Copyright The Boston Globe
Here’s a breakdown, division-by-division, of what to watch for over the next three weeks of soccer. Favorites: No. 1 St. John’s Prep, No. 4 Needham. Sleepers: No. 8 Weymouth, No. 14 Arlington. Best first-round matchup: Tuesday, No. 17 Lowell at No. 16 Beverly, 5 p.m. Longest road trip: No. 18 Boston Latin at No. 15 Attleboro, 34 miles Players to watch: Cole Boggis (Natick, Jr.), Anthony Giannandrea (Weymouth, Sr.), Ronen Heimlich (Newton South, Sr.), Carlentz Jean Pierre (New Bedford, Sr.), Keegan Maxwell (Arlington, Sr.), Garrison Murphy (St. John’s Prep, Sr.), Conor O’Brien (Needham, Sr.), Will teDuits (BC High, Sr.) Overview: Last year’s Division 1 tournament was as wild as it gets — a 31-seed winning the title and upsets galore. The top seeds this year will try and avoid that same fate. St. John’s Prep is a complete team, with talent from the back line out. The Eagles went unbeaten in Catholic Conference play en route to the title. Other CC teams to watch include No. 7 BC High and No. 12 St. John’s (Shrewsbury). The Bay State Conference is, as always, very well represented. No. 2 Natick and No. 4 Needham each closed the year strong, and both No. 7 Framingham and No. 8 Weymouth are defensively-sound threats. No. 5 New Bedford is an upstart looking for a first title since 1971. A few skilled teams that are underseeded: No. 17 Lowell is still undefeated and boasts one of the best defenses in the state. No. 14 Arlington and No. 24 Lexington are Middlesex League stalwarts tested in tough games, and No. 22 Franklin was the same seed last year before a run to the quarterfinal. Favorites: No. 1 Oliver Ames, No. 4 Duxbury Sleepers: No. 9 Hingham, No. 15 Mansfield Best first-round matchup: Tuesday, No. 24 Marblehead at No. 9 Hingham Longest road trip: No. 17 Minnechaug at No. 16 Sharon, 87 miles Players to watch: Nicky Babanikas (Oliver Ames, Sr.), Ilan Druker (Marblehead, Sr.), Vlad Francoeur (Canton, Sr.), Andrew Granfors (Holliston, Sr.), Lucas Heald (Duxbury, Jr.), Daragh Hume (Marshfield, Jr.), Parker Johnson (Newburyport, So.), Ryan Murtagh (Hingham, Sr.), Enzo Nteta (Masconomet, Sr.), Luca Tirella (Danvers, Sr.) Overview: Once again, the Division 2 title runs through Oliver Ames, as the No. 1 Tigers (12-1-3) seek a fourth consecutive championship. John Barata’s team conceded more than once in a game just twice on its way to another Hockomock Davenport title. No. 13 Stoughton (9-5-3) and No. 15 Mansfield (7-8-3) followed the Tigers in that division, and both are worth watching. No. 9 Hingham (13-3-3), which fell to OA in double overtime in last season’s final, is right back in the mix again. Meanwhile, Patriot Keenan champion Duxbury (14-3-1) looks like a legit contender at No. 4, as does No. 5 Holliston (11-3-4), the TVL Large champ. But the most dangerous team for OA in the 39-team field could be No. 6 Masconomet (16-2-0), which is on a 14-game win streak. The Chieftains conceded four total goals during that stretch. Favorites: No. 1 Medfield, No. 2 Norwell. Sleepers: No. 8 East Boston, No. 9 East Bridgewater. Best first-round matchup: Tuesday, No. 17 Scituate at No. 16 Joseph Case. Longest road trip: No. 24 Tewksbury at No. 9 East Bridgewater, 57 miles Players to watch: Bret Amorosino (Norwell, Sr.), Dylan Baldwin (Pembroke, Jr.), Caio Dos Santos (Dover-Sherborn, Sr.), Devlin Duggan (Boston Latin, Jr.), Calvin Guevara (Nantucket, Jr.), Brody Lovell (East Bridgewater, Jr.), James McDermod (Hanover, Sr.), Drew Pavao (Archbishop Williams, Jr.), Helio Spinola (East Boston, Sr.), Max Tillmann (Medfield, So.) Overview: The 40-team field’s top three seeds are all coming off final four appearances last season. Defending champion Dover-Sherborn (13-4-1) is the No. 3 seed, while Medfield (14-3-1), which fell to D-S in last year’s semifinal, comes in at No. 1. But neither had the kind of regular season defending runner-up Norwell had. The 18-0-1 Clippers are the second seed and look like the team to beat. No. 8 East Boston (11-3-4) carries the torch for the City League after reaching the Div. 4 semifinals last year. No. 9 East Bridgewater (11-3-4) gave Norwell a real run in a 2-1 loss toward the end of the regular season. The Patriot Fisher’s two top teams, No. 11 Pembroke (12-3-3) and No. 12 Hanover (9-6-3), should be contenders as well. And watch out for No. 19 Dighton-Rehoboth (9-8-1), the last of the 2024 final four teams. The Falcons won six of their final seven in the regular season. Favorites: No. 1 Sutton, No. 3 Hamilton-Wenham Sleepers: No. 7 Abington, No. 17 Cohasset Best first-round matchup: Wednesday, No. 20 Mashpee at No. 13 Leicester Longest road trip: No. 22 Monomoy at No. 11 Monument Mountain, 205 miles Players to watch: Nick Stein (Hamilton-Wenham, Sr.), Sean Venuti (Sutton, Sr.), Griffon Cotter (Ayer-Shirley, Sr.), Krish Patel (Uxbridge, Sr.), Tiago Rodrigues (Westport, Jr.), Kaiky Araujo (Rockland, Sr.), Michael Queen (Ipswich, So.), Mike Giglio (Cohasset, Jr.), Dimitri St. Paul (Abington, So.), Liam Glew (Bromfield, Sr.) Overview: The most crowded tournament field in the state this fall across all sports, Div. 4 features 17 preliminary-round games and 49 total teams. Top-seeded Sutton, the reigning Div. 5 champion, has moved up a division. The Sammies are unbeaten since the start of October. No. 2 Bromfield is a perennial contender with 13 titles, and the Trojans are back with a stout defense. Hamilton-Wenham is the highest-seeded EMass team at No. 3. The Generals captured the Cape Ann title and get major contributions from their leading scorer Nick Stein. Both No. 4 Ayer-Shirley and No. 6 Westport are still unbeaten, though low strength of schedule coefficients prevented either from earning higher seeds. On the opposite side of the brackets, battle-tested No. 5 Rockland played the toughest schedule in Div. 4. Watch out for upstart Abington, which is the South Shore Tobin champ for the first time in program history. Despite a 6-7-7 mark, reigning champion Cohasset is still one to watch out for at No. 17. Favorites: No. 1 Boston International, No. 2 Hopedale. Sleepers: No. 7 Dearborn STEM, No. 8 New Mission. Best first-round matchup: No. 17 CASH at No. 16 Cape Cod Tech. Longest road trip: No. 19 Hoosac Valley at No. 14 Upper Cape, 180 miles Players to watch: Jerry Registe (Boston International, Sr.), Gui Cardoso (Hopedale, Jr.), Cody Boghdan (St. John Paul II, Sr.), Haciel Zelaya (Brighton, So.), Jariel Osorio (Dearborn STEM, Sr.) Analysis: The Boston City League populates the top of the D5 5 field en masse. Top-seeded Boston International, City champions for the second straight year, will look to finally get over the hump. Last year, the Lions were forced to forfeit their quarterfinal matchup due to a self-reported ineligible player. They maintain much of the same core led by Jerry Registe on the wing. Other contenders from the City League include No. 4 Brighton, No. 7 Dearborn STEM, No. 8 New Mission, No. 15 TechBoston, and No. 17 CASH. Hopedale played a difficult schedule and turned things around after winning just one of its first seven games. No. 3 St. John Paul II is the lone unbeaten team in the field, having dominated the Cape & Islands once again. No. 5 Rockport is intriguing after a strong year in the Cape Ann League.
