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North Andover Scarlet Knights Boys Soccer '17

Tue, Nov 07, 2017 07:00 PM @ North Andover
Team 1st 2nd Final
Concord-Carlisle 2 2 4
North Andover 0 1 1

North Andover falls to Concord-Carlisle in North quarters

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Tuesday, November, 07 By By Mac Cerullo

NORTH ANDOVER - The North Andover boys soccer team had a tremendous season. The Scarlet Knights went 16-1-1 in the regular season, won the MVC Small title and went into the Division 2 North tournament as the top overall seed.

But none of that mattered on Tuesday, when historically dominant Concord-Carlisle came to town and quickly proved who the better team was.

Concord-Carlisle, which has qualified for the state tournament 32 years in a row, cruised to a 4-1 victory over North Andover in the Division 2 North quarterfinals. The Patriots scored twice in the first 15 minutes, and while the Scarlet Knights had some opportunities, there was never a sense that the game was really in doubt.

"We had a tremendous season and it's so unfortunate to end it with a loss," said North Andover coach Kyle Wood. "We had high hopes and tonight just wasn't our night. We played a really strong Concord-Carlisle team and they always have a strong program. I would of course had liked to have gone a little farther, but this is where it ends for us."

While Concord-Carlisle (11-2-6) came in as the No. 8 seed, this was no upset. The Patriots have been a dominant program in the Dual County League for decades, and since current coach Ray Pavlik took over in 2002, the Patriots have won four state championships while reaching at least the North Finals 10 times in 15 tries.

The Patriots started their tournament run with a 3-1 win over Central Catholic, and on Tuesday the team came out of the gate quickly. Concord took the lead in the seventh minute after junior Cameron Emde-Gerdine stole the ball from a defender in the box and scored to make it 1-0.
Senior Logan Dick scored the first of his two goals only six minutes later, collecting a rebound off a shot off the post and putting it in to make it 2-0. North Andover called timeout after that goal, and the Knights were able to regroup and begin applying more pressure, but North Andover couldn't capitalize on its chances, and when Dick scored again two minutes into the second half, the game was all but over.

North Andover did get on the board nine minutes into the second half, with James Boyle stealing a bouncing ball in the box and finishing to break up the shutout, but Concord kept the Knights at bay the rest of the way, and with three minutes to go Alex Ehrenthal scored the dagger to clinch the win.

"It was bad luck to draw them as an eight seed, but that's the tournament," Wood said. "You have to beat some really good teams to win it all and unfortunately for us they cashed in on all their opportunities and we missed a few."

North Andover finishes the season 16-2-1, while Concord-Carlisle advances to face Belmont in the Division 2 North semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m.

Game Statistics:

Division 2 North Quarterfinals

Goals: CC — Logan Dick 2, Cameron Emde-Gerdine, Alex Ehrenthal; NA — James Boyle

Assists: CC — Aaron Chung; NA — None

Saves: CC — Davis Van Inwegen 8; NA — Sam Naftal 5

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