Bryan Rotatori: 13 to Watch in Central Mass in 2013

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Tuesday, January 01, 2013

GoLocalWorcester Editors

After a remarkable junior season, Grafton High's Bryan Rotatori still has unfinished business heading into his senior campaign of 2013.

Last season Grafton led Central Mass in goals score per game with over 14, and then-junior Bryan Rotatori was a big reason why. The talented midfielder, and son of coach Alan Rotatori, actually finished second on his own team in scoring to lethal attacking classmate Tyler Reilly, but nobody else in the region scored more points.

Thanks to Rotatori, nobody started better than the Grafton Indians last year.

Grafton shot out of the gates, winning its first 11 games by a combined 133 goals, putting Central Mass on notice that it was a serious title contender. An 11-8 victory over regional power St. John's, powered by Rotatori's three goals and one assist, confirmed what many were thinking; Grafton was defending champion Algonquin's biggest competition.

It will be on Reilly to get the Indians over the hump and overtake Algonquin in Central Mass, and make a run at a state championship game in 2013. The Indians actually led 7-6 over Algonquin at the half of last year's Central Mass title game, but when Rotatori and Reilly went cold in the second half, the Tomahawks surged to a second consecutive title by a score of 11-9.

Still, it was a remarkable season for the Grafton program that has come so far in a few short years. The regional runner-up season saw both Rotatori and Reilly earn All American honors, and the two will be the only returning All Americans in Central Mass.

With Rotatori, perhaps the region's most complete player, back in the fold, look for Grafton to be the regional favorite this year.