Champion, Goldman Propel Granby Boys Past No. 1 Woodland

In high school soccer, you may as well throw records and seedings out the window come tournament time.

Indeed, the boys soccer team, the 17th seed in the state Class M tournament, defeated No. 1 and previously unbeaten Woodland (15-1-1) 2-0 in second-round action on Monday afternoon.

Carlin Champion and Brent Goldman scored goals for the Bears and goalie David Gottschalk earned his 10th clean sheet of the season, as Granby Memorial improved to 10-4-3 on the year and advanced to the Class M quarterfinals, where it will face No. 9 Holy Cross (14-4) in Waterbury on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Though Granby Memorial was the lower seed, it would be a mistake to call the result an upset. First, the Bears play in the brutal North Central Connecticut Conference, home of some of the finest teams in Classes L, M and S.

What's more, Granby Memorial has a rich history of advancing in the state tournament: it’s the fifth consecutive year that the Bears have advanced at least as far as the Class M quarterfinals. The Bears were Class M runners-up in 2008 and 2009. And while Granby has never won a Class M title, but its has claimed 11 state Class S titles, the last of which came in 2005.

The boys soccer team joins the field hockey team (Class S semifinals) and girls soccer team (Class M quarterfinals) in making deep tournament runs.