Two lowest seeds square off tomorrow in Div. 3 North semifinals
THE WMHS varsity boys’ soccer team and the U12-1 boys’ travel team had a combined practice on Friday night at Walton Field at the Galvin Middle School. Both teams are coached by Matt Angelo. The Warrior boys’ soccer team has won two state tournaments and will face Tewksbury tomorrow afternoon in a Div. 3 North semifinal contest.
Published in the November 10, 2015 edition.
By JIM SOUTHMAYD
LYNN — In the first two rounds of the Div. 3 North boys’ soccer tournament, the Warriors faced two Cape Ann League teams that were much higher seeded teams. Wakefield won both by a goal against Triton and Pentucket to advance to the Div. 3 North semifinals tomorrow afternoon.
However Wakefield won’t be facing another CAL foe. This time out the Warriors will take on a Tewksbury team that is very similar to themselves in terms of record and seeding.
The 11th-ranked Warriors (8-8-4) will face the 10th-ranked Redmen (9-8-3) tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. in a Div. 3 North semifinal game at Manning Field in Lynn.
Like Wakefield, Tewksbury entered the tournament with a below .500 record with a 7-8-3 mark and finished second in the small division of the tough Merrimack Valley Conference. Like the Warriors, the Redmen play a tough schedule against many Div. 1 and Div. 2 teams.
So it should come as no surprise that Tewksbury has taken a similar path to the semifinals that Wakefield has. Tewksbury won its first two tourney games by a goal as it edged North Reading by a 3-2 tally in the first round and knocked out Marblehead in the quarterfinals with a 2-1 triumph.
It was the second season in a row that Tewksbury made the Magicians disappear. In 2014, it was a 1-0 win in overtime for the Redmen.
On Sunday at Piper Field in Marblehead, Tewksbury scored the last two goals of the game to defeat Marblehead. Wakefield did the same thing against Pentucket in its 2-1 victory.
Tewksbury coach Chris Burns, in his fourth year, said that his team is a bunch of grinders. He also pointed out that when his team scores two goals or more, it is 9-0-3.
Warrior head coach Matt Angelo is also in his fourth year and Wakefield is a squad that also grinds out victories with hard work. That is evidenced in their tourney wins over Triton by a 1-0 tally and Pentucket by the 2-1 score.
The Redmen scored the game-winner against Marblehead with 3:36 left in the game. Connor MacLean brought the ball over midfield on the left wing and pushed a pass through the middle that Nick McKeon ran up on and deposited in the back of the cage.
Marblehead (12-4-3), the number two seed in the bracket, broke out on top in the first half with 19:18 remaining. Will Gaddis sent one out in front of Tewksbury goalie Rafael Perez and Lukas Kopperman pounced on it and sent it into the back of the net.
The two teams pushed back at each other for the rest of the half until Tewksbury tied the score on a bad break for the home team. John Donovan sent a corner kick in front of Marblehead goalie Joseph Ferrucci. The ball bounced around the crease and was knocked into the net off a Magicians player’s leg in front of the goal.
Tewksbury backs Jeff Carr, Ryan Bain, Andrew Boudreau, Connor Callahan and Connor Dane were superb in front of keeper Perez, who made four saves.
The Warriors counter with senior keeper Zack Dascoli who has played terrific in net in the state tournament. Also senior captains Jon Ingalls, Mark Melanson and Andrew Auld have led the way with solid postseason play.
If Wakefield wins, it will advance to the Div. 3 North final which is scheduled for Sunday at Manning Field in Lynn at a time to be announced. Top-seeded Wayland (13-2-4) faces fourth-ranked Swampscott (13-3-3) in the other semifinal which is noon tomorrow at Manning Field.
