The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

RICARDO McPhee, one of the Bahamas junior national soccer team players, concluded an outstanding two-year sting at Lyndon Institute.

McPhee and the No. 11 ranked Viking soccer team got shut out 3-0 on Tuesday by the No.6 Vurr Burton as they got eliminated out of the Capital League, a collection of highly competitive teams from across the northern half of Vermont.

“It was a great season,” said McPhee, in putting everything in perspective. “We are a very diversified group of players, but we came together and played very well.”

While McPhee was the lone Bahamian on the team, he was one of the 10 different nationalities that make up the 18-man roster for Lyndon Institute.

“We’ve been through a lot,” McPhee said. “A few years ago, we were a team that wasn’t expected to do anything, but we came together and is now regarded as a team that is expected to win.”

Unfortunately, the Viking suffered their biggest loss at the worst time of the year. Yet, they felt they lived up to their motto: “As One, we play as one, we win or lose as one.”

McPhee, who enrolled at Lyndon Institute two years ago out of Noble Preparatory Academy, said he’s quite pleased with the way he performed for the Division 1 high school team in Lyndon, Vermont.

“It was a lot different from high school in the Bahamas,” McPhee pointed out.

“It’s a lot of hard work and you have to want to succeed for yourself. The teachers here are down on you to do your work, but you have to push yourself to achieve your goals.”

As a member of the junior national team, the 5-foot, 11-inch striker and mid-defender said he went to Lyndon Institute a little more prepared for the challenge of playing in the United States and now he’s eager to see where his talent will take him after he graduates from high school next year.

“They looked up to me for my talent and my skills,” said McPhee about playing overseas. “That made it an easy transition for me on the team.”

Once he graduates from high school, McPhee said he would like to enroll at the University of South Florida because it’s close to home or he wouldn’t mind going to Europe to play where he has some contacts for a few professional camps.

“It’s been good playing with this team,” McPhee summed up. “We’re a hard working team and we did what was best for the team and that was what made the difference in our success this year.”