Former Spartan star Webster ready for playoff debut with Boston Aztec U23

Amanda Webster, who starred in girls soccer at St. Mary’s, is now enjoying a solid summer season with the Boston Aztec under-23 team in the Women’s Premier Soccer League.Webster and her team will face the Millburn Magic on Saturday in a WPSL first-round playoff match at Endicott College in Beverly. Kickoff time is 3 p.m.”I’m hoping for a win,” said Webster, a Saugus resident who will enter her sophomore year at Providence College in the fall. “We’re starting to finally connect. We’re playing well as a team. We’re a team of individual studs – every individual is really good – but now we’re playing as a team.”The Aztecs finished the regular season with an 8-1-1 record, and Webster helped out from her forward spot. Last Friday, she scored twice as the team clinched a playoff spot with a 5-0 win over Seacoast United in New Hampshire.During the regular season, the Aztecs train two to three times a week, with a game every week. Their coach, Dushawne Simpson, was also Webster’s first club coach.There are actually two Boston Aztec women’s teams. One is the minor-league team for the Boston Breakers women’s professional squad, while their sister team is the U23’s, who are composed entirely of college players. The two Aztec teams played on Sunday and the U23’s posted a 4-2 win. The squads finished tied for first in the WPSL’s East-North division.It has been a busy year for Webster since her graduation from St. Mary’s in 2009. She went on to Santa Clara University in California. Going to college on the other side of the country was challenging.”I loved Santa Clara,” she said. “The coaches, the team ? everything was perfect. We were nationally ranked.” However, she said, “My family was not there. It was really hard being without them.” That included her four grandparents, who have been to every game of hers since she was eight years old.As a result, she transferred to Providence.”I love the campus, and the coach is great,” she said.She will get to see her grandparents again, as well as her aunt and uncle (who live 15 minutes away). While she described her new squad as “rebuilding,” she also said that the Friars are “a very good team.”She also shared her thoughts about the World Cup.”Oh, God, the US ? they’re good, but I don’t know if they’re ready to compete with Spain,” she said, referring to the 2010 champion. “They let too many goals in.”Webster’s Aztec teammates include Saugus native Erin Quinlan (The Governors Academy/Syracuse) and Jenna Roncarati, who will also be her teammate at Providence.