This year’s Concord Christian Academy boys’ soccer team was a once-in-a-generation type of squad. That’s because it’s literally been a generation since the Kingsmen accomplished what they accomplished.
No. 1 CCA wrapped up an undefeated season (18-0-1) with a 3-0 victory over No. 6 Woodsville (15-4-1) on Sunday at Manchester Memorial High School to claim the Division IV championship, Concord Christian’s first soccer title since 1993.
This crown has been a long time coming for the Kingsmen – in more ways than one.
Four of the seven seniors – central defenders Levi Campbell and Aidan Duffy, and midfielders Ethan Young and Wilson Rose – have been playing together in the Concord Christian program since kindergarten and have had aspirations of winning a championship together for many years.
“We’ve had expectations ever since we’ve been in kindergarten,” said Campbell, whose father, Jeff Campbell was a member of the 1993 championship team. “We’re all good players who care about the game. Anything short of a championship would be considered a failure and we all felt that. That’s how we were all able to push through.”
As they’ve done all year, the Kingsmen used their team chemistry and excellent conditioning to their advantage, controlling the pace of the match from start to finish and pressing the attack early and often.
Rose, fellow seniors Gavin Ross and Austin Spurr, and junior Zach Syvertson set up several combinations early in the match, forcing Engineers’ goalkeeper Cam Davidson to make several saves and sending even more opportunities wide of the goal.
Davidson made seven saves in 65 minutes (he moved to the midfield for the final 15 minutes and was replaced by Ethan Kimball who made three saves), including a diving save on an attempt by junior forward Brayden Burbach from inside the box at point-blank range. Syvertson was right there to collect the rebound, emphatically putting it into the net in the 37th minute for a 1-0 lead.
“We preach that you have to play 80 minutes and we can usually beat people after the first 30,” sixth-year head coach Craig Anthony said. “People can play with us for that first 30 minutes, but once we get over that hump, we kick it into gear and it’s hard to keep up with those boys. They can move the ball, they can play possession and we’ve got wheels, four or five guys we can rotate in that striker position.”
The Kingsmen came out just as strong in the second half, with Syverston sending a cross through to the middle of the box that junior forward Enzo Toscano buried to make it 2-0 in the 47th minute.
Spurr – the goal scorer in CCA’s 1-0 semifinal victory over Epping – blasted a shot from 28 yards out that snuck in just above Davidson’s fingertips and below the bottom of the crossbar to wrap up the 3-0 scoreline in the 61st minute.
“Cam Davidson is a beast back there. He’s a legend in goal,” Anthony said. “Anytime you go against a Woodsville team with Cam Davidson in goal, you know you better work hard. He’s going to make the normal saves and the really good saves. We watched a lot of film with Woodsville. I didn’t feel that teams really owned the flanks on them, didn’t send in balls from the side. I felt that if we could run the sidelines and cross balls and get him having to move in the goal, it was going to loosen him up back there. You’re not going to score in front of him from straight on. You’ve got to get him moving in that goal. We were able to do that tonight.”
Young nearly made it 4-0 in the 74th. Kimball got his hands on Young’s strike, but couldn’t stop it fully. The ball bounced off the post, off Kimball’s back, and barely over the goal line before Kimball was able to quickly pull it away (the official ruled it no goal).
The Kingsmen were able to cut the field in half and Woodsville spent very little time in its attacking third, thanks to the work of Campbell, Duffy and senior back Nate Manha. Sophomore goalie Jaden Young (Ethan’s cousin) only needed to make a couple of saves, neither of them particularly troubling, to secure the clean sheet.
Campbell’s reason for CCA’s ability to dominate possession and shorten the field comes down to one word: chemistry.
“Some of us have been playing for 13 years together. Others for four years together,” Campbell said “It helps being on a really big, nice field, especially when we like to use all 11 guys. That’s what we preach. Use all 11 guys on the field. Use everyone we have.”
That mindset started from day one.
“It starts with coaching. Our coach does an awesome job of driving us,” said Campbell, referring to head coach Anthony. “Pushing us beyond what we think we can do as players, and also as men. He really does a good job of pushing that we’re a family among the team. When you have 20 guys who genuinely care about and love each other, you can do stuff that you didn’t think you could.”
Part of preseason training included a team half marathon the week prior to matches starting.
Armed with incredible team chemistry and exceptional conditioning, the Kingsmen rolled through the regular season, outscoring opponents 106-2 (112-3 including postseason games), but at no point did CCA underestimate how hard winning a championship would be.
“There’s so many good teams, so many good programs,” Anthony said. “When you’re playing 1-0 games, you’d better be ready, physically and mentally, to get through those games and be ready for the next one. It’s so hard to get to this point and then get over that hurdle to win against an unbelievable Woodsville team. Their coach (Matt Taylor) is phenomenal. I have so much respect for him, for his program. He went to school there, he played there, he developed a program there, and they’re just perennials.”
CCA is a small community, with an enrollment of 106 as of the most recent NHIAA classification, but seemingly the entire student body and their families packed the stands at Memorial High. That’s not including several alumni, including six former players who flew home from college to support the team.
Anthony also credited his assistants – Brian Young and Josiah Coulombe – and student volunteers who film the games. 0
It’s all part of a ‘Kingsmen Forever’ mentality that the program has embraced that contributed to an unforgettable season, especially for the seniors.
“It’s been a long time coming. We’ve worked so hard,” Anthony said. “I’m so proud of these guys. These seniors. They’re class acts. I just don’t have words to describe how happy I am for them. Everything they’ve worked for in the last 12 or 13 years … I’m super proud of everything they’ve done to represent the team and program.”