The 2018 MIAA girls soccer state tournament pairings were released Wednesday afternoon and plenty of local teams will compete in their respective sectional brackets.
In Division 1 North, Peabody and Revere each qualified for the postseason. The Tanners, despite boasting a relatively young roster, finished the regular season at 9-7-1. Peabody earned the No. 6 seed and hosts No. 11 Central Catholic Saturday (3). Revere finished the regular season at 9-9 and earned the No. 10 seed. The Patriots travel to Andover Friday (3:30).
In Division 2 North, Classical ends a tournament drought and makes a long-awaited appearance in the tournament. The Rams stumbled during the closing stretch of their regular season and fought their way through a few injuries but qualified with Monday’s win over crosstown rival English. Classical (9-8-1) earned the No. 14 seed and visits No. 3 Concord-Carlisle Sunday (3:30).
“I don’t know much but they’re a very high seed and from what I hear they’re an outstanding team,” Classical coach Mark Ierardi said of Concord-Carlisle. “We’ll focus on playing a very defensive game. We’ll try to keep the score close, hope to score a goal and win a very close game. That’s our strategy going into the game.
“We’re very excited,” Ierardi added. “Everyone’s looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to the game and we’re going to give it everything we have.”
Last year’s Division 2 state champion, Danvers, is also back in the mix this fall. The Falcons finished the regular season at 15-2-1 and earned the bracket’s No. 4 seed. Danvers hosts No. 13 Tewksbury Saturday (6).
In Division 3 North, Saugus, Bishop Fenwick, Swampscott and Lynnfield each qualified for the postseason. Saugus is the highest-seeded team of the bunch at No. 2. The Sachems went 15-2-1 in another dominant regular season. They’ll host No. 15 Bedford Saturday (2). Bishop Fenwick earned the No. 4 seed with a 14-3-1 regular season record. The Crusaders host No. 13 Pentucket Friday (4). Swampscott went all the way to the sectional final last fall despite being the No. 11 seed. The Big Blue are ranked a bit higher this time around, earning the No. 7 seed. Swampscott (12-5-1) hosts Wayland Friday (2:45). Lynnfield, the No. 8 seed, went 11-4-3 during the regular season. Coach Mark Vermont and his Pioneers host No. 9 Hamilton-Wenham Friday (3:45).
In Division 4 North, St. Mary’s and Winthrop are in the mix. The Spartans drew the No. 10 seed with their 11-6-1- record. They’ll travel to Catholic Central League rival No. 7 Lowell Catholic Sunday (3). The Spartans defeated Lowell Catholic, 2-1, earlier this week in their regular season finale.
“It helps to play someone you’re familiar with,” Spartans coach Jim Foley said. “I think it helps. It’s just the way the seedings fell. It was a hard-fought game Monday. We’re expecting a good game. Hopefully we can go there and do the right thing. In the tournament it’s one and done. If you don’t play well, there’s no tomorrow after that.
“One of our goals every year is to make the tournament,” Foley added. “We’re excited to be in the tournament. It’s nice to have a nice couple days of rest. We had a few tough games at the end. Our league prepares us for the tournament. Five of the six teams qualified, that’s a testament the competition in our league. The girls are excited. Hopefully we can do our best and keep going.”
Winthrop went 10-7-1 during the regular season and earned the bracket’s No. 11 seed. The Vikings travel to No. 6 Amesbury Sunday (4).