One of the the great joys in a parents life is to see your children grow and achieve success in their lives. All three of ours are now young adults. Grace has completed college and is working in Washington DC. She has a position working at the Republican National Committee helping with the next National Convention. Andre & Gerald are attending St. Joseph’s College where they both are members of the men’s soccer team. Gwen and I had a wonderful fall as we travelled around watching the team progress through a very good season. It was not without some challenges including last spring’s announcement that the college had to reduce expenses which resulted in the coach’s full time position being cut. A new part time coach stepped in during the summer and life when on. These young men turned adversity into triumph as they went on to win their conference title and be selected for an NCAA playoff berth.  During which they set 21 team and individual records.

Below is an article from the Bangor Daily News.

Brothers help St. Joseph’s into NCAA tourney

Cushings and Monks join Division III field

St. Joseph’s College of Standish will be making its first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in men’s soccer after winning the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tourney title.

And two brothers from Hampden, senior Andre Cushing and freshman brother Gerald, have played key roles for the 14-7-1 Monks.

St. Joseph’s will travel to play Wesleyan (Conn.) on Saturday.

“They’ve both had a huge impact on our team,” said Monks coach Steve Babineau. “Andre was a first team all-conference choice. He scored some great goals and had a bunch of assists. With his work ethic, he leads by example in training and in games.

“Gerald has come such a long way since day one. He’s a great young man who is always working hard and always asking what can he do to get better,” Babineau said. “He’s willing to play different positions and he competes with the best of them.

“We’ve used him at outside midfield and in the back and he’s done well,” he added.

“This

has been something we’ve been working for over the past three years,” said Andre Cushing, who has scored two goals and notched four assists. “We felt we should have won it last year so we’ve played with a chip on our shoulders this year.”

He said being named All-GNAC was nice “but it was a collective team effort. I was just able to make some key plays in key situations. It’s a reflection on how well we’ve played together.”

He said he has been motivated by a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Greely of Cumberland Center in the 2004 Class A state title game, in which Hampden squandered a 2-0 lead. He has also been motivated by a frustrating 2008 season.

“That [Greely] game has been eating at me for five years and I told the guys [in the 2-1 GNAC title game win over Emerson] that wasn’t going to happen to us,” said Cushing.

He said he didn’t play as well as he wanted to last season “but I’ve been more consistent this year.”

Cushing added that the season has been “very rewarding” and getting to share it with his brother has added to it.

“It’s cool. He was a JV when I was a senior at Hampden Academy. It’s nice to share something like this with him,” said Andre Cushing.