Concord went into its last match of the season against Keene knowing it needed a win, and not knowing if a win would be enough to sneak into the playoffs.
Through 60 minutes of play against Keene, the score was still tied at 0-0. Enter junior center back Hannah Brown.
Brown had zero goals on the season when a corner cross from sophomore Alex Kalapinski bounced out to the edge of the box. Brown positioned for a shot with a mass of players in front and hit it with her laces as it flew through untouched into the left corner to break the deadlock.
“I just closed my eyes and shot it,” Brown said, grinning. “I saw it hit the net and I was just like, ‘Wow.'”
The crowd cheered and took a breath. Concord was winning the game they needed to, 1-0. The floodgates opened and Concord scored two more in the last 20 minutes to beat Keene, 3-0.
It was incredible for this team to even be in the position to make the playoffs. The Crimson Tide girls’ soccer team started the season 1-8, getting outscored 36-9. The situation looked bleak in those early days.
Then, something sparked up, and Concord proceeded to go 4-1-1 in the next six and entered Thursday night against Keene (1-13-1) on a three-game win streak.
The Tide’s new head coach, Kevin Parsons, said that after making multiple tactical adjustments based on the first half of the season, and instilling some self-belief in the team, everything changed.
“That was the biggest thing with them, talking about controlling emotions, staying in games, because it’s all a mental battle,” Parsons said.
Their game against Timberlane, when the Tide almost came back from 4-1 to 4-3, was a turning point on the mental side. They just needed to find the goals and results after that.
Concord’s overall record of 5-9-1 put them in 15th place before senior night against Keene. To make the playoffs, they needed to bump up a spot in the standings and hope the team ahead of them, Nashua South, lost on Thursday night.
To secure the win, Concord did not stop at just the one goal. Two and a half minutes after Brown’s goal, the Crimson Tide found the second.
On Kalapinski’s fifth corner kick attempt of the second half, this time from the left corner, she hit an in-swinging ball high with her right foot. Somehow, some way, maybe with some help from the wind, it found the back of the net for an “olimpico” goal.
To cap it all off, senior captain midfielder Kate Dickson found her goal. She had been shooting all night, firing off at least three shots on target, and over six in total.
Dickson cut to her right, moving toward the edge of the box and slicing through Keene’s defense. She got under it just enough to give it some air, but placed it perfectly across the face of the goal to sneak into the back.
“This team has worked so hard all season,” Dickson said. “The end of the season really showed our effort and how much grit we have that we were able to look at the results and still turn it around and end on a good note.”
Senior captain Camryn DuBois kept her goal clean with a few saves here and there, but the defense stepped up to shut down most of Keene’s attacks. Three-nil and Concord had done its job.
The Concord girls left Memorial Field in Concord not knowing whether their efforts had been enough. About an hour after the game ended, results were posted. Hanover beat Nashua South, 3-0.
The Crimson Tide snuck in at 14th in the standings on a four-game win streak.
Boys
The Crimson Tide won away from home at Keene, 1-0, through a goal by Karma L. Lama, who scored halfway through the first half after tracking down a ball from striker Ethan Belanger.
This result was enough for Concord to move up to 14th in the standings at 5-7-4 and also make the playoffs as the last seed.
Goalkeeper Nephtali Muleya recorded 4 saves for the shutout. He made a couple of tough saves in key moments, according to assistant coach Pedro Perez.
“The team showed great character in a tough place to play. We talked about the approach to the game and the build-up to it,” Perez said.
The soccer bracket is yet to be posted as the season for other divisions wrapped up Friday. More information on NHIAA soccer tournaments can be found on www.nhiaa.org/tournament/information/