Catholic Memorial began the season because the No. 1 group in Eastern Massachusetts.
For the third straight 12 months, the Knights landed in that very spot.
The star-studded solid from Baker Street dealt with all 12 opponents to increase their profitable streak to 29. Led by co-Catholic Conference MVP operating backs Datrell Jones and Carson Harwood, Catholic Memorial scored not less than 27 factors in each sport and Xaverian was the one group to remain inside single digits, shedding a dramatic 41-34 encounter on a Saturday afternoon in West Roxbury.
The depth was put to the take a look at when Notre Dame-bound lineman Boubacar Traore and Rhode-Island sure vast receiver Mervens Amazan have been misplaced early on with season-ending accidents. But when you have got gamers like BC-bound vast receiver Jaedn Skeete, Akron-bound defensive again Maxwell Tucker, linebackers Brady McGowan and Will Claude together with linemen Tim Bruen, Brandon Sullivan and Guerby Lambert (who just lately was supplied by Alabama), you’ll be able to overcome these enormous losses.
One of Catholic Memorial’s chief rivals was St. John’s Prep. The Knights defeated the Eagles 28-17 on Oct. 15 and that was the final loss suffered by St. John’s Prep, who ended the season ranked second within the Sweet 16. Brian St. Pierre’s squad rebounded from that hard-fought setback to run the desk, profitable seven straight video games by double figures, together with an epic 13-0 victory over defending champion Springfield Central within the Div. 1 title sport.
Colleague Adam Kurkjian and I debated the place this win would land in St. John’s Prep’s illustrious soccer historical past. The perception right here is that it’s clearly the very best of their six championships (for my part, the very best win because the epic Game of the Decade 15-14 win over Xaverian on Thanksgiving in 1997), given few anticipated St. John’s Prep to knock off the highly-flying Golden Eagles from Western Mass. Winning the sport was one factor, however shutting out a group averaging effectively over 40 factors a contest coming into the ultimate was probably the most stunning growth of the week.
Duxbury made no bones concerning the reality it was on a mission after shedding a heartbreaker to Patriot League rival Scituate within the Div. 4 state championship sport a 12 months in the past. The redemption tour began with a 21-7 win over Hanover (no small feat given the Indians’ skill to attain factors), then doubled up on Scituate per week later, 44-22.
They adopted that up with a formidable 34-21 win over a wonderful Franklin squad and the great ship Dragon by no means stopped till they arrived at Gillette. Grafton was sport however overmatched as Duxbury capped off an undefeated season with a 42-7 win within the Div. 4 closing and a No. 3 rating within the closing Sweet 16.
While Duxbury’s run wasn’t utterly shocking, the identical couldn’t be stated for Wakefield.
Unless you resided within the 01880 zip code, the Warriors have been a very unknown entity coming into the season. Even inside the Middlesex League Liberty, the preseason favorites seemed to be Stoneham and Melrose with Watertown looming as a possible sleeper.
That didn’t faze John Rafferty’s squad as they opened some eyes within the fourth week of the season once they knocked off Div. 6 state finalist Stoneham, 28-6. Even although they ended the common season undefeated, Wakefield entered the postseason because the No. 6 seed.
You need to say this concerning the Warriors, they didn’t get a cupcake journey to the Div. 3 championship. They needed to get previous a harmful Masconomet group within the first spherical, a street win at Plymouth South and its terrific operating again Casious Johnson, and a semifinal win over North Attleboro.
After an epic comeback win over Melrose on Thanksgiving, Wakefield confronted an undefeated Milton group for all of the marbles. The top-seeded Wildcats gave the Warriors all it may deal with, however the Middlesex League Liberty champions received it performed 34-28 to win the title and lay declare to the No. 4 spot within the closing Sweet 16 rankings.
Be positive to choose up the Boston Herald on Sunday as we wrap up the 2022 soccer season.
Sweet 16
1. Catholic Memorial (12-0): Even with accidents taking away a number of starters over the course of the season, the Knights have been clearly the very best group.
2. St. John’s Prep (11-2): This might very effectively have been the sweetest of the six championships in Eagles’ historical past.
3. Duxbury (12-0): Dragons talked about being on a mission and so they backed up the speak.
4. Wakefield (13-0): Shame on everybody, current firm included, for underestimating John Rafferty’s membership from the beginning of the season.
5. Andover (10-1): To say will probably be a brand new look Andover group in 2023 could be a serious understatement.
6. Central Catholic (9-3): Hard to think about greater sneakers to fill than head coach Chuck Adamopoulos’.
7. Milton (11-1): Wildcats actually gave Wakefield all it may deal with in what proved to be the very best of the eight state championship tilts.
8. King Philip (9-3): Once once more, the Warriors did themselves proud in battling favored Catholic Memorial within the Div. 2 state championship contest.
9. Xaverian (7-4): Hawks do have some gifted gamers returning to the fold in 2023.
10. Milford (10-2): Only losses of the season got here to the Div. 2 state finalists, Catholic Memorial and King Philip.
11. Mansfield (9-2): Mike Redding will start the 2023 season a mere 15 wins away from the coveted 300-win plateau.
12. Methuen (9-3): Having the Easons again for an additional run is actually a great way to begin.
13. Franklin (7-3): Eain Bain has actually laid a pleasant basis right here in Franklin.
14. North Attleboro (8-3): A stable first season on the helm for Mike Strachan.
15. Brockton (9-2): The subsequent order of enterprise is discovering a successor to move coach Peter Colombo.
16. Everett (8-2): It might be fascinating to see who lands on Everett’s schedule subsequent 12 months because it actually wants an improve to have any shot at getting a postseason residence sport.
ON THE BENCH: Billerica (10-1), Bishop Feehan (7-4), Peabody (10-1), Plymouth South (10-1), Stoneham (11-2), Reading (9-2), St. Mary’s (12-1), Hanover (9-3), Chelmsford (8-3), Walpole (9-2), Marblehead (8-2), Holliston (10-2), Shawsheen (12-1), North Reading (11-2), Dover-Sherborn (11-1), Hull (13-0)
FINAL SWEET 16 HISTORY
1993 – Wellesley (11-0)
1994 – New Bedford (11-0)
1995 – Barnstable (11-0)
1996 – Mansfield (12-0)
1997 – St. John’s Prep (11-0)
1998 – Xaverian (10-0)
1999 – North Attleboro (11-0)
2000 – Norwood (12-0)
2001 – Everett (11-1)
2002 – Everett (12-0)
2003 – Everett (11-0)
2004 – Brockton (11-2)
2005 – Brockton (13-0)
2006 – Everett (12-0)
2007 – Everett (13-0)
2008 – BC High (11-1)
2009 – Xaverian (13-0)
2010 – Everett (12-0)
2011 – Everett (13-0)
2012 – Everett (11-1)
2013 – Mansfield (13-0)
2014 – Xaverian (12-0)
2015 – Xaverian (12-0)
2016 – Everett (10-2)
2017 – Everett (11-0)
2018 – North Andover (12-0)
2019 – St. John’s Prep (11-1)
2020 – Catholic Memorial (4-0)
2021 – Catholic Memorial (13-0)
2022 – Catholic Memorial (12-0)
Source: www.bostonherald.com