Concord boys soccer blanks previously-unbeaten Salem

CONCORD - Concord High School boys soccer coach Scott Dunlop told his players he thought they played their best game of the season Tuesday at Memorial Field.

The Crimson Tide dominated possession and spent the majority of the contest on the attack en route to a 3-0 victory over previously undefeated Salem.

The Blue Devils surrendered just one goal through their first six games.

Salem (6-1) had difficulty stringing together passes and getting the ball out of its half of the field.

Concord (6-2) held the Blue Devils to six shots on goal and two corner kicks. The Crimson Tide finished with nine shots on goal alongside two corner kicks

“This is by far the best we’ve played so far this season,” Dunlop said. “We’re starting to put things together the way we want to.”

Salem coach Justin Golden said his team knew what to expect from the Crimson Tide heading into Tuesday.

“We knew that they were going to be incredibly skilled and they were going to posses the ball a lot and there’d be a lot of defending today on our part. ... We knew that was going to be the case,” Golden said.

Concord took control of the game from the onset and opened the game’s scoring in the 22nd minute when Sebastian Pardo scored from inside the box off an assist from Josh Adams.

The Crimson Tide took a 1-0 lead into halftime but it did not take them long to double their advantage after the break.

Adams scored from inside the box on a low shot into the left corner of the Salem goal three minutes into the second half. Taylor Silverstein sprung Adams with a beautiful through ball to put the latter in position for the goal.

“I played well but I couldn’t really have done that without our team passing and getting me the ball,” Adams said.

Silverstein scored a rebound goal following a shot from Adams in the 77th minute to cap the game’s scoring. Salem goalkeeper Anthony Bellomo (six saves) made a diving stop on Adams’ shot but the ball then bounced right to Silverstein, who did not miss from close range.

Concord might have won by four goals if junior Chea Chebo’s 20-yard strike in the 53rd minute had sneaked under the crossbar instead of clanging off it.

Salem’s best chance to get on the scoreboard came in the 58th minute. Josh Fichera struck a promising shot from about 17 yards out on a free kick but Concord goalie Liam Devanny (six saves) located the ball through traffic and made the stop.

“I think this is a solid win for us and this will hopefully pull us forward to where we want to go,” Dunlop said.