By Peter Jantzen — Sports Contributor
The Concord-Carlisle boys soccer team is a step closer to a state championship after its 5-3 Tuesday defeat of Shrewsbury in the second-round MIAA playoff.
CC’s Cooper Balfour scored two goals. Matias Bout, Jack Peppercorn, and Eli Siefer also found the back of the net, according to team scorekeeping for the Dual County League champion Patriots.
Shrewsbury answered with three goals in the second half, but couldn’t catch the Patriots.
CC’s next round is against the winner of the November 6 Wellesley/Lexington match.
The team entered the tournament following a successful 11-2-3 season.
CC came out strong against tough teams like Framingham, Cambridge, Boston Latin, Burke, and Bishop Feehan, then had a rocky middle patch with a surprise loss to Lincoln Sudbury at Kicks for Cancer. Undeterred, CC beat Waltham and then handily defeated LS in a rematch — but lost to Newton South to stand 7-2-0 at approximately midseason.
The CC boys regrouped, dug deep, and secured three ties and a win. The Patriots applied the afterburners in the last three games to beat Weston, Bedford, and Oliver Ames and claim another Dual County League championship.
CCHS boys soccer was Division 2 for many years, based on the school’s size of 1,400 students, as D1 opponents such as Lowell, Brockton, and others have 3000-plus students and a larger pool of players to choose from. Nonetheless, CCHS moved up to Division 1 based on performance and won the D1 state title last year.
