massachusetts representative was swept in three games.

“It was just a new experience for us and it was tough,” said Radden, a right wingback.  “We had never been there before and we had never seen any of those teams.”

Radden began playing in the Westwood Youth Soccer program when she was 5.  She played briefly on the Blue Hills club several years ago, but when the program fell apart, she migrated to CRU.

Charles River United sponsors 19 boys and girls teams and draws from several towns West and North of Boston.  It practices indoors on Sundays from September until April, then competes through July.

“College coaches all watch the club teams,” Radden said.  “The best players from the

towns play on the club teams and it’s really a higher level then high school.”