As has been the case for the past 39 years, the Concord-Carlisle boys soccer team finished the regular season with a record of .500 or better.
The Patriots’ 3-2 victory over previously unbeaten Oliver Ames gave C-C a 13-2-2 record going into the MIAA Division 1 state tournament. Brady Poor scored twice in the victory. Jackson Stone added a goal.
Every year that the MIAA has held a postseason tournament since 1983, C-C has qualified. In the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, when there was no MIAA tournament, the Patriots won the Dual County League tournament.
Five times, C-C has won a state title.
Every year since 2002, Ray Pavlik has been the head coach and last Wednesday, Oct. 26, the Patriots defeated Westford Academy, 3-0 to clinch the DCL title and give Pavlik his 300th career victory.
“It’s been great that I’ve been able to coach in a program with a tradition like this and take it to a new level,” Pavlik said. “It starts with the youth soccer program. The kids go to our games, see us and want to be a part of a team that could win a state championship. We have great assistant coaches, and great JV and freshman coaches.”
In the win over Westford, Pavlik’s son, Ray, scored C-C’s first goal, which proved to be the winning goal.
“It was kind of a storybook ending,” said coach Pavlik, who has two sons, Ray and Kylan, on the team this year. Ray is a senior while Kylan is a sophomore.
“That has been one of the best parts of this season,” Pavlik said. “Getting to be on the sideline and seeing them play has been great.”
After the Oliver Ames game, Pavlik’s record was 301-69-54. This year’s DCL title was the 11th in his tenure.
Pavlik is a 1992 graduate of Concord-Carlisle and was a team captain. Before becoming head coach, he was an assistant coach on C-C Hall of Famer Jack Murray’s staff. He is a science teacher at C-C.
“I had a great experience,” he said. “Now we try to give the boys going through our program a great experience, both on and off the field.”
C-C reached the MIAA Division 2 North final in Pavlik’s second and fourth year as head coach, 2003 and 2005. In 2006, the Patriots broke through and won the state championship.
After that year, state titles followed in 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2017. The 2014 squad was undefeated with one tie.
“It was like the Red Sox,” Pavlik said. “Once you get that first one, it just builds. Kids grow up wanting to be a part of it and it just grows from there. The standards are high. The expectations are high.”
Last year, in a new postseason format, C-C moved up to Division 1. In a a state-wide tournament, C-C reached the final four after defeating Ludlow. In the state semifinals, the Patriots lost to Newton North in overtime and that was after entering the tournament as the 18th seed.
“We got hot at the right time,” Pavlik said.
To Pavlik, one of the best things about C-C boys soccer is that once someone is a C-C boys soccer player, they’re always a C-C boys soccer player.
“These kids become their best friends,” he said. “When we have the alumni game, we get 50 kids coming back for it.”
