SALEM, N.H. - Lebanon boys soccer took defending champion Campbell all the way to the end on Monday. It took a penalty-kick shootout to separate them, and that is where Campbell goalkeeper Adam Correau came up big.
Correau blanked the Raiders in the shootout, and No. 2 Campbell won it 3-0 to advance to the final. The semifinal at Salem High School goes in the books as a 2-1 Campbell win, and it ends the season for third-seeded Lebanon.
It is the second time in three years that Campbell has ended Lebanon’s season in the semifinals, and the Cougars have made a habit of winning this way. They also won their semifinal on penalty kicks last fall, then beat ConVal on penalty kicks in the final after 110 minutes of scoreless soccer to win the title.
Monday’s result was no surprise in one way: these two teams have been hard to separate all fall. They played to a 0-0 draw in Lebanon on Sept. 23, when goalkeeper Bently Lang made three saves for the Raiders and Campbell’s goalkeeper made a big second-half save to rob Jesse Madory. After that game, coach Rob Johnstone called Campbell “a dangerous, quality team.” “We got better and better as the game progressed, not only creating danger but remaining wary of Campbell’s quick-strike capabilities,” he said that day.
Lebanon got to Salem the hard way. In Friday’s quarterfinal at home, the Raiders trailed Pembroke 1-0 late in the second half before Madory tied it with a rocket in the 74th minute. Caelan Boynton then finished a cross from Tucker Green early in the first overtime period for a 2-1 win. “Pembroke clogged things up, took the lead on a restart, and pushed us to the brink. Two great goals and incredible heart and fight pushed us through,” Johnstone said after that game.
That win was Lebanon’s fifth straight, and Monday’s loss ends the streak. The run included a 5-3 win over Milford on Oct. 13 and a 3-1 win over Hollis Brookline on Oct. 16. Madory and Boynton were at the center of the attack all fall. Both scored in the first 13 minutes of a 5-0 win over Kennett in September, and the season started with a 1-0 win at Pembroke on Sept. 4, when Austin Engert scored in the 45th minute.
Lebanon finishes with 11 wins, four more than last year’s 7-5-4 team, whose season ended in the quarterfinals. This group went one round further and came within a shootout of playing for the title.
Campbell (13-2-3) will meet top-seeded ConVal (14-2-2) in the final on Friday, November 6, at 7:15 p.m. at Exeter High School, a rematch of last year’s championship game. Campbell and ConVal played to a 3-3 draw on Sept. 21.
Other relevant play on Monday, November 2:
Bow 0 vs ConVal 1 ConVal, which beat Lebanon 1-0 on Sept. 25, got a 12th-minute penalty kick from senior Logan Montano to get past Bow, which beat the Raiders 2-0 on Oct. 2, in the other semifinal.
That wraps up the day for Lebanon High School sports. We’ll see you next time!