PEABODY — After missing the state tournament for the first time in nine years last season, with a record of 6-9-3, hopes are high that Peabody’s boys soccer team has what it takes to turn things around in 2025, despite the loss of 13 seniors to graduation.
The Tanners got off to a fast 6-2 start in 2024, but scoring woes caught up with them the rest of the way. Peabody scored one goal or less in 10 of 18 games.
Despite the loss of 13 seniors, Peabody coach Stan McKeen, who enters the season with 298 wins (181 losses, 74 draws), is optimistic the Tanners will be back on track.
“We have a lot of skilled players this year, so, yes, I think we can make the tournament,” McKeen said. “Our big problem last year was we lost a lot of low-scoring games because we couldn’t put the ball in the net. You have to be able to score to win games.”
The Tanners will be led by junior co-captains Jason Decost, a midfielder, and defenseman Jayden Lopez. Both are in their third varsity seasons.
“I was a little concerned that we had only four seniors on the team and, honestly, I’ve never had that few,” McKeen said. “Everybody has to understand they need to respect the captains, who have done a good job coming along. They seem to have slowly gotten control of the team where the kids are going to listen to them, which is so important. And the great thing is they are only juniors, so they’ll have another year.”
“Losing 13 seniors means it’s a bit of a rebuilding year, but we have the team to make the tournament,” Decost said. “It’s going to take a little bit of work, but I believe we’ll get there. Position-wise, I think our midfield and our defense is pretty solid.”
Lopez agreed.
“Defense and our midfield are definitely our strong suits for this team. The tournament is definitely something that we can make it to,” he said. “I see at least 10-12 of our 18 games are winnable and I think that just coming out strong every game is going to be what we have to do.”
McKeen said that in addition to his two captains, he’s looking to several players he believes will be key. That group includes senior midfielders Athur Rocha and Davi Alves, junior midfielder/defenseman Cameron Fletcher, junior striker/midfielder Marc Smith, junior midfielder/striker Jonathan Ward, junior striker Chris Oliveira, and first-year goalie Julio Cambui.
“Obviously, the two captains will be key players defensively and at midfield,” McKeen said. “Jason is an excellent field player with excellent skills and is a smart player. Jayden is an excellent defensive player and also very smart. Both of them are very smart players. Arthur and Davis have good skills and see the field very well. Cameron is quick, fast and very skilled. Our goalie, Julio, played JV last year, but is looking good. Marc plays up top and is fast with a good shot, and Jonathan is very good. He can play midfielder and striker and is outstanding, and Chris has a great touch on the ball.”
McKeen is also high on sophomores Gustavo Neves, Kevin Patricio and Thad Broughton. Neves is a midfielder/striker, while Patricio is a striker and Broughton a defenseman.
“They also have looked very good so far,” McKeen said.
Rounding out the roster are senior defenseman/midfielder Marques Perrotta, senior defenseman Marshal Simpson, junior defenseman Isaac Camelo, junior defenseman Ethan Hartford, and junior midfielder Dante S’Alleva.
As they did in 2024, in an effort to secure their highest possible power ranking, the Tanners have about as tough a non-conference schedule as it gets with games against Central Catholic, Haverhill, Billerica, North Andover and Xaverian – the final four to close out the regular season.
“You have to play Division 1 opponents because our league is basically all Division 2 and 3, other than Beverly,” McKeen said. “If you don’t beat those Division 2 and 3 teams, that really hurts you. That’s why we schedule non-league games against as many Division 1 opponents as we can. To maximize our ranking, we have to play Division 1 teams or we lose ground because the NEC (Northeastern Conference) has so many teams in lower divisions than Peabody.”
McKeen expects Beverly and Masconomet will be strong again this year. He won’t have to wait too long to see if he’s right, as after opening in Danvers Wednesday, the Tanners travel to face Masco Friday.
McKeen said while he was happy with Friday night’s home-field scrimmage against Greater Lawrence Tech, he felt that Saturday morning’s scrimmage against visiting Triton came up a little short.
“We were tired. I could see that – especially in the first 20 minutes,” he said. “Playing back-to-back games like that was a factor. I thought we played really well last night (Friday), but we just didn’t play well today. I think fatigue was a factor.”
Lopez is confident the Tanners are ready to resume their winning ways.
“Considering last year’s season, ending with a losing streak – just coming in with ties and losses – I think we can definitely make a turnaround with more teamwork and communication on the field, and playing together as a team. Last year, we didn’t really see that.”
