Concord-Carlisle punches its ticket to the Division 1 boys soccer final

LYNN — If you told Concord-Carlisle boys soccer coach Ray Pavlik his team was going to be undefeated and having a chance to play for a Division 1 state title this season, he probably wouldn’t have believed it.

Yet that’s exactly what the Patriots are going to do on Saturday at Walpole High.

The top-seeded Patriots controlled their state semifinal against No. 5 Weymouth for most of the 80 minutes on Wednesday as Sean Fernandez-Davila had a pair of penalty kick goals in a 3-1 win at Manning Field.

“Sean has been our go-to guy in those situations all season,” Pavlik said. “He showed a lot of poise and finished with two real quality shots.”

The Patriots (19-0-1) set the tone almost from the opening kick as they swarmed around Weymouth goalie Bo Carley’s net. The pressure resulted in a takedown in the box in the seventh minute and a penalty kick.

Fernandez-Davila calmly stepped to the spot and drilled a shot low inside the post for a 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats, who were in the semifinals for a second straight season, had an answer just over six minutes later. All-America selection Bruno DeSouza made a nifty cut inside the box and ripped a shot past a diving Ben Wasserman to knot the game at one.

The Patriots clicked it up a gear from there and got what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 10:37 left in the half.

Jameson Velez took a pass from the right wing and fired a shot that was stopped by Carley but he stayed with the play and was able to head home his own rebound for a 2-1 lead.

“We felt that we had to get wide and attack their flank with the formation they were in,” Pavlik said. “And we were able to have some success with that.”

For as much as Carley was being tested at one end, Wasserman came up with what proved to be the game’s biggest stop when he robbed Matheus Souza from point blank range in the final minute of the half.

“Ben is a really great keeper and is hard to beat. If he gives one up, someone on the other team has done something well,” Pavlik said.

Weymouth came out fast to begin the second half but couldn’t get the equalizer and it proved costly as C-C got an insurance marker with 25 minutes left.

Benedict Bury was hauled down in the box, resulting in another penalty kick. Fernandez-Davila got the call and delivered once again to make it 3-1.

From there, the Patriots defense stood firm and bled out the clock.

Other boys action

It took 10 rounds of a shootout before No. 3 Wakefield (17-3-2) defeated eighth-seeded Hopkinton 3-2 in a Div. 2 state semifinal. Hopkinton (15-3-4) took a 1-0 lead on goal by Drew Bialobrzeski, but Wakefield evened things up on Darragh Casey’s goal. The Hillers regained the lead as Tim Zahkarov tallied, but the Warriors rallied as Marc Laverdere scored with just under seven minutes left in regulation.

Keagan Harder and Adam Prince netted two goals each for Rivers in an 8-2 NEPSAC quarterfinal win against Kingswood Oxford.

Girls soccer

In the Div. 3 semifinals, Sophia Foley scored in double overtime to lift No. 3 Hanover (21-0-1) over No. 4 Norwell, 2-1.

Carly Devine scored the game’s only goal as No. 6 Mansfield (17-3-1) knocked off second-seeded Nashoba 1-0 in a Div. 2 state semifinal.

Ava Magnuson scored twice as No. 2 Sutton (16-4-2) defeated sixth-seeded Littleton 4-2 in a Div. 4 state semifinal.

Claire Patterson struck for two goals, while Delia Loughnane scored a goal and supplied an assist as Dexter Southfield (11-5-1) defeated St. Mark’s 3-0 in a NEPSAC quarterfinal.

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