LACONIA – 33 days.
It’s been nothing but wins for Concord for 33 days. The Crimson Tide played some of their best soccer down the stretch of the season. They entered the tournament with an eight-game win streak, a top-4 seed and realistic championship aspirations.
The number stops at 33, however, as the No. 4 Tide were upset by No. 13 Dover in the opening round of the Division I tournament on Wednesday.
From the opening whistle Concord’s defense was active and alert, and it had to be. The Green Wave took it upon themselves to quickly shed their thirteenth seeding position and take it to the higher seed early and often in the match. Junior defender Sarah Potter was tasked with clearing the ball from deep into the Tide’s territory as Dover continuously drove the ball toward the right side of the field.
A chain of passes that started with Potter or fellow defender Caley Nault went to wingers and up into the forwards is the Tide’s usual formula, but the Wave were quick to disrupt that chain with forwards aggressive on a press.
Dover’s formula paid off with multiple corner kicks in the first 22 minutes of the game. Concord in a bend-don’t-break, eventually let a goal slip past it in the 24th minute in a net-front skirmish.
It only took the Tide five minutes into the second half to get back on track. After junior midfield Avery Fitcher’s centering pass made a turn backward, Nault from roughly 20 yards out played the bounce perfectly.
Without hesitation, the senior kicked the ball into the upper left-hand corner that had to ricochet from the adjacent post before it fell into the back of the net.
“One of those chances where we needed to test the goalie and get something on net,” coach Andrew Mattarazzo said. “It changed the momentum for us in the second half and it was something that we just needed.”
Cheers erupted from the crowd, the bench and the pitch. And those cheers were part of an offensive stretch that lasted nearly 10 minutes of quality chances.
Caroline Quirk crossed a pass going from right to left that awaited Fitcher but her shot was off-target. Fitcher had another chance at a centering pass, this one on the mark, to freshman Willa Marino. Marino was too far up-field and sent the pass back down to Whitney Vaillant whose point-blanket shot was blocked.
“I thought it was a beautiful build-up and unfortunately it just didn’t go through,” Mattarazzo said. “The girls gained confidence throughout the year and I give them the freedom to play, I tell them to just go play soccer.”
The Tide forced plenty of free kick opportunities and corners throughout the second half. But their one-slip up ultimately proved too major to come back from.
With the Dover offense in the midst of a second-half resurgence, a handball called against Concord awarded the Wave a penalty shot. Concord goalie Lily Hillsgrove narrowly missed the shot as it curved into the back of the net.
“It was a beautiful penalty kick and tough to save,” Mattarazzo said. “Lily played it brilliantly, but the ball was just ahead of her.”
Concord had more chances in the end, including a penalty kick of its’ own that, but ultimately couldn’t find an equalizer.
Day one.
Day one of a long offseason that will certainly be fueled by a painful and unexpected upset. Day one of seeing opportunities missed. Day one of finding a way to get back into the win column.