Heartbreaking Finale for E.O. Smith Boys Soccer Team

NEW BRITAIN, CT — A quest for another long-awaited state title ended prematurely Tuesday for the E.O. Smith High School boys soccer team.

The Panthers, winners of a dozen state championships but none since 1998, wound up 80 minutes of regulation play and 20 minutes of overtime in a 1-1 deadlock with No. 13 Joel Barlow. The game was to be decided on penalty kicks, but unfortunately for top-seeded E.O. Smith, the Falcons prevailed 4-2 to earn a berth in Saturday's championship game.

Joel Barlow will take on the winner of Wednesday's Daniel Hand-Guilford matchup in the finals, at a location and time to be announced.

There were eight schools from Hartford and Tolland counties competing in semifinal action Tuesday in boys soccer and girls volleyball. Here are results of those matchups; click the header for the complete bracket.

BOYS SOCCER

Class LL
No. 4 Farmington 3, No. 16 Fairfield Prep 0 (finals: Farmington vs. No. 11 Danbury, Saturday TBA)

Class L
No. 13 Joel Barlow 2, No. 1 E.O. Smith 1

Class M
No. 18 Ellington 4, No. 3 Granby Memorial 3 (finals: Ellington vs. No. 5 Brookfield, Saturday TBA)
No. 5 Brookfield 3, No. 16 Tolland 1

Class S
No. 3 Coventry 4, No. 10 Valley Regional 0 (finals: Coventry vs. No. 1 Old Saybrook, Saturday TBA)

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Class M
No. 3 Seymour 3, No. 7 Granby Memorial 1

Class S
No. 3 Hale Ray 3, No. 2 Coventry 0

Photo credit: Tim Jensen