excitement at Willow Brook

Have you noticed there's a very good team playing on the beautiful turf at Willow Brook Park these days.
No, I don't mean the Hurricanes football team. I'm talking about the boys soccer team coached by Matt Denecour.
For several years Denecour has struggled to find players willing to put in the time and effort to play and also with the skills to compete in one of the toughest soccer conferences in the state. Well, it arrived this year.
With the addition of some key underclassmen and the maturation of several players who have been on the team for a couple years now, Denecour's squad is making even the mightiest sweat it out, most recently forcing top-ranked Glastonbury to overtime before falling 1-0. That would have been one of the biggest upsets of the year in any sport.
Last week the 'Canes tied Simsbury, and ties seem to be their specialty so far this year. That will have to change if they want to get to the postseason. With the difficulty of their schedule (Simsbury, Glastonbury, Southington, East Hartford and Manchester twice each) they will need to get wins against their weaker opponents.
But I have a feeling they will get the job done and could be very battle tested and poised for an upset in the state tournament.
Suffice it to say, this is the most interesting story line I am seeing in the quickly moving season. I'll be following it closely.