Wayland defeats Danvers boys soccer in OT

It happens with regularity every fall – low-seeded teams from the high-powered Dual County League step up and knock off a string of higher-seeded opponents in State Tournament soccer play.Unfortunately for the Danvers High boys, that scenario played out again yesterday as the top-seeded Northeastern conference champions bowed to No. 20 Wayland in overtime, 2-1, in a Division 2 North semifinal at Woburn High School.The Warriors (11-6-4) added Danvers to a list of conquests that includes No. 13 Greater Lowell, No. 4 Lynn Tech and No. 5 North Andover. Danvers finishes the year with a final 16-3-2 slate, one game shy of playing for a Sectional title.As if to amplify the level of play in the DCL and its post-season dominance, Sunday’s Sectional title match at Manning Field will be a league match-up as No. 11 Concord-Carlisle also advanced with a 2-1 decision of No. 2 Winchester.Wayland took a 1-0 lead as time expired in the final minute of the first half when a free kick was headed home.”The official told me there was no time left and alarm from the watch could be heard. The ref then allowed a free kick and then told me there were two seconds remaining as set up to kick off after the goal,” said Danvers coach Mike Chase. “The boys were obviously frazzled but didn’t allow but didn’t allow that to knock them off their game.”That held until Eric Martin, playing on a gimpy ankle he injured in the Falcons’ quarterfinal win against Pentucket, squared things approximately 10 minutes into the second half. Danvers’ keeper Brendan Murphy played well throughout. Chase also cited Jon Wright, Ethan Collins and Matt Kidney for their defensive efforts. Danvers was without Jon Amico for the second straight game due to concussion symptoms that developed following the victory against Bedford.”We are a different team without his offensive skills up top,” said Chase. “My team played very hard. This Wayland team was very strong. They were talented in the air, aggressive and fast and their goaltender made several key stops.”I couldn’t be happier with my team’s performance this season. We have made several strides in the right direction as a program. Hopefully we will be able to build off of this success,” Chase said.