Lions Soccer Caps Season with a Loss

The Chelmsford Lions fell to the Cambridge Falcons, 1-0 at home ending their season with a record of 6-9-5.

Head Coach Parato said "the season went in halves" for the Lions as the team won  the first few games, but slowly fell short in October.

Heading into their last four games of the season, Chelmsford needed a tie to qualify for tournaments, but lost to Groton-Dunstable, Billerica, and Everett. After the heart-breaking fourth loss Monday to Malden Catholic (3-0), it ended their chances of entering the post-season tournament. 

"We had a great first half of the season," said Parato. "Yet, after a tough game in the middle of our schedule, we had a whole different season."

The first half of the game was tough for Chelmsford to keep the ball on their side. Cambridge dominated the first half after a goal by senior forward Pouchy Guerrier, assisted by junior midfielder Otis Booz with 2:48 left in the half, making the score 0-1 at halftime.

The second half became more physical, and the game was paused by referees more than once to warn players on both sides.

The seniors played the entire first half and were taken out at 26 minutes left, allowing the younger players to get in the action.

There was a glimmer of hope for the Lions when sophomore forward David Pearson headed the ball past the goalie, just missing the goal by inches with 22:55 left in the game, and at 18 minutes, junior midfielder Lucky Popov had a break-away but was blocked.

The match ended with one last effort by sophomore goalkeeper Steve McLeod, making a great jumping save with 13:21 left in the game.